Shannon Hall
Calling All Volunteers to Help Digitize Astronomical History
An old brick building on Harvard’s Observatory Hill is overflowing with rows of dark green cabinets — each one filled…
A Lurking Companion Star Explains Enigmatic Supernova
Massive stars end their lives dramatically. Once the nuclear fuel deep within their cores is spent, there's no longer any…
Gliese 15Ab: The Closest Known Super-Earth?
Our solar neighborhood is rich with planetary systems. Within 20 light-years we’ve detected sizzling gas giants and rocky planets orbiting…
A New Marker Might Better Track the Solar Cycle
Approximately every 11 years the Sun becomes violently active, putting on a show of magnetic activity for aurora watchers and…
One Planet, Two Stars: A System More Common Than Previously Thought
There are few environments more hostile than a planet circling two stars. Powerful tidal forces from the stars can easily…
Meet Laniakea, Our Home Supercluster
Our cosmic address extends well beyond Earth, past the Milky Way and toward the farthest reaches of the universe. But…
Radio Telescopes Resolve Pleiades Distance Debate
Fall will soon be at our doorstep. But before the leaves change colors and the smell of pumpkin fills our…
Astronomers Spot Pebble-Size Dust Grains in the Orion Nebula
Stars and planets form out of vast clouds of dust and gas. Small pockets in these clouds collapse under the…
First Glimpse of a Young Galactic Core Forming in the Early Universe
Astronomers have spotted, for the first time, a dense galactic core blazing with the light of millions of newborn stars…
What Lit up the Universe? Astronomers May be on the Brink of an Answer
Most scientists can see, hear, smell, touch or even taste their research. But astronomers can only study light — photons…