Briley Lewis

Briley Lewis

Freelance science writer

Briley Lewis (she/her) is a freelance science writer and Ph.D. Candidate/NSF Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles studying Astronomy & Astrophysics. Follow her on Twitter @briles_34 or visit her website www.briley-lewis.com.

Articles by: Briley Lewis

A sampling of thousands of galaxies of varying ages observed by the James Webb Space Telescope

James Webb telescope discovers the 4 oldest galaxies in the universe, born just 300 million years after the Big Bang

By Briley Lewis published

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected the four oldest galaxies in the known universe, which are forming stars much faster than thought possible.

A computer-generated visualization of solar wind interacting with Earth’s magnetic field during a powerful solar storm. Similar disturbances in a distant star system may be emitting strange radio signals.

Strange radio signals detected from Earth-like planet could be a magnetic field necessary for life

By Briley Lewis published

Earth's magnetic field protects life on our blue planet — and astronomers just found evidence of a magnetic field on a rocky exoplanet 12 light-years away.

An illustration of a rocky, Earth-like planet soaking up heat from its small red sun

James Webb telescope detects light from a small, Earth-like planet — and finds it's missing its atmosphere

By Briley Lewis published

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope measured the temperature of the Earth-like planet TRAPPIST-1b and found that it is too hot for humans and likely has no atmosphere.

An illustration of a hungry black hole, wrapped in a fiery orange accretion disk and shooting a beam of blue radiation out of its center

Object mistaken as a galaxy is actually a black hole pointed directly at Earth

By Briley Lewis published

An object once thought to be a radio galaxy is actually an active black hole that changed angles to point directly at Earth, new research suggests.

An illustration of an Earth-like planet that is locked with one side always facing its sun, and one side in eternal darkness

Aliens could be hiding in 'terminator zones' on planets with eternal night

By Briley Lewis published

Alien life could thrive in terminator zones, the edges between the light and dark sides of planets that are tidally locked with their host stars.

An illustration showing a moon-like rock violently smashing into an Earth-like planet in a distant solar system

'Unstable' moons may be obliterating alien life across the universe

By Briley Lewis published

Simulations show that collisions between moons and planets may be a regular danger for possible extraterrestrial life.

An illustration shows a bright white dwarf star shining in front of a vast sea of distant stars and galaxies

NASA scientists 'weigh' a white dwarf for the first time using a space-time trick predicted by Einstein

By Briley Lewis published

NASA astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the mass of a white dwarf, an important step for understanding how stars die.

An artist's depiction of hot gas surrounding the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies.

Astronomers weighed the Milky Way, and found huge amounts of matter missing

By Briley Lewis published

Mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs) helped astronomers weigh our galaxy, and reveal that some matter is missing.