With a planetary nebula, over 80,000 stars and a distance of only 10,000 light-years, it’s one of the most rewarding globulars of all! Image credit: R. Columbari, via http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=31833. “I […]
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With the iconic pillars and fairy inside, this star-forming region in our galactic plane just might be the most spectacular of them all. Image credit: ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0926a/. “The most […]
This weekend, the Geminids arrive, and promise to be the best meteor shower of the entire year! “Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing […]
It’s the faintest and hardest object to see in the entire catalogue, but the rewards — and knowledge you gain — are priceless! “If there is nothing new under the sun, at least the […]
This summer, help the educational Black Rock Observatory shine at Burning Man! “Catch on fire and people will come for miles to see you burn.” –John Wesley Now that summer is […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sorry, Orange. Black is the new black. A new material created by British researchers absorbs all but 0.035% of visible light.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
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), […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]