Sometime over the next few weeks, Planck will release their new results. What will that mean for gravitational waves from inflation? “The paradigm of physics — with its interplay of data, theory […]
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How new developments in measuring the highest-energy particles and earliest signals from the Universe are teaching us what all this is. Big questions in the field of Cosmology are often […]
At the bottom of the teapot in Sagittarius, the ancient giants burn for your pleasure. Image credit: REU program / NOAO / AURA / NSF. “I told my father that […]
And why do some of them appear to be right here in our own galaxy, which formed much later? Image credit: DSS, of SMSS J031300.36–670839.3, candidate for “oldest star.” “Let […]
Perhaps the most spectacular example of rebirth in our galaxy, this cavernous nebula is giving rise to the next generation of stars! Image credit: ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0925a/. “For in the […]
It’s the greatest source of energy in the Universe, and yet we had no idea until less than 100 years ago. “The sun is a miasmaOf incandescent plasmaThe sun’s not […]
How Worlds Thought in the 1960s to be Circling Barnard’s Star Turned out to be Illusions. Image via: http://www.wingmakers.co.nz/universe/extrasolar/Barnards.html. In this golden age of exoplanet discovery, it is hard to […]
There have been many supernovae in the Milky Way seen over the past 2,000 years, but nobody ever saw the most recent ones! Image credit: NASA/CXC/NCSU/K.Borkowski et al. “When I […]
We claim to know the Universe’s history to incredible precision. But is this justified? “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”-Albert Einstein We’ve reached […]
With the full suite of observations of the Universe now at our disposal, what is the story, contents, and history of the Universe? “People are trapped in history and history […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sorry, Orange. Black is the new black. A new material created by British researchers absorbs all but 0.035% of visible light.
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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]