Editor’s note: Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that killed three astronauts during a routine test on the launchpad. The test was a dress rehearsal for the Apollo 1 crew — Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The goal was to check out the command module, NASA’s first spacecraft that […]
This Is How Galaxy Cluster Collisions Prove The Existence Of Dark Matter
Dark matter — despite the enormous indirect evidence for it — sounds like a colossal misunderstanding. A galaxy cluster can have its mass reconstructed from the gravitational lensing data available. Most of the mass is found not inside the individual galaxies, shown as peaks here, but from the intergalactic medium within the cluster, where dark […]
In dwarf galaxies, a black hole wind is rising
Whenever I write about supermassive black holes, I am always careful to say that we think they are in the centers of every big galaxy. That’s because when we survey the centers of galaxies that are big, like our Milky Way, we tend to see evidence of them. But what about little galaxies? I don’t […]
From Spitzer to JWST’s Early Targets
Yesterday’s post on the Spitzer Space Telescope leads naturally to the targets it produced for its successor. For when Spitzer’s mission ends on January 30, we have the far more powerful James Webb Space Telescope, also operating at infrared wavelengths, in queue for a 2021 launch. In many ways, Spitzer has been the necessary precursor […]
Chewing over Gum 15: A gorgeous nebula in a much larger setting
Every now and again I’ll see a nebula I’ve never seen before, and it’s always a bit of a surprise. I’ve been doing this scicomm thing a long time, and astronomy in general even longer. I’ve seen a lot of stuff. So seeing something new to me is a surprise, but it’s a most welcome […]
Looking Back at the Spitzer Space Telescope
The Spitzer Space Telescope, which is to end its mission on January 30, has a special place in my memory. I was making a trip to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as part of the research for my Centauri Dreams book when I noticed on a monitor a countdown — still in days — for the […]
Earth’s oldest known impact might have ended ‘snowball Earth’ ice age
New evidence has confirmed Australia’s Yarrabubba crater as the world’s oldest preserved impact structure – but did it thaw Earth and end an ice age? Snowball Earth Credit: NASA The crater is regarded as one of Earth’s oldest, but until now has lacked a precise age. Now, a new study has used geological dating to pin the […]
Jovian Planets Can Form Around Red Dwarfs In Only A Few Thousand Years
Artist concept of planets orbiting a red dwarf. NASA/JPL-Caltech With over 4,000 confirmed exoplanets, we’re starting to get an idea of which types are common and which are rare. We’ve learned that our solar system is rather unusual in ways you wouldn’t expect. Take, for example, the presence of large planets orbiting small stars. Our […]
Pick your favorite name for NASA’s Mars rover
More than 28,000 students submitted names for the rover that NASA plans to launch toward Mars in July. (NASA / JPL-Caltech Illustration) NASA and an army of nearly 4,700 volunteer judges have selected nine potential names for a rover that’s due to be launched to Mars in July, and you have just six days to cast an online […]
Spacewalkers Switch Focus to Final Repairs on Cosmic Ray Detector
The reflection in NASA astronaut Jessica Meir’s spacesuit helmet is fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch photographing her crewmate during a spacewalk The Expedition 61 astronauts have one more spacewalk planned this weekend and they will finish the repair of a cosmic ray detector. This will be the ninth spacewalk for the crew, more than in […]