Astronomy

One of the universe’s fiercest black holes is hiding inside this galaxy

Centaurus A is an active galaxy, meaning it gives off extraordinary amounts of radiation, most likely the result of a supermassive black hole. Somewhere inside these gas clouds and dust lanes, that black hole is creating unimaginable cosmic chaos. This Hubble image shows off the central region of Centaurus A, which is a mix of…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The world’s oldest known heliocentric model is completely backwards

The Leiden Sphaera — the dynamic model of the solar system pictured above — was built around 1670 by Dutch clockmaker Steven Tracy. The impressive cosmic model measures 1.5 meters across, and is believed to be the first model of its kind to represent the motions of our Solar System’s planets and moons in a…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The engineers behind Russia’s failed Mars attempt could face criminal charges

Evidently failure is no longer an option when it comes to Russia’s space program. The country’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, told reporters this weekend that scientists and engineers behind the Phobos-Grunt mission — the most recent failure in Russia’s decades-long streak of unsuccessful interplanetary missions — could face criminal prosecution. https://gizmodo.com/russias-mission-to-martian-moon-phobos-has-suffered-a-m-5857853 “Recent failures are a strong…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Must Watch: An Out-of-Character Stephen Colbert Interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson

This is excellent. Back in 2010, an out-of-character Stephen Colbert sat down with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at Montclair Kimberly Academy to talk for 90 minutes about science, society and the universe. Yesterday, the Hayden Planetarium posted the interview on its website for all to watch. The interview starts a little more than 6 minutes…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

An ordinary space shuttle launch (apparently) shot a blue laser at the Moon

This photo was taken back in 2001, during a launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. On the left is the space shuttle’s launch plume. On the right is the plume’s shadow. So why is it pointing straight at the Moon? The effect is even more dramatic when you can see the entire launch plume. Somehow,…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

10 Unsolved Martian Mysteries

For decades, humanity has been launching missions to Mars, in hopes of making sense of the enigma that is our solar system’s most Earth-like planet. And as with all good mysteries, many of our investigations have simply led to more questions. Among the most pressing of these questions is whether Mars is, or ever has…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Meet Curiosity — NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory — also known as MSL, or Curiosity — is the most sophisticated Martian vehicle that NASA has ever built. And it’s set to launch for the Red Planet tomorrow. The rover’s primary objective is to assess whether Mars is, or ever was, capable of sustaining life. Weighing in at almost 2000…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Carbon nanotubes could be hiding bits of the universe

Carbon nanotubes can create a ‘perfect black’ that visually wipes out a dimension, making 3D objects look 2D. When draped over a substance, a thin coat of them renders the object invisible by absorbing all the light coming in. Scientists think that similar substances might be responsible for much of the ‘missing matter’ in the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

What is the best way to locate the galaxy’s habitable planets?

We’ve officially found over 700 exoplanets, and with so many worlds to explore the big question is which, if any, could support life. But should we be looking for Earth-like planets — or is life hiding on far more alien worlds? Based on our current rate of discovery, it’s entirely probable that we will have…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Astronomers discover the first unchanged relics of the Big Bang

Located some 11 billion light-years from Earth are two clouds of gas. Just two billion years younger than the Big Bang itself, they appear to be the first known clouds that are completely unaltered since the birth of the universe. The elements that make up a cloud of gas or other cosmic structure can help…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

NASA releases the most detailed elevation map of the Moon ever

Thanks to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can now see the Moon’s mountains and craters in unprecedented detail. This beautiful topographic map is going to be an invaluable resource in planning the next generation of lunar missions. The map covers about 98.2% of the lunar surface, with the sole exception of some eternally dark polar…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The Carina Nebula is the birthplace of our galaxy’s heaviest stars

If you want to see massive stars being born, look no further than the Carina Nebula, a violent star formation site that specializes in churning out big stars. But look fast…these stars could go supernova at any second, cosmically speaking. A good case in point is the star Eta Carinae, which can be seen just…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

