Astronomy

What ancient secrets are hidden in this Martian crater?

For the last three years, NASA’s Opportunity Rover has been slowly making its way to Mars’s Endeavour Crater, and now it’s finally made it. Here’s one of the first photographs from this alien crater…but the real work is just beginning. As we discussed last week, there’s a chance that Opportunity could discover signs of ancient…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

And now, the Perseid shower from the International Space Station

Earlier today, we saw the International Space Station fly by a Perseid meteor from an earthbound vantage point. Now check out a Perseid meteor as photographed (and tweeted) by astronaut and ISS visitor Ron Garan. We always see them coming (but almost never see ’em going). https://gizmodo.com/a-perseid-meteor-zips-by-the-international-space-statio-5830731 [Via Discovery]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The necklace nebula is the ultimate cosmic jewelry

The “Necklace Nebula” is obviously not a necklace and, somewhat less obviously, it’s not a nebula either. It’s actually a planetary nebula, a not particularly accurate term for the remnants of an exploded star. Still…that’s one expensive-looking nebula. The Necklace Nebula was discovered relatively recently in the constellation Sagitta, some 15,000 light-years away. This image…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

A Perseid meteor zips by the International Space Station

On August 10, Bryan Stewart was filming a fly-by of the International Space Station in Texas when a Perseid meteor jumped into the shot. Here’s his video of this chance occurrence. From our earthly vantage point, this video may not be a Jerry Bruckheimer production, but it’s a neat coincidence nonetheless. [Via Universe Today]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

The collision that created Earth’s Moon is reenacted around an alien star

NLTT 43806 is a white dwarf, the dying remnants of a star like our own. But there’s a problem. Its composition doesn’t make any sense…unless there was a cataclysm just like the one Earth experienced four billion years ago. Located about fifty light-years away, NLTT 43806 is unlike any other white dwarf we’ve seen before.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Astronomers learn that two white dwarfs do not make a supernova

Although every supernova has some things in common — a big boom, for example — there are plenty of different types. And different reasons why a star might go nova. Even when focusing on one particular type of supernova, there’s sometimes disagreement about what might be causing it. For example, it was thought that supernovae…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

How to catch tomorrow morning’s Perseid meteor shower

Very, very early tomorrow morning is when you’ll catch the Perseid meteor shower, the largest meteor display of the year. The bad news is that it’s also a full moon tonight, which is going to cut down significantly on the visibility of all but the brightest shooting stars. But don’t despair! Here’s what you need…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Strange alien planet is impossibly black

TrES-2b is a Jupiter-sized planet located about 750 light-years from Earth. It reflects just 1% of the sunlight that reaches it, making it essentially one vast black sphere. In fact, it’s darker than just about any substance found on Earth. We’ve never observed anything remotely like this before. The key concept here is albedo, also…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

This is what astronomers call a “fluffy” spiral galaxy

Actually (if you insist on being technical about it), astronomers refer to it as a “flocculent” spiral galaxy, but it means pretty much the same thing. Seriously, look it up. This recent picture of spiral galaxy NGC 3521, snapped through the lens of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope, captures in stunning detail…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Must Listen: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s inspirational rant on NASA cutbacks

Astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson was on Bill Maher last Friday, and he said everything that needs to be said about plans to slash NASA’s budget, including doing away with the James Webb Space Telescope. His phenomenal, astounding rant is one of the greatest pieces of truth-telling you’ll hear today: First of all, let’s clarify what…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Earth doesn’t need the Moon

The Moon was long considered an essential stabilizing presence in the development of life on Earth. Without its satellite, the Earth would have tilted too much on its axis, making life impossible. But maybe the Moon wasn’t needed after all. The scientific consensus has held that, without the Moon to stabilize the tilt of Earth’s…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Did “DNA tool kits” from meteorites make life on Earth possible?

We’ve often found trace evidence of DNA on meteorites, but it wasn’t clear whether these DNA pieces originated in space, or were accidental byproducts of contamination by scientists. Now we have our best evidence yet that they actually come from space. While it often gets bogged down in fanciful and pseudoscientific interpretations, the basic principle…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Three Potential New Dwarf Planets Discovered Near Pluto

The Kuiper Belt, the vast asteroid belt of ice and rock that lies beyond Neptune, is home to three objects big enough to be considered dwarf planets: Haumea, Makemake, and our old friend Pluto. And now, we might have found three more. Astronomers used the Warsaw Telescope at Chile’s Las Campanas Observatory to sweep the…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Here’s some of the litter we’re leaving on Mars

Yes, it’s proof of intelligence life on Mars – the only problem is that it’s just some of our old crap. Specifically, it’s the heat shield jettisoned by the Opportunity rover when it landed on Mars a few years back. This photo was snapped back in 2005 as the rover paid a visit to its…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Thin belt of antimatter discovered above Earth

Cosmic rays bring our planet a steady stream of protons, electrons, and other particles. As these collide with nuclei in the upper atmosphere, they create new particles, including antiprotons. And some of this antimatter is sticking around above our world. The process that creates these antiprotons is pretty much exactly the same as how we…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

A map of all the water in the solar system

We’ve just learned that there’s strong evidence that saltwater flows on the surface of Mars. It’s another reminder that water is everywhere in our solar system, whether it’s ice, vapor, or liquid. Here’s a handy guide to where all the water can be found. Our map is mainly focused on the places where we might…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

A test for multiple universes finds four . . . maybe

Multiple universes are accessed, in fiction, through portals in space or mystical necklaces or sometimes just in dreams, but always when characters break the rules of space time. In reality, alternate universes are not in other dimensions. They’re just far, far away. And the reason they are alternate universes is that they can’t be reached…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Scientists find evidence of liquid water on the surface of Mars

We’ve known for a while that there are frozen water deposits just beneath the surface of the Martian poles, but now it seems that there are seasonal streams of liquid water that wind across the red planet’s surface. Today, a group of scientists announced their discovery in Science, and told io9 what this liquid water…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Putting a stake in the heart of our astronomical Nemesis

There’s a popular theory about the comets that wiped out the dinosaurs and caused other cyclical mass extinctions on Earth: they might be under the gravitational control of a star called Nemesis. A new study shows that the entire idea may be a fantasy. If there’s ever an example designed to shows that PR works,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Did Earth once have two Moons?

The two sides of the Moon look nothing like each other: the near side is flat and low, while the far side is incredibly mountainous. We may now be able to solve this topographical mystery…and it involves a second moon. The current best theory for the origin of the Moon is the “giant impact” model.…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

What ancient secrets are hidden in this Martian crater?

And now, the Perseid shower from the International Space Station

The necklace nebula is the ultimate cosmic jewelry

A Perseid meteor zips by the International Space Station

The collision that created Earth’s Moon is reenacted around an alien star

Astronomers learn that two white dwarfs do not make a supernova

How to catch tomorrow morning’s Perseid meteor shower

Strange alien planet is impossibly black

This is what astronomers call a “fluffy” spiral galaxy

Must Listen: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s inspirational rant on NASA cutbacks

Earth doesn’t need the Moon

Did “DNA tool kits” from meteorites make life on Earth possible?

Three Potential New Dwarf Planets Discovered Near Pluto

Here’s some of the litter we’re leaving on Mars

Thin belt of antimatter discovered above Earth

A map of all the water in the solar system

A test for multiple universes finds four . . . maybe

Scientists find evidence of liquid water on the surface of Mars

Putting a stake in the heart of our astronomical Nemesis

Did Earth once have two Moons?

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