A neutron star collision detected by gravitational waves is Science's 2017 Breakthrough of the Year.

Gravitational waves are ripples in time-space that only occur under a handful of extreme cosmic conditions.

 

 

NASA’s Swift satellite has captured an event in the cosmos like nothing ever seen before, researchers say in the 17 June issue of Science. A high-energy gamma-ray burst known as Sw1644+57, located at the center of a small, star-forming galaxy, is burning much longer and much brighter than astronomers had expected it to—and two separate teams of researchers are trying to figure out why.

Jennifer Wiseman, a NASA astrophysicist, has joined AAAS as director of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion.