The universe’s brightest supernova ever may be something far more rare. An extraordinary display of light in a distant galaxy that had been previously dubbed brightest supernova… Read more “Black Hole Swallowing a Star Mistaken for Brightest Supernova”
Category: Astronomy
A tour of our solar system
Our solar system is a fascinating place. For decades, ambitious engineers and scientists around the world have been sending brave humans and robotic emissaries deep into our… Read more “A tour of our solar system”
Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn Shines
A stunning new photo of Saturn’s north pole spotlights the planet’s bizarre hexagon-shaped vortex and beautiful bands of swirling winds. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this dramatic view… Read more “Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn Shines”
If you like the northern lights, Jupiter takes them to the next level
If you want to see beautiful auroras, forget Alaska, Canada, and Iceland—check out Jupiter. At the gas giant’s north pole, the most powerful and luminous northern lights… Read more “If you like the northern lights, Jupiter takes them to the next level”
The first galaxies came together in three minutes (video)
Minute Physics pieces together what we know about the great-great-grandfathers of galaxies that we see today. The Milky Way is just one of 100 billion galaxies in… Read more “The first galaxies came together in three minutes (video)”
Measuring a massive black hole
It’s about 660 million times as massive as our sun, and a cloud of gas circles it at about 1.1 million mph. This supermassive black hole sits… Read more “Measuring a massive black hole”
Unveiling Ceres
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has revealed marvelous sights on dwarf planet Ceres during its first year in orbit, including the mysterious bright spots in Occator Crater. See full-resolution… Read more “Unveiling Ceres”
Shockwave Of An Exploding Star
Shockwaves (aka a “shock breakout”) like this only last for 20 minutes, so it was really exciting for astronomers to capture the moment, which they recorded as… Read more “Shockwave Of An Exploding Star”
Debating Signatures of Alien Life
Huddled in a coffee shop one drizzly Seattle morning six years ago, the astrobiologist Shawn Domagal-Goldman stared blankly at his laptop screen, paralyzed. He had been running… Read more “Debating Signatures of Alien Life”
Charon: A possible ancient ocean?
Pluto’s largest moon may have gotten too big for its own skin. Images from NASA’s New Horizons mission suggest that Pluto’s moon Charon once had a subsurface… Read more “Charon: A possible ancient ocean?”
17 of Hubble’s greatest space images
The Hubble space telescope is 25 years old. It has been inspiring and astounding us by capturing previously unseen secrets from far-away galaxies, stars and black… Read more “17 of Hubble’s greatest space images”
Black hole caught ‘burping’ galactic gas
Astronomers have spotted two huge waves of gas being “burped” by the black hole at the heart of a nearby galaxy. The swathes of hot gas, detected… Read more “Black hole caught ‘burping’ galactic gas”
