5 Scientific Revolutions That NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Will Deliver
Cumulatively, astronomical data helps scientists reconstruct what happened in our Universe’s past. Looking back a variety of distances corresponds to a variety of times since the Big Bang. While our modern suite of observatories has taken us very far back in the distant Universe, numerous questions remain: both about what happened at very early times […]
Risky business: will the world rise to the challenge of asteroid defense?
Earth has been stuck in a cosmic shooting gallery since its formation. About 4 billion years ago, the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn shifted, barreling through a dense ring of asteroids and comets left over from the solar system’s formation. Some of these ancient worlds slammed into Earth, possibly carrying water and organic materials here […]
Mysterious Extra-Galactic Discovery: 36 Dwarf Galaxies Had Simultaneous “Baby Boom” of New Stars
Rutgers’ unexpected discovery challenges current theories on how galaxies grow and may enhance our understanding of the universe. Credit: Rutgers University-New Brunswick Surprising finding challenges current theories on how galaxies grow. Three dozen dwarf galaxies far from each other had a simultaneous “baby boom” of new stars, an unexpected discovery that challenges current theories on […]
Star's death will play a mean pinball with rhythmic planets
Jun 11, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Four planets locked in a perfect rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be pinballed around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, according to a study led by the University of Warwick that peers into its future. Astronomers have modelled how the change in gravitational forces in […]
Astronomers find blinking giant star near heart of Milky Way
Astronomers have spotted a giant blinking star, 100 times the size of the sun, lurking near the heart of the Milky Way. Telescope observations revealed that over a few hundred days the enormous star, which lies more than 25,000 light years away, dimmed by 97% and then slowly returned to its former brightness. The unexpected […]
The European Space Agency is sending another spacecraft to Venus
By Leah Crane The EnVision mission will use radar to study Venus’s underground structure NASA/JAXA/ISAS/DARTS/Damia Bouic/VR2Planets Venus is going to get yet another visitor. In addition to the two NASA missions announced on 2 June, the European Space Agency (ESA) is sending its own orbiter called EnVision to help study why our sweltering neighbour is […]
Why do eclipses happen?
Astronomy Now: AN graphic by Greg Smye-Rumsby. Solar eclipses are relatively rare; they happen when the Moon moves directly and precisely in front of the Sun. Why are they so infrequent, and why do solar eclipses always come in pairs with lunar eclipses? It is all down to a mix of orbital alignments and cosmic […]
Wind from supermassive black holes may help small galaxies thrive
By Leah Crane An illustration of a jet of energy cutting through the thick ring of dust around a supermassive black hole NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook Supermassive black holes at the centres of large galaxies may clear the way for smaller satellite galaxies. Many large galaxies have satellite galaxies orbiting them, and the life cycles of these […]
The building blocks for life might exist at the edge of the galaxy
New Scientist:
New Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Discovered With a Substantial Atmosphere Ripe for Study
SciTech Daily: