Astronomy
A 2nd Planet has been Confirmed for Proxima Centauri
Our closest stellar neighbour is Proxima Centauri, a small red dwarf star about 4.2 light years away from us. It's…
This is a Binary Star in the Process of Formation
About 460 light years away lies the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. It's a molecular cloud—an active star-forming region—and it's one…
Early Life Was Pumping Out Oxygen, But the Earth’s Mantle Was Absorbing it
About 2.4 billion years ago, everything changed for Earth. That was the time of the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), when…
Titan is Drifting Away from Saturn Surprisingly Quickly
Where did Saturn's bizarro-moon Titan form? Did it form where it is now, or has it migrated? We have decades…
Hubble Photo of Globular Cluster NGC 6441, One of the Most Massive in the Milky Way
The Hubble Space Telescope has delivered another outstanding image. This one is of NGC 6441, a massive globular cluster in…
Astronomers Have Found the Star/Exoplanet Combo That’s the Best Twin to the Sun/Earth
At times, it seems like there's an indundation of announcements featuring discoveries of "Earth-like" planets. And while those announcements are…
At the Heart of the Milky Way, Stars Come Close to Each Other All the Time
A new study provides new estimates on how often stars near the center of our galaxy experience "close encounters," which…
Gamma Rays Detected Coming From the Crab Nebula
Most people with any interest in astronomy know about the Crab Nebula. It's a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus,…
There are powerful magnetic fields at the core of the Milky Way, driven by the supermassive black hole
The center of the Milky Way is home to a giant black hole, but new research suggests that it isn't…
Much of the Lithium Here on Earth Came from Exploding White Dwarf Stars
The Big Bang produced the Universe's hydrogen, helium, and a little lithium. Since then, it's been up to stars (for…