Stars
Found! Sun’s ‘Sibling’ Likely Formed From Same Gas Cloud, Astronomers Say
Peer about 110 light-years away from our solar system, and you might catch a glimpse of how our own neighborhood…
Star Trail Photo Hints at Hidden Polestars
A week ago I made a 45-minute time exposure of the southern sky featuring the planet Mars. As the Earth…
Supernova Sweeps Away Rubbish In New Composite Image
Shining 24,000 light-years from Earth is an expanding leftover of a supernova that is doing a great cleanup job in…
How CERN’s Discovery of Exotic Particles May Affect Astrophysics
You may have heard that CERN announced the discovery (confirmation, actually. See addendum below.) of a strange particle known as Z(4430). A…
Two Observing Challenges: Catch Venus Passing Neptune And Occulting a Bright Star
Have you been following the planet Venus this season? 2014 sees the brightest planet in our Earthly skies spend a…
Quasars Tell The Story Of How Fast The Young Universe Expanded
For those who saw the Cosmos episode on William Herschel describing telescopes as time machines, here is a clear example…
Starquake! How Super-Suns Swing, And What It Could Look Like
Much like how an earthquake can teach us about the interior of the Earth, a starquake shows off certain properties…
Possible Nova Pops in Cygnus
A newly-discovered star of magnitude +10.9 has flared to life in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima, both…
Observing Alert: Watch the Moon Cross the Hyades This Week
A photogenic grouping greets evening sky watchers this week providing a fine teaser leading up to a spectacular eclipse. On…
Dusty Galaxies Shine Across The Universe In New Herschel Survey
While dust is easy to ignore in small quantities (says the writer looking at her desk), across vast reaches of…