Brian Koberlein
An Asteroid Came Uncomfortably Close to Earth in July. Could we Have Stopped it?
On July 15th, 2023, astronomers discovered an asteroid 43 meters across, two days before it passed within a quarter of…
Misaligned Binary Star Systems are Rogue Planet Factories
Astronomers are discovering that free-floating, rogue planets are common in the Milky Way. Hundreds were recently found in the Orion…
The Milky Way's Black Hole is Spinning as Fast as it Can
Is the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way (SagA*) spinning? And how fast? It's tricky to…
This Photonic Crystal Bends Light Like a Black Hole
One of the first observational tests of general relativity was that the path of light bends in the presence of…
A Fast Radio Burst Took 8 Billion Years to Reach Us
A newly discovered fast radio burst (FRB) absolutely smashed the record for the most distant ever discovered. The burst was…
How Close is Too Close to a Kilonova?
Cataclysmic events happen in the Universe all the time. Black hole mergers, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and a whole host of…
JWST Looks at the Debris Disc Around a White Dwarf
White dwarfs are the ultimate fate of stars like our Sun, and one of the most exciting examples is located…
In 1952, A Group of Three “Stars” Vanished. Astronomers Still Can’t Find Them
In 1952, the Palomar Observatory imaged a close grouping of three point-like light sources, measuring 15th magnitude in brightness. It…
Can We Find the Heaviest Elements in Asteroids?
Uranium is the heaviest element found in large amounts on Earth, with an atomic number of 92. Although heavier elements…
A Monster Solar Storm Struck Earth 14,300 Years Ago
Because of our dependence on technology, a powerful solar storm would be a catastrophe, shutting down the electrical grid and…