Two decades ago, the U.S. Congress tasked NASA with identifying 90% of near-Earth asteroids that could pose a threat. Since then, the agency has made progress tracking objects that orbit the Sun and pass within 1.3 astronomical units of Earth. A New Threat Emerging Near Venus However, a new area of concern is emerging: astronomers […]
Study Suggests Hidden Danger May Be Orbiting Alongside Venus Read More »
One evening in my light-polluted San Diego backyard, I had my telescope set up for astrophotography and aimed it at an incredibly distant galaxy. As the first image appeared on my tablet screen, my wife, Cristina, came over. “That’s the Pinwheel Galaxy,” I told her—named for its spiral shape and home to roughly a trillion
How Light Travels Across the Universe Without Losing Energy Read More »
The newly released NASA budget introduces major changes: the Orion spacecraft and the Lunar Gateway space station are among the projects to be canceled. With a total of $18.8 billion, the budget reflects a $6 billion — or 24% — reduction, signaling a shift in the agency’s investments toward crewed missions to the Moon and
NASA budget Cuts Eliminate Missions, SLS, And Space Station Read More »
Japanese astronomers have found that the unknown X-ray source AX J145732−5901 is a galaxy cluster behind the galactic plane. The researchers outlined these findings in a paper released on April 30 on the arXiv preprint server. Discovery and Early Observations of AX J145732−5901 with ASCA NASA launched the ASCA satellite in 1993 to study distant
Observations Indicate That The X-Ray Source AX J145732−5901 Is Likely A Galaxy Cluster Read More »
On the edge of our galaxy, one of the universe’s rarest stellar objects just became even more puzzling.Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia observatory, astronomers examined the environment around SGR 0501+4516, a magnetar — a highly magnetized type of neutron star. Their findings suggest that our current understanding of how magnetars
A Magnetar’s Unexpected Origins Add New Depth to a Cosmic Mystery Read More »
In 2020, astronomers discovered WD 1856+534 b, a gas giant about 81 light-years from Earth. With about six times Jupiter’s mass, this “super-Jupiter” became the first known exoplanet to transit a white dwarf. JWST Observations Confirm WD 1856+534 b as the Coldest Exoplanet Ever Detected In a recent study, an international team of astronomers reported
JWST Verifies Coldest Exoplanet Found Around A Dead Star Read More »
We’ve found that a meteorite impacted northwest Scotland 1 billion years ago—200 million years more recently than earlier estimates. Our findings are published today in the journal Geology. This impact now coincides with some of the earliest known land based, non-marine microbial fossilsh, providing fresh insights into how meteorite collisions may have influenced our planet’s
A Meteorite Hit Scotland More Recently Than Previously Believed Read More »
For the first time, a solitary black hole drifting through the cosmos has been confirmed. After much excitement, a closer examination has unveiled the true nature of this mysterious object. The latest analysis reveals that the black hole has a mass approximately 7.15 times that of the Sun, is located about 4,958 light-years away, and
First Truly Isolated Black Hole Discovered In The Cosmos Read More »
A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has revealed a subtle yet significant phenomenon beneath the North American continent: its ancient bedrock is slowly sinking into the Earth’s mantle. This descent occurs in a drip-like fashion, forming a funnel-shaped structure concentrated in the Midwestern United States, which pulls the ancient rocks horizontally before they
North America Is Sinking Into the Earth’s Mantle Read More »
The constellation Lyra, visible in the northern sky, has long been associated with music, as it’s named after the lyre — a harp-like musical instrument. It is also from this constellation that the annual Lyrid meteor shower appears to radiate, with this year’s peak expected on the night of April 21 into the early morning
NASA Invites: Enjoy the Lyrid Meteor Shower, Peaking April 21–22 Read More »