Astronomy

Strange Pole-Shifting Physics Conjures a Truly Alien World

Perhaps there’s a life-supporting, Earth-like planet orbiting close to a red dwarf star many light years away. Perhaps this planet orbits so close to the star that only one half of it ever faces the light. Maybe some sentient species evolved during that infinite day, on some massive supercontinent. And maybe one day, the sun…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Incredibly Detailed Image of Our Galaxy’s Center Shows How Things Move Around a Black Hole

There’s a black hole called Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy. It has 4 million times the mass of the sun, but is only around the size of Mercury’s orbit. It’s 26,000 light years away, but let’s say some unfortunate mishap brought you within a light year or two of that behemoth. What…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Amateur Astronomer Spots Supernova Right as It Begins

Amateur astronomer Victor Buso was testing his camera-telescope setup in Argentina back in September 2016, pointing his Newtonian telescope at a spiral galaxy called NGC613. He collected light from the galaxy for the next hour and a half, taking short exposures to keep out the Santa Fe city lights. When he looked at his images,…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

New Results Challenge Basic Ideas of Supermassive Black Holes

Galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers—our Milky Way, for example, has its own 4-million-solar-mass one, Sagittarius A*. Some astronomers have previously thought that there’s a simple relationship between the galaxy’s size, the black hole’s mass, and how much light the black hole spits out while it eats up the things surrounding it. But…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

This Is the Most Distant Confirmed Supernova Ever Observed

Supernovae are already some of the brightest explosions in the universe—but there’s more mysterious type, called superluminous supernovae, that can shine a hundred times brighter than the usual ones. And on August 22, 2016, astronomers spotted one whose light traveled over 10 billion years to reach us. The discovery of the event, called DES16C2nm, was…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Falcon Heavy May Have Drastically Increased the Number of Asteroids We Can Mine

Asteroid mining is about more than just heading up into space and bringing back a rock full of platinum—you actually need to land something on just the right asteroid. Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket launched by Elon Musk-led SpaceX two weeks ago, may have changed the game, says one astronomer. “Instead of a…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

The Andromeda Galaxy Is Not Nearly as Big as We Thought

The closest galaxy to our own is the majestic Andromeda galaxy, a collection of a trillion stars located a “mere” 2 million light years away. New research suggests that, contrary to previous estimates, this galaxy isn’t much bigger than the Milky Way, and is practically our twin. This means our galaxy won’t be completely devoured…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

When Will We Finally Find a Truly Earth-Like Exoplanet?

There are many definitions of an Earth-like exoplanet. Some say it’s a planet that orbits a star at just the right distance for liquid water to exist on its surface. Some say it’s a rocky planet, like ours. But determining if an exoplanet is truly habitable requires actually figuring out what’s on the planet. Currently,…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

There’s Only the Tiniest Chance That Musk’s Tesla Will Crash Back to Earth, but We’ll Take it

By now it’s old news—somewhere in space, there’s a red Tesla Roadster with a spacesuit-wearing dummy in the passenger’s seat. It probably doesn’t drive anymore, and NASA has officially listed it as a celestial object. But now that it’s out there, the next question is, well, will it crash into anything? A team of researchers…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

New Horizons Just Set a Record for Taking the Furthest Photographs Away From Earth

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is now 3.79 billion miles from Earth, or around 41 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, and far beyond the orbit of Neptune. Using its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, it snapped these images of Kuiper Belt Objects 2012 HZ84 (left) and 2012 HE85 (right)—and they’re the furthest images…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

NASA Has Officially Listed Musk’s Tesla Roadster As a Celestial Object

You may remember that, as a publicity stunt, SpaceX propelled a red Tesla, driven by a dummy in a spacesuit named Starman with the words “DON’T PANIC” written on the control panel, into space using its Falcon Heavy rocket. That car is now a permanent advertisement on the NASA HORIZONS directory of solar system bodies.…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory Passes Huge Test

Gravitational waves may be the most exciting thing in astronomy right now, but there are only so many things in space that scientists can study with Earth-based gravitational wave detectors. An incredible new test has demonstrated that space-based detectors could become a reality, which could open our ears to entirely new sources of gravitational waves.…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Scientists Find Evidence of Thousands of Planets in Distant Galaxy

