Space and astronomy news
Jupiter’s moon Io is a volcanic powerhouse. It’s the most geologically active world in the Solar System, sporting more than 400 spouting volcanoes and vents on its surface. Has it always been this way? A team of planetary scientists says yes, and they have the chemical receipts to prove it.
Continue reading “Io Has Been Volcanically Active for its Entire History”
The earliest black holes in the Universe called primordial black holes (PBHs), are strong contenders to help explain why the Universe is heavier than it looks. There’s only one problem: these miniature monsters haven’t exactly been observed—yet. But, when astronomers do find them, they might turn out to be part of the Universe’s dark matter component.
Continue reading “Where are All the Primordial Black Holes?”
It’s coming back! Sunspot AR3664 gave us an amazing display of northern lights in mid-May and it’s now rotating back into view. That means another great display if this sunspot continues to flare out. It’s all part of solar maximum—the peak of an 11-year cycle of solar active and quiet times. This cycle is the result of something inside the Sun—the solar dynamo. A team of scientists suggests that this big generator lies not far beneath the solar surface. It creates a magnetic field and spurs flares and sunspots.
Continue reading “The Sun’s Magnetic Field Might Only Be Skin Deep”
Normally you don’t want dust to get into your spacecraft. That was certainly true for the InSight mission to Mars, until it died. Now, however, it’s acting as a dust collector, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) scientists couldn’t be happier.
Continue reading “Mars InSight Has One Last Job: Getting Swallowed by Dust on the Red Planet”
It’s been a momentous May for skywatchers around the world. First the big auroral event of May 10-11, next a flaming space rock entering over Spain and Portugal. The inbound object was captured by ground-based cameras and the MeteoSat Third Generation Imager in geostationary orbit.
Continue reading “A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal”
It’s been 20 years in the making, but a 3200-megapixel camera built especially for astrophysics discoveries has finally arrived at its home. The Legacy of Space and Time (LSST) camera was delivered to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile in mid-May, 2024.
Continue reading “The Largest Camera Ever Built Arrives at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory”
A long time ago, in two galaxies far, far away, two massive black holes merged. This happened when the Universe was only 740 million years old. A team of astronomers used JWST to study this event, the most distant (and earliest) detection of a black hole merger ever.
Continue reading “Webb Sees Black Holes Merging Near the Beginning of Time”
Exoplanets are a fascinating astronomy topic, especially the so-called “Hot Jupiters”. They’re overheated massive worlds often found orbiting very close to their stars—hence the name. Extreme gravitational interactions can tug them right into their stars over millions of years. However, some hot Jupiters appear to be spiraling in faster than gravity can explain.
Continue reading “Why Hot Jupiters Spiral into Their Stars”
The history of astronomy and observatories is full of stories about astronomers going higher and higher to get better views of the Universe. On Earth, the best locations are at places such as the Atacama Desert in Chile. So, that’s where the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory just opened its high-altitude eye on the sky, atop Cerro Chajnantor.
Continue reading “The Highest Observatory in the World Comes Online”
We go about our daily lives sheltered under an invisible magnetic field generated deep inside Earth. It forms the magnetosphere, a region dominated by the magnetic field. Without that planetary protection shield, we’d experience harmful cosmic radiation and charged particles from the Sun.
Continue reading “Earth Had a Magnetosphere 3.7 Billion Years Ago”