Astronomy

Comparing the Universe To the Pixels In This Video Puts Its Massive Scale Into Perspective

Taking advantage of its medium of choice, Minute Physics makes the incredibly vast scale of the observable universe a little easier to comprehend by comparing it to the 2,073,600 pixels in this 1080P video. But be forewarned: drawing similarities between the earth and a single pixel in this clip isn’t going to help if you’re…

Physics & Chemistry Andrew Liszewski

Could these meteorites hold the first evidence of extraterrestrial life?

Scientists in Wales are claiming that they may have found fossilized microbes in meteorites that crashed to the ground a few years ago in Sri Lanka. The meteorites have a geological composition characteristic of comets, but when the researchers cracked them open they found something unexpected. They discovered microscopic structures that look an awful lot…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Sorry, astrologers — this is what it really means when a planet is in retrograde

You usually hear about a planet being “in retrograde” from astrologers, which might give you the impression that the term is mystical jargon. In fact, it does have an astronomical meaning. That meaning just happens to come from a rather outdated concept, when the Earth was still the center of the solar system. Today, it…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Scientists Claim Meteorite Fragments Contain Alien Biological Fossils (They Don’t)

A paper came out of Cardiff University today claiming to have found algae fossils in samples of a meteorite that landed in Sri Lanka this past December. At first glance, the claims are stunning: proof that life exists throughout the universe. But sadly, also deeply flawed. The analysis was carried out in part by Chandra…

Tech News Kyle Wagner

An Astrophotography Crash Course That Will Have You Seeing Stars

Astrophotography is one of the most complex types of photography, blending artistic talents with deep scientific understanding and technical ability. So, if you’re just starting out, it can be a complicated topic to get a handle on—but this video should help. The most important thing to consider is, perhaps obviously, your telescope. In this half-hour…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Rare binary stars help astronomers measure our place in the universe

We know that the Milky Way is surrounded by an array of satellite galaxies, the largest of which is the rather aptly named Large Magellanic Cloud. But figuring out exactly how far away our cosmic neighbor is has proved fiendishly difficult. This isn’t simply an accounting problem — fixing a precise measurement of the distance…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

NASA’s Guide to Viewing the Comet PANSTARRS this Month

Yesterday, the comet 2011 L4 (called PANSTARRS after the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) became visible in the Northern Hemisphere for the first time, meaning some of us north of the equator will have a chance to view a comet before ISON’s passage in the fall. But you’ll need the right conditions and…

io9 Lauren Davis

A star that looks older than the universe itself

About a century ago, astronomers discovered a fast-moving star formally known as HD 140283. Initial estimates of its age placed it a perplexing 16 billion years old — a serious problem considering that the universe is 13.8 billion years old. But a recent analysis of this so-called Methuselah Star has re-dated it to 14.5 billion…

io9 George Dvorsky

Words to live by: Chris Hadfield’s advice to aspiring astronauts

As of this posting, the International Space Station has been continuously occupied for 12 years and 125 days. In that time, the orbital outpost has had more than its fair share of awesome tenants, but astronaut Chris Hadfield has got to be one of our favorites. Hadfield arrived at the ISS last December, and will…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Does our solar system have a special connection to the structure of the universe?

For the past five hundred years, we’ve been looking out at the universe and assuming that we, with our little planet and our little solar system, were nothing special. And then we sent out a probe to measure the cosmic microwave background. It gave us some data that makes it seem like we might be…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Has the Milky Way devoured other galaxies?

