Items tagged with astronomy
An interstellar visitor known as 3I/ATLAS, currently hurtling toward its closest approach to the Sun, has ignited a debate among astronomers (and enthusiasts) over its true nature: is it a natural black swan comet from another star system...
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James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to peel back layers of our cosmic viewpoint: its latest discovery reveals that the youth of the universe was sometimes quite the jumbled mess. Astronomers have found that galaxies just a few...
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Already in full swing, the Orionid meteor shower may have reached its peak overnight on October 20-21, but the show is still set to go on for another couple of days. Like nearly every Orionid show, stargazers across the globe, especially...
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New research from Johns Hopkins University and an international team of scientists suggests that two competing theories for the diffuse glow near the center of the Milky Way—colliding dark matter particles or rapidly spinning neutron...
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With the aid of a multinational network of radio telescopes, scientists have been able to detect the lowest-mass dark object ever found in the universe. The mysterious object, roughly one million times the mass of our Sun (approximately 10...
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Stargazers, here's a new one to add to your October view list. Two newly discovered comets, both sporting vibrant green hues, are set to grace the night sky, AND if the conditions are right, there's also a rare naked-eye opportunity to...
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An international team of scientists has unveiled the Flagship 2 galaxy mock-up. No, it's not a cardboard diorama for a school science fair project, but is instead the most massive and detailed cosmological simulation of the universe ever...
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The ever-busy James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently turned its gaze toward the core of our galaxy and revealed unprecedented details of the largest and most active stellar nursery nestled within. Webb's target, the massive Sagittarius...
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NASA has officially introduced its 2025 Astronaut Candidate Class, a group of 10 individuals whittled down from a pool of over 8,000 highly qualified applicants. The group, which includes six women and four men, will hopefully make its...
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We're on a black hole coverage roll this month, so here's another one: a supermassive black hole 12.8 billion lights years from us has been discovered feasting at a rate that scientists describe as "a bit shocking," or more precisely...
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Hubble has captured a dense, burned-out star in the act of consuming a Pluto-like object. Happening some 260 light years from Earth, the new observation, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, revealed a white...
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Finnish cryocooler manufacturer Bluefors has signed an agreement to secure a long-term supply of helium-3 harvested from the Moon. Yes, you heard right. No one has set up shop to mine on the moon and yet companies are snapping up lunar...
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A team of Pennsylvania State University researchers has a unique take on mysterious red dots first observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Initially thought to be tiny, crimson galaxies, the red dots are now proposed to be a new and...
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It's probably no secret that NASA is planning on taking astronauts back to the Moon, but now the space agency is inviting the public to play a role in the upcoming 2026 Artemis II mission. No, they're not taking paid ride-along civilians...
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Fresh data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided new clues about the nature of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e, a rocky world located just 40 light-years from Earth. Even if researchers have yet to definitively confirm it...
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Ardent sky-watchers around the world are already preparing for this month's total lunar eclipse, i.e. the Blood Moon, so don't be left out of this family-friendly spectacle! The crimson eclipse is set to occur on the night of September 7...
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We've barely ticked over into September and yet this month promises to dazzle both seasoned astronomers and casual skygazers allike. From a rare lunar eclipse to a planetary opposition and the annual shift of seasons, the month is packed...
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Skies across the Northern Hemisphere are in for a special Labor Day light show as an intense "cannibal" solar storm speeds toward Earth. Expected to hit the planet's magnetic field between the wee hours of September 1 and 2, the storm has...
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Scientists have for the first time peered inside a dying star as it exploded in a supernova, gaining not just unprecedented views of its layers, but more so, insight into the process of stellar evolution. Detailed in the Nature journal...
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The rare once-every-33-months lunar event known as the Black Moon will occur on the night of August 23, this Saturday. As unique as this might be though, you're likely not going to be able see it (unlike blue or flower moons) since the...
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The northern lights, a.k.a. aurora borealis, are expected to be visible across a wide swath of the northern United States tonight. Thanks to a recent surge in solar activity, skywatchers much further south than usual, from the Pacific...
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James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has found a dozen dormant (or affectionately called “sleeping beauty”) galaxies, which are ancient galaxies that have mysteriously stopped forming stars. The surprise isn't just that they’re dormant, but...
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