CATEGORIES

GENERAL RELATIVITY PASSES ITS TOUGHEST TEST YET

The theory, which Albert Einstein published in 1915, remains undefeated

Cursed lives

MARION GIBSON recommends an evocative deep-dive into a witchcraft trial that rocked 17th-century New England

WHAT IS A LIGHT YEAR?

How we measure vast distances across the universe

A very ordinary king

HEATHER JONES is impressed by a new biography that reveals insights about the wartime monarch’s impressive political achievements, complex personal life and family failings

THE BIG BANG THEORY

It’s our best model of how the universe works, but where did it come from?

MATT ONDLER: 'WE WILL SEE IDEAS AND PRODUCTS WE CAN'T IMAGINE TODAY'

Axiom Space’s chief technology officer Matt Ondler on life after the International Space Station

A timber-framed Tardis

Incongruously sandwiched between shops and pubs in a Norfolk market town stands a Tudor building crammed with stories spanning more than two millennia of local history. PRIYA ATWAL explores Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life

ERUPTION SEEN ON ALIEN STAR FOR FIRST TIME

The outburst is about ten times more powerful than anything similar seen from our Sun

COMPLETE GUIDE TO EXOPLANETS

Our knowledge of worlds beyond the Solar System has exploded in the last three decades

BLACK HOLE IN MILKY WAY'S SATELLITE DEFIES EXPLANATION

Dwarf galaxy Leo I’s giant central area seems too big for such a small host

Coded Language

Michael Wood praises a pioneering study of the transformation of Chinese script, and how this helped fuel the growth of the nation into one of the world's superpowers

Q&A - Who was history's most notorious pirate?

A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

WHAT HAPPENS TO EARTH'S DISAPPEARING CRUST?

Scientists may have finally figured out the mystery of subduction zones

THERE'S A BARRIER AROUND THE MILKY WAY'S CENTRE

Astronomers discover an enormous, bizarre feature separating the centre of the Milky Way from the cosmic ray sea

MENELAUS CRATER

How to find the impact at the end of one of the longest rays on the Moon

JUPITER'S GREAT RED SPOT IS DEEPER THAN SCIENTISTS THOUGHT

The storm system isn’t just wide… it also has incredible

HEROES OF SPACE

A record-breaking astronaut who could be one of the first women to step foot on the Moon

ELUSIVE NEUTRINO CANDIDATES DETECTED IN BREAKTHROUGH PHYSICS EXPERIMENT

For the first time ever, researchers have detected neutrino candidates produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN facility near Geneva, Switzerland.

DOES EARTH HAVE A SECOND MOON?

There’s an asteroid tracking our planet’s orbit around the Sun, and astronomers have been surprised by its composition

ANTI-SATELLITE MISSILE TEST DRAWS CONDEMNATION

Across the globe, nations and space companies alike are speaking out against Russia’s anti-satellite test, which forced astronauts in space to take cover

CELESTRON SKYMASTER PRO 15X70

This binocular offers an amazing stargazing experience, with a good combination of magnification, aperture and portability

ALL ABOUT THE ORION NEBULA

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS CRADLE OF BABY STARS THAT’S VISIBLE FROM EARTH

Looting history

DAVID OLUSOGA praises a stark exploration of the bloodsoaked British raid that plundered the treasures of Benin

A KING OF FIRE AND LIGHT

French ruler Louis IX was a Catholic hero and a vicious anti-Semite, a patron of exquisite art and a fervent burner of books. Matthew Gabriele and David M Perry consider the tangled legacy of a man who embodies both the horrors and beauty of medieval Europe

Queen of Spies

Victoria controlled an extensive network of intelligence sources that fed explosive revelations to the British government - or direct to her. Rory Cormac and Richard J Aldrich investigate her adventures in espionage

MOON TOUR EDDINGTON CRATER

Challenge yourself this month by locating one of the trickiest impacts on the lunar surface

James ‘Jim' Lovell

A space veteran who completed four impressive missions, including the ill-fated Apollo 13

THE COMPLETE GUIDE MARS

WE’RE LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE FOURTH ROCK FROM THE SUN EVERY DAY

ORION'S DEEP-SPACE TREASURES

The mighty Hunter has a horde of little-known treasures for you to track down and enjoy

THIS MONTH'S PLANETS

Look out for a bright ‘Christmas star’ gracing the evening sky this holiday season