Astronomy
Watch Asteroids Whiz by the Earth-Moon System This Week as First Steps Toward Asteroid Exploration Leave the Launch Pad
It’s a dangerous universe out there, for a budding young space-faring species. Killer comets, planet sterilizing gamma ray bursts, and…
Communicating Across the Cosmos 4: The Quest for a Rosetta Stone
On television and in the movies, it’s so easy. Aliens almost always speak English (at least in America they do).…
Sail Past Orion to the Outer Limits of the Milky Way
Several nights ago the chill of interstellar space refrigerated the countryside as temperatures fell well below zero. That didn't discourage…
Astronomers Poised to Capture Image of Supermassive Milky Way Black Hole
Scientists have long suspected that supermassive black holes (SMBH) reside at the center of every large galaxy in our universe.…
“Eye of Sauron” Galaxy Used For New Method of Galactic Surveying
Determining the distance of galaxies from our Solar System is a tricky business. Knowing just how far other galaxies are…
Here’s Your Sign: Are You an Ophiuchian?
It happens to all lovers of astronomy sooner or later. I once had a friend who was excited about an…
NASA Airship Could Watch The Stars Without The Need Of a Rocket
Dreams of space are often tied to jet engines or solar sails or taking a ride on a rocketship. But…
New Analysis Sets a Space & Time Zone for Complex Life
If too close to an environment harboring complex life, a gamma ray burst could spell doom for that life. But…
Communicating Across the Cosmos, Part 3: Bridging the Vast Gulf
If extraterrestrial civilizations exist, the nearest is probably at least hundreds or thousands of light years away. Still, the greatest…
Astronomers Discover First Mulitiple-image Gravitationally-lensed Supernova
How about four supernovae for the price of one? Using the Hubble Space Telescope, Dr. Patrick Kelly of the University of…