Space & Physics: Astronomers discover black hole shockingly near Earth

April 18 —This week, a close-up look at the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, the legacy of lunar art on the moon, and the search for Planet Nine. All that and more below! -Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

Top Stories

Our Galaxy's Biggest Black Hole Just Got a New Close-up. What's Next Could Be Even Wilder As the Event Horizon Telescope pursues ambitious upgrades, the project's latest results reveal the magnetic fields around our galaxy's supermassive black hole Michael Greshko

SpaceX's Starship Could Save NASA's Beleaguered Mars Sample Return Mission Facing budgetary pressure for its Mars Sample Return program, NASA has turned to private industry for ideas—perhaps with one specific company in mind Jonathan O'Callaghan

Astronomers Discover Milky Way's 'Sleeping Giant' Black Hole Shockingly Close to Earth A black hole weighing as much as 33 suns lurks a mere 2,000 light-years away from our solar system Robert Lea; SPACE.com

How Jeff Koons's Lunar Artwork Could Outlast All of Humanity How long can humanity's artifacts endure on the lunar surface? A new installation from artist Jeff Koons is inadvertently putting this question to the test David W. Brown

Massive Cosmic Map Suggests Dark Energy Is Even Weirder Than We Thought In just one year of observations, a program that is creating the largest 3D map of the universe to date has sniffed out hints that dark energy may be stranger than scientists supposed Meghan Bartels

NASA's Artemis Astronauts Will Help Grow Crops on the Moon—And Much More When astronauts return to the moon later this decade, they'll bring along science experiments to study moonquakes, lunar water ice and extraterrestrial agriculture Robin George Andrews

Where Is Planet Nine? Its Hiding Places Are Running Out The search for a mysterious planetary body beyond Neptune has narrowed down its possible location—if it exists at all Philip Plait

The Secret to the Strongest Force in the Universe New discoveries demystify the bizarre force that binds atomic nuclei together Stanley J. Brodsky; Alexandre Deur; Craig D. Roberts

How Tides Move Heaven and Earth The ocean's twice-daily rise and fall is only the most obvious effect of tides—they slow Earth's spin and shape stars and galaxies, too Phil Plait

The Theoretical Physicist Who Worked with J. Robert Oppenheimer at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age Melba Phillips co-authored a paper with J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1935 that proved important in the development of nuclear physics. Later she became an outspoken critic of nuclear weapons Joe Armstrong; Deborah Unger; Katie Hafner; The Lost Women of Science Initiative

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