Until now, scientists haven’t detected any planets outside of our own Milky Way Galaxy—it’s simply been too difficult to discern such small things from so far away. That should make you wonder: are there any planets outside the Milky Way? A new paper might be able to answer that question. Researchers at the University of…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Scientists Spot One of the Oldest Stars in the Milky Way

Meet J0815+4729. If it were a Pokémon, it would be kind of like the Milky Way’s level-three Rattata. A team of Spanish scientists spotted the star with a pair of telescopes and determined its age based on the amount of heavier elements it contained. The star was born perhaps 300 million years after the Big…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Synchronized Galactic Orbit Challenges Our Best Theory of How the Universe Works

Scientists thought the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies were unique: They’ve got rings of smaller dwarf galaxies orbiting in what seems to be a synchronized fashion. But when a team of scientists recently looked at another galaxy, they realized it also seemed to shepherd a flock of dwarfs in a strange, synchronized dance. That’s not…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Moon to Be Slightly More Moon-y for Some People Tomorrow

At my last job, we used to talk about how the only way to avoid disappointment was by setting clear expectations. In the case of the “Super Blue Blood Moon,” the rest of the internet has set the expectations: that you’ll see it. But for many, that’s not the reality. I know that everyone is…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Remarkable Image Captures Surface Details of a Dying Star Located 530 Light-Years Away

By combining the power of four telescopes, an international team of astronomers has captured the most detailed image yet of a distant star—an observation that’s meshing well with pre-existing theories about the physical characteristics of giant stars. This star, first catalogued back in 1756, has the curious name of π1 Gruis, or Pi1 Gruis. The…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Astronomers Say Giant Disco Ball in Space Is Bad for Science

This past Sunday, rocket startup Rocket Lab launched a three-foot-wide mirror ball into orbit. Called “Humanity Star,” it’s supposed to remind us that we’re all puny specks of dust living in the terrifying vastness of the Universe. Some astronomers have spoken out about the stunt, claiming the sparkly object will interfere with their work—one even…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

TRAPPIST-1 Star System Contains Two Potentially Habitable Planets, New Study Suggests

It’s been less than a year since astronomers detected seven planets around TRAPPIST-1, a remarkable star system located 39 light years from Earth. New research suggests life could take root on at least two of these planets, thanks to a fortuitous orbital quirk. But other scientists aren’t so sure, saying TRAPPIST-1 still has much going…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

We Might Need to Redefine ‘Planet’ Again

You may think you know what a planet is, but celestial bodies often refuse to fully comply with our artificial human labels. We all thought tiny Pluto was a planet, until the 2006 vote in which the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefinition stripped it of its title. But when is something officially too big to…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Strange Pole-Shifting Physics Conjures a Truly Alien World

Incredibly Detailed Image of Our Galaxy’s Center Shows How Things Move Around a Black Hole

Amateur Astronomer Spots Supernova Right as It Begins

New Results Challenge Basic Ideas of Supermassive Black Holes

This Is the Most Distant Confirmed Supernova Ever Observed

Falcon Heavy May Have Drastically Increased the Number of Asteroids We Can Mine

The Andromeda Galaxy Is Not Nearly as Big as We Thought

When Will We Finally Find a Truly Earth-Like Exoplanet?

There’s Only the Tiniest Chance That Musk’s Tesla Will Crash Back to Earth, but We’ll Take it

New Horizons Just Set a Record for Taking the Furthest Photographs Away From Earth

NASA Has Officially Listed Musk’s Tesla Roadster As a Celestial Object

Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory Passes Huge Test

Scientists Find Evidence of Thousands of Planets in Distant Galaxy

Scientists Spot One of the Oldest Stars in the Milky Way

Synchronized Galactic Orbit Challenges Our Best Theory of How the Universe Works

Moon to Be Slightly More Moon-y for Some People Tomorrow

Remarkable Image Captures Surface Details of a Dying Star Located 530 Light-Years Away

Astronomers Say Giant Disco Ball in Space Is Bad for Science

TRAPPIST-1 Star System Contains Two Potentially Habitable Planets, New Study Suggests

We Might Need to Redefine ‘Planet’ Again

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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