Shannon Hall
Experts Question Claim Tunguska Meteorite May Have Come from Mars
In 1908 a blazing white line cut across the sky before exploding a few miles above the ground with a…
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
Astronomers constantly probe the skies for the unexpected. They search for unforeseen bumps in their data — signaling an unknown…
Why People Resist the Notion of Climate Change
One of the most striking features of the climate change 'debate' is that it’s no longer a debate. Climate scientists…
High Potential for Life Circling Alpha Centauri B, our Nearest Neighbor
While exoplanets make the news on an almost daily basis, one of the biggest announcements occurred in 2012 when astronomers…
Search for Planetary Nurseries in the Latest Citizen Science Project
Growing up, my sister played video games and I read books. Now that she has a one-year-old daughter we constantly…
Surprise! Fomalhaut’s Kid Sister Has a Debris Disk Too
The bright star Fomalhaut hosts a spectacular debris disk: a dusty circling plane of small objects where planets form. At…
Enduring Quests and Daring Visions: NASA Lays Out a Roadmap for Astrophysics
Three decades ago we were unaware that exoplanets circled other stars. We had just started talking about dark matter but…
Nearby Brown Dwarf System May Harbor Closest Exoplanet to Earth
In 2012 astronomers announced the discovery of an Earth-like planet circling our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri B, a mere 4.3…
Global Warming Explained in 52 Seconds
We are awash in the unseen, the unknown and the unexplained. Our Universe is enshrouded in mystery. Even what we…
Prebiotic Molecules May Form in Exoplanet Atmospheres
Before there was life as we know it, there were molecules. And after many seemingly unlikely steps these molecules underwent…