Astronomers still aren't entirely sure what causes fast radio bursts, which can briefly release a galaxy's worth of energy. However, they might have figured out how to use them to measure distances in the Universe. In a new paper, astronomers propose that fast radio bursts could be detected as they're magnified by stellar microlenses. With about 30 microlensing events, they should be able to measure cosmic distances precisely.

The Event Horizon Telescope has given us amazing views of the supermassive black holes at the hearts of M87 and the Milky Way. A new image from the EHT shows another black hole at the core of the radio galaxy 3C 84. Unlike the previous targets, 3C is one of the most active supermassive black holes in our vicinity, blasting enormous jets out into the cosmos. A series of images show the power of the EHT, resolving the region around the black hole where the jets form.

Although it was bound for Jupiter, NASA's Galileo spacecraft made flybys of Earth in 1990 and 1992 to get boosts in its velocity. Astronomers realized this would be an ideal opportunity to test if remote imaging of Earth would detect the presence of life. In a new paper, researchers examined over 1500 photometric measurements of Earth from Galileo, judging how well it could stand in for an inhabited exoplanet.

Comet 12P Pons-Brooks takes center stage this Spring.