The Butterfly Nebula has the largest wingspan in the universe

A few different nebulae have picked up the nickname “Butterfly Nebula”, but NGC 6302 has a particularly good claim to that title. But coleopterists are advised to keep their distance, as the central star of this nebula is unimaginably hot. Thanks to our old friend pareidolia, this nebula does a particularly striking impersonation of a…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Gaze upon the spokes of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

Messier 83 is one of the closest spiral galaxies in the night sky, located just 12 million light-years from Earth. Its unique properties have earned it two of the more evocative galactic nicknames: the Southern Pinwheel and the Thousand-Ruby Galaxy. The first nickname isn’t too difficult to explain – as you might imagine, it’s located…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

These tiny galaxies are among the most prolific star factories NASA has ever seen

Billions of years ago, when the universe was still in its infancy, the formation of stars is believed to have occurred at a much faster rate than it does today. Now, a recent discovery by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) suggests that the universe’s earliest galaxies may have been pumping out stars even faster than…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Killer solar flares are physically impossible, says NASA

Although we are ramping up to a high in solar activity, there’s no reason to look at the sun with fear and horror. NASA has announced that a killer solar flare is a physical impossibility. The eleven year cycle of high solar activity could do a little damage, like altering the upper atmosphere through solar…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Watch the Menacing Asteroid’s Trajectory As It Swished By Earth

How close did asteroid 2005 YU55 get to Earth? Not close enough to endanger our civilization, but close enough to take some fun videos. Like this short film of its trajectory as it passed by recorded by NASA Swift’s satellite. https://gizmodo.com/this-asteroid-is-getting-way-too-close-to-earth-5855571 Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope started to track the asteroid just right after its closest approach…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

The weirdest moons in the solar system, and what it would look like to stand on them

It would sometimes seem as though there are two solar systems: One including planets, and another including moons. Until recently, most books about the solar system focused on the planets, stopping only to acknowledge the existence of their satellites with a kind of half-embarrassed nod. They would be discussed as a kind of afterthought. But…

io9 Ron Miller

We could spot alien civilizations from the light of their cities

There’s no surefire way to find evidence of alien civilizations — indeed, they’re basically all long shots — but a new method could reveal the existence of aliens just like us. And we’ve almost got the technology needed to do it. It’s always dangerous to assume that another intelligent species would evolve along the same…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

One of the galaxy’s youngest stars surrounds itself with massive nebula

A giant star known as IRS 4 is one of the rare stars that’s actually younger than the human race. Formed just 100,000 years ago, it’s already leaving its mark on the cosmos, creating that huge hourglass-shaped nebula. Of course, exactly which star is IRS 4 might not be immediately obvious. The massive star in…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

One of the universe’s fiercest black holes is hiding inside this galaxy

The world’s oldest known heliocentric model is completely backwards

The engineers behind Russia’s failed Mars attempt could face criminal charges

Must Watch: An Out-of-Character Stephen Colbert Interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson

An ordinary space shuttle launch (apparently) shot a blue laser at the Moon

10 Unsolved Martian Mysteries

Meet Curiosity — NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory

Carbon nanotubes could be hiding bits of the universe

What is the best way to locate the galaxy’s habitable planets?

Astronomers discover the first unchanged relics of the Big Bang

NASA releases the most detailed elevation map of the Moon ever

The Carina Nebula is the birthplace of our galaxy’s heaviest stars

The Butterfly Nebula has the largest wingspan in the universe

Gaze upon the spokes of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

These tiny galaxies are among the most prolific star factories NASA has ever seen

Killer solar flares are physically impossible, says NASA

Watch the Menacing Asteroid’s Trajectory As It Swished By Earth

The weirdest moons in the solar system, and what it would look like to stand on them

We could spot alien civilizations from the light of their cities

One of the galaxy’s youngest stars surrounds itself with massive nebula

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