Shannon Hall
When Science is Art: a New Map of Wind Patterns
A new map of wind patterns is so visually stunning it's easily mistaken for art. This interactive visualization of wind…
Lithopanspermia: How Earth May Have Seeded Life on Other Solar System Bodies
With the recent discovery that Europa has geysers, and therefore definitive proof of a liquid ocean, there’s a lot of…
Fast Radio Bursts May Originate Closer to Home Than Previously Thought
Fast radio bursts — eruptions of extreme energy that occur only once and last a thousandth of a second —…
Second Planetary System Like Ours Discovered
A team of European astronomers has discovered a second planetary system, the closest parallel to our own solar system yet…
Using the ‘Missing Physics’ of Stellar Feedback to Accurately Simulate Galaxies from the Big Bang to Today
For the first time, astronomers are able to accurately simulate galaxies from shortly after the big bang to today by…
Sgr A* Could Be a Relic of a Powerful AGN
The early universe was sizzling with active galactic nuclei (AGN) — intensely luminous cores powered by supermassive black holes — most…
How Astronomy Benefits Society and Humankind
With an annual cost of $30.8 million, the Keck Observatory costs $53.7 thousand for a single night’s worth of operation.…
Life After Kepler: Upcoming Exoplanet Missions
Last week I held an interview with Dr. Sara Seager - a lead astronomer who has contributed vastly to the…
Changing the Paradigm: Exoplanet Interview with Dr. Sara Seager
Astronomers have now discovered one thousand extrasolar planets, reaching a milestone in modern astronomy. (See a recent Universe Today article…
Astronomers Map Dark Matter Throughout the Entire Universe
Warped visions of the cosmic microwave background - the earliest detectable light - allow astronomers to map the total amount…