Mark Thompson
Webb Maps the Weather on the Closest Brown Dwarfs to Earth
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has done it again. A team of astronomers have used it to map the weather…
Galaxies Regulate their Own Growth so they Don’t Run Out of Star Forming Gas
Look at most spiral or barred spiral galaxies and you will see multiple regions where stars are forming. These star…
Mapping the Stars in a Dwarf Galaxy to Reveal its Dark Matter
Dark matter is curious stuff! As the name suggests, it’s dark making it notoriously difficult to study. Although it’s is…
A Close Pulsar Measures 11.4 km Across
When massive stars detonate as supernovae, they leave often behind a pulsar. These fast rotating stellar corpses have fascinated scientists…
Do Planets Have the Raw Ingredients for Life? The Answer is in their Stars
Finding planets that already have, or have the ingredients for intelligent life is a real challenge. It is exciting that…
The Rugged Desert Moss Best Equipped to Survive on Mars
For decades, we have seen Mars as a desolate landscape devoid of any signs of life. Attempt to identify ways…
Mapping the Milky Way’s Dark Matter Halo
Anytime astronomers talk of mapping the Milky Way I am always reminded how tricky the study of the Universe can…
Ammonites Were Doing Fine Until the Asteroid Hit
I must confess, I think asteroids and I think of movies like Deep Impact or Armageddon! Scientists think that an…
What’s Next for the Event Horizon Telescope? Twelve Possible New Targets
Both the Milky Way and a galaxy known as M87 have supermassive black holes at their core. These are the…
Merging Galaxies Make for Explosive Star Formation
The Gemini Observatory has unveiled a striking new image that shows star formation within the irregular galaxy NGC 4449. This…