Gaia
Are Andromeda and the Milky Way Already Exchanging Stars?
I often drag out the amazing fact that the Andromeda Galaxy, that faint fuzzy blob just off the corner of…
Astronomers Build a 3D Map of Dust Within Thousands of Light-Years
If you explore the night sky it won’t be long before you realise there is a lot of dust and…
Scientists Track How a Giant Wave Moved Through Our Galactic Backyard
Astronomers say there's a wave rippling through our galactic neighborhood that's playing a part in the birth and death of…
The SETI Ellipse Tells Us Where to Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations
Of all the questions that remain unanswered, the question of life in the Universe is surely the one that captures…
Astronomers Measure the Mass of the Milky Way by Calculating How Hard it is to Escape
Several techniques have been developed to measure the mass of the Milky Way, providing a range of estimates. In a…
There’s Less Dark Matter at the Core of the Milky Way
Science really does keep you on your toes. First there was matter and then there were galaxies. Then those galaxies…
Will Wide Binaries Be the End of MOND?
It’s a fact that many of us have churned out during public engagement events; that at least 50% of all…
For its Next Trick, Gaia Could Help Detect Background Gravitational Waves in the Universe
Ripples in a pond can be captivating on a nice sunny day as can ripples in the very fabric of…
Astronomers Find Dozens of Massive Stars Fleeing the Milky Way
The Milky Way can't hold onto all of its stars. Some of them get ejected into intergalactic space and spend…
Do Red Dwarfs or Sunlike Stars Have More Earth-Sized Worlds?
Earth is our only example of a habitable planet, so it makes sense to search for Earth-size worlds when we're…