www.cfa.harvard.edu

What is the universe made of?

Matter and energy are the two basic components of the entire Universe. An enormous challenge for scientists is that most of the matter in the Universe is invisible and the source of most of the energy ...
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For Educators and Students

The CfA, comprised of education researchers, scientists, teachers, media specialists and graduate students, is a national leader in science education. Major projects include the development of ...
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AI Helps Astronomers Discover a New Type of Supernova

Astronomers have discovered what may be a massive star exploding while trying to swallow a black hole, offering an explanation for one of the strangest supernovae ever seen. Cambridge, MA - ...
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A New GPS for the Intergalactic Medium: Astronomers Have Found the Home Address for Universe's "Missing" Matter

Using fast radio bursts to guide them, CfA astronomers have mapped the distribution of the Universe's ordinary matter in the space between galaxies, and detected the most distant fast radio bursts to ...
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Astronomers Discover Rare Distant Object in Sync with Neptune

This object, called 2020 VN40, is the first confirmed body that orbits the sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes. Cambridge, MA — A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | ...
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Scientists Make First-Ever Detection of Mid-IR Flares in Sgr A*

An international team of scientists, including multiple astronomers from CfA, have made the first-ever detection of a mid-IR flare from Sgr A*. National Harbor, MD - Using the James Webb Space ...
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'Space Archaeology' Reveals First Dynamic History of a Giant Spiral Galaxy

For the first time, astronomers used galactic archaeology techniques to trace the chemical "fossil record" of a galaxy outside the Milky Way Cambridge, MA (March 23, 2026) — A team of astronomers led ...
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Alien Planet Found Spiraling to its Doom around an Aging Star

Cambridge, Mass. – For the first time, astronomers have spotted an exoplanet whose orbit is decaying around an evolved, or older, host star. The stricken world appears destined to spiral closer and ...
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Ready for its Close-up: New Technology Sharpens Images of Black Holes

Using new computational algorithms, scientists have measured a sharp ring of light predicted to originate from photons whipping around the back of a supermassive black hole. Cambridge, MA – When ...
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The Tilt in our Stars: The Shape of the Milky Way's Halo of Stars is Realized

New data throws out the textbook picture of a spherical stellar halo and reinforces a dynamic origin story of two galaxies that collided billions of years ago. Cambridge, Mass. – A new study has ...
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Event Horizon Telescope Makes Highest-Resolution Black Hole Detections from Earth

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has conducted test observations achieving the highest resolution ever obtained from the surface of the Earth, by detecting light from the centers of ...
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The Most Precise Accounting Yet of Dark Energy and Dark Matter

Analyzing more than two decades' worth of supernova explosions convincingly bolsters modern cosmological theories and reinvigorates efforts to answer fundamental questions. Cambridge, MA – ...