Astronomy
Webb Sees a Star in the Midst of Formation
Wherever the JWST looks in space, matter and energy are interacting in spectacular displays. The Webb reveals more detail in…
Meeting Mercury at Dusk in July
Mercury puts on one of its best apparitions for 2024 this month.
Plate Tectonics Might Only Occur on 0.003% of Planets. That Makes Earth Very Special Indeed.
Plate tectonics, oceans, and continents might just be the secret ingredients for complex life on Earth. And if these geological…
Merging Galaxies Make for Explosive Star Formation
The Gemini Observatory has unveiled a striking new image that shows star formation within the irregular galaxy NGC 4449. This…
NASA Releases a New 3D Animation of the Lunar Gateway
To get to the Moon, NASA is building a Lunar Gateway in orbit to facilitate easier access to the Moon.…
These Three Neutron Stars Shouldn't Be So Cold
Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the Universe, second only to black holes. Like black holes, neutron stars…
Existing Telescopes Could Directly Observe ‘ExoEarths…’ with a Few Tweaks
One proposal offers a unique method to directly image ExoEarths, or rocky worlds around nearby stars.
Cepheid Variables are the Bedrock of the Cosmic Distance Ladder. Astronomers are Trying to Understand them Better
One of the most fundamental questions astronomers ask about an object is "What's its distance?" For very faraway objects, they…
How Commercial Satellites Could Track Spy Balloons and Other UFOs
It turns out that you don't need the Men in Black to spot unidentified anomalous phenomena, which are also known…
Do We Now Have an Accurate Map of Nearby Stars?
If the Sun has a stellar neighbourhood, it can be usefully defined as a 20 parsec (65 light-years) sphere centred…