Astronomy
Asteroid Swarm ‘Pounded’ Pulsar Star, Causing Changes Visible From Earth
When you throw a bunch of rock and debris at a rapidly spinning star, what happens? A new study suggests…
New Planet-Hunting Telescope To Join Search For Alien Earths In 2024
How could life arise in young solar systems? We're still not sure of the answer on Earth, even for something…
Dense Gas Clouds Blot The View Of Supermassive Black Holes
Gas around supermassive black holes tends to clump into immense clouds, periodically blocking the view of these huge X-ray sources…
Is Eta Carinae Heading Toward Another Eruption?
Massive stars can devastate their surroundings, unleashing hot winds and blasting radiation. With a mass over 100 times heavier than…
Dazzling New Views of a Familiar Cluster
Wow. It’s always amazing to get new views of familiar sky targets. And you always know that a “feast for…
Keeping An Eye On Gaia
Gaia, ESA's long-anticipated mission to map the stars of our galaxy (as well as do a slew of other cool…
Runaway Pulsar Produces Longest Jet Trail Ever Observed
One of the fastest-moving pulsars ever observed is spewing out a record-breaking jet of high-energy particles that stretches 37 light…
NSF Report Biased, Expert Says: Americans Don’t Think Astrology is Scientific
Every Thanksgiving when I was home from college, at least one family member would turn to me and ask me…
Now’s the Time to See Asteroid Pallas at its Best
Looking for something off of the beaten celestial path to observe? The coming weeks will offer telescope users a rare…
Zooniverse Reaches One Million Volunteers
Zooniverse — the renowned home of citizen science projects — is now one million strong. That’s one million registered volunteers…