A new discovery could rewrite the history books on the Milky Way. According to a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, our galaxy absorbed a smaller satellite galaxy several million years ago. But more than that, it was a celestial event that culminated in the meeting of each galaxy’s…

io9 George Dvorsky

Clever minimalist posters pay tribute to scientists and their discoveries

In observance of India’s National Science Day, graphic designer Kapil Bhagat created a series of simple typographical posters that creatively recognize scientists for their various inventions or discoveries. The Mumbai-based artist posted the designs to his tumblr, where he regularly hosts images of his work. We’ve included a sample of the collection below, but you’ll…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Hubble telescope has just spotted a Space Invader

NASA has just released a photo captured by its Hubble Space Telescope that reveals a deep cosmic entity that looks suspiciously like a Space Invader. Not an alien race bent on human destruction, but rather a cluster of galaxies located billions of light years from Earth (dubbed “Abel 68”), observations of which bear a striking…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Here is a gorgeous view of Venus . . . from Saturn

Just released: two spellbinding images of Venus as photographed from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft (which, you’ll recall, is all the way out in the Saturnian system). You’ll want to check these out in hi-res, because good grief are they gorgeous. The images provide downright stunning proof that Venus, well known for shining brightly in our own…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The History of How We Discovered All the Planets in the Solar System

Satellites such as the Kepler have been working overtime to uncover hundreds of new planets in our galaxy. But how did we first discover the planets in our local volume of space? Here are the stories of how astronomers living hundreds of years ago discovered each planet in our solar system. Photo of the 18th…

io9 Andrew Liptak

Watch this jaw-dropping video of a pulsar’s beating heart

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is an observatory in low Earth orbit that the Agency uses to study some of the most high-energy sources of radiation in the Universe. Its wide-eyed Large Area Telescope (LAT) makes a sweep of the entire sky every three hours, soaking up gamma rays that emanate from cosmic entities ranging…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Our First Image Of A Planet Being Born

For the first time in astronomical history, scientists have taken an actual snapshot of an exoplanet in the midst of formation. Located about 337 light-years from Earth, the protoplanet, which will eventually resemble something like Jupiter, is completely surrounded by a massive ring of gas and dust. The photo was taken by astronomers using the…

io9 George Dvorsky

One of the best places to search for alien life is the last that you’d expect

In death, it has been said, there is often life. And while it may sound counterintuitive, this old saw may hold especially true in the search for life of the extraterrestrial variety. NASA’s Kepler mission may be just years away from discovering Earth 2.0, but the first signs of life probably won’t come from planets…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The “ultimate” building blocks of life have been found in interstellar space

The building blocks of life could have their beginnings in the tiny icy grains that make up the gas and dust found between the stars, and those icy grains could be the key to understanding how life can arise on planets. With help from students, researchers have discovered an important pair of prebiotic molecules in…

io9 Nancy Atkinson - Universe Today

Watch SpaceX launch its second cargo mission to the ISS, live on io9!

Last May, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft in history to visit the International Space Station. This morning, the private spaceflight company will attempt to do it again. https://gizmodo.com/spacex-has-completed-its-first-commercial-cargo-deliver-5950497 SpaceX’s second cargo delivery mission to humanity’s outpost in space is set to lift off at 10:10 ET, atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Comparing the Universe To the Pixels In This Video Puts Its Massive Scale Into Perspective

Could these meteorites hold the first evidence of extraterrestrial life?

Sorry, astrologers — this is what it really means when a planet is in retrograde

Scientists Claim Meteorite Fragments Contain Alien Biological Fossils (They Don’t)

An Astrophotography Crash Course That Will Have You Seeing Stars

Rare binary stars help astronomers measure our place in the universe

NASA’s Guide to Viewing the Comet PANSTARRS this Month

A star that looks older than the universe itself

Words to live by: Chris Hadfield’s advice to aspiring astronauts

Does our solar system have a special connection to the structure of the universe?

Has the Milky Way devoured other galaxies?

Clever minimalist posters pay tribute to scientists and their discoveries

Hubble telescope has just spotted a Space Invader

Here is a gorgeous view of Venus . . . from Saturn

The History of How We Discovered All the Planets in the Solar System

Watch this jaw-dropping video of a pulsar’s beating heart

Our First Image Of A Planet Being Born

One of the best places to search for alien life is the last that you’d expect

The “ultimate” building blocks of life have been found in interstellar space

Watch SpaceX launch its second cargo mission to the ISS, live on io9!

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