Astronomy

These Are Some of the Most Ancient and Distant Galaxies Ever Discovered—And They’re Glorious

It’s time to update your desktop wallpaper, folks. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured some of the most remarkable images ever seen of the faintest and earliest known galaxies in the Universe. Using a technique called gravitational lensing—a phenomenon whereby intense gravitational forces can be leveraged as a kind of cosmic-scale magnifying glass—an international team…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Is What it Looks Like When a Black Hole Shreds a Star

When a star wanders too close to a black hole, immense gravitational forces begin to rip it apart in an epic cosmic slaying called a “tidal disruption event.” Some of the star’s mass is flung outward into space, while the rest is drawn in, triggering a powerful flare that showers the sky with x-rays. Using…

Tech News Maddie Stone

These Star-Crossed Stellar Lovers Are Heading for a Disaster of Cosmic Proportions

Behold VFTS 352, the hottest and most massive “overcontact binary” star system ever discovered. The two stars, which are so close that they’re touching, feature a combined mass 57 times that of our Sun. Astronomers say it’s a unique stellar relationship that will culminate in a rather dramatic finish. This unusually large contact binary was…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Most Earth-Like Worlds Haven’t Been Born Yet

With NASA’s Kepler mission still turning up cosmic wonders, and a slew of exoplanet-hunting scopes on deck, the chance of finding a second Earth has never seemed higher. And yet, time may be against us when it comes to meeting our squishy galactic brethren: according to a new theoretical study, 92% of Earth-like worlds haven’t…

Tech News Maddie Stