NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is on the hunt for an icy world just beyond Pluto. The speedy New Horizons spacecraft will be visiting Pluto next year, and NASA scientists are […]
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It took Messier himself more than a decade to observe it, but the reward is a glimpse into the ancient Universe! Image credit: Daniel Verschatse, via http://www.astrosurf.com/antilhue/m55.htm. “The only thing […]
This gem box is an archipelago of dust and gas rich galaxies called the Hercules Cluster, some 500 million light-years away. NASA has more: Also known as Abell 2151, this […]
At the top of the Teapot, a fantastic cluster dotted with Red Giants awaits. Image credit: © 2005–2009 by Rainer Sparenberg, via http://www.airglow.de/html/starclusters/m28.html. “The most difficult thing is the decision […]
Through a telescope, this swarm of star appears extremely oblate. But is it really? Image credit: via http://vilagbiztonsag.hu/keptar/displayimage.php?album=19&pid=19138. “If I take dust in my hand and ask you if that […]
A giant squid haunts the depths of Earth’s sky. NASA explains: A mysterious, squid-like apparition, this nebula is very faint, but also very large in planet Earth’s sky. In the […]
Imagine standing in a bare room in which a small, 4-billion-year-old rock hangs from the ceiling by a thin wire as three vocalists whistle and breathe on it to make it swing. For some people, such a scenario might be the nightmare version of contemporary art run amok, so far “out there” that it’s never coming back.
The Eagle has landed. NASA released this image of the roughly 2 million years old (a relatively youthful star cluster) of M16, surrounded by glowing gas and natal clouds of […]
Sorry, Orange. Black is the new black. A new material created by British researchers absorbs all but 0.035% of visible light.
Our love of the one-time ninth planet holds the key to our drive for venturing out into the Universe. “I have announced this star as a comet, but since it […]
Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane! It’s comet PanSTARRS C/2012 K1, and NASA snapped this photograph of it crossing the constellation Ursa Major. From NASA: […]
They’re one of the great undetected predictions of dark matter, and we may have just found the first ones! “Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest […]
Beyond our own galaxy, this ancient relic holds a key to our cannibalistic past. Image credit: NASA / Hubble / Wikisky. “A hungry man can’t see right or wrong. He […]
No other idea explains even two of these. Image credit: NASA / CXC / ESO WFI / Magellan composite. Any recent article about the remaining mysteries of the Universe will […]
The farther north you are, the harder this wonder is to see. But oh, the rewarding sights for those who find it! Image credit: Emi; Ivamov, via http://www.emilivanov.com/CCD%20Images/M06_LRGB.htm. “Happiness is […]
Near the constellation Coma Berenices, some 63 million light-years away, is NGC 4651, a spiral galaxy about the size of our Milky Way. Extending 100 thousand light-years past its galactic […]
The Virgo Cluster of galaxies is the richest nearby treasure trove of ellipticals; this is the final one Messier ever found. “We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, […]
We observe our Universe as it is today: 13.8 billion years old and full of galaxies. What would we see 100 billion years from now? “It is always wise to look […]
The largest structures in the Universe are phantasms, in the process of self-destructing. Image credit: NASA, N. Benitez (JHU), T. Broadhurst (Racah Institute of Physics/The Hebrew University), H. Ford (JHU), […]
Messier himself lamented his own original discovery. If only he knew why he was so disappointed, he might’ve been amazed instead! “Things need not have happened to be true. Tales […]
Live-streamed from Perimeter Institute, & exclusive real-time commentary! “Every generation of physicists solves some old puzzles and finds some new ones.” –Dr. Kendrick Smith I want you to think back […]
From cloudy nights to clear, and even during the day, this beautiful bedding brings the beauty of the Universe to you! “The probability of success is difficult to estimate; but […]
Is there another version of you somewhere out there in a parallel Universe? “Go then, there are other worlds than these.” –Stephen King, The Dark Tower One of the most […]
Despite it’s reputation as an “infinite range” force, the realities of our Universe place a limit on its reach. “In my dreams and visions, I seemed to see a line, […]
It’s the last Virgo Cluster member in the entire Messier catalogue, but they saved the best for last! Image credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO), via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0608a/. “From a little spark […]
Doesn’t this look like the cosmic equivalent of a field of irises? Perhaps that’s why this cloud of gas and dust is called the Iris Nebula. NASA released this image […]
We’ve just landed our first-ever probe on the surface of a comet. Here’s what it means, and what we’ll learn. “I must trust that the little bit of love that […]
Not a chance. What we’ve found may be a mystery, but it’s definitely not our Universe’s missing mass. “Time takes it all whether you want it to or not, time […]
Is there a way to see past the barrier the Universe puts up before it became transparent to light? Image credit: Mark Kamionkowski, of gravitational waves. “From earliest times, humans — explorers […]
If you’ve ever seen a beautiful picture of the Universe, thank this pioneer you’ve probably never heard of. “What you do is, you have your drawing board and a pencil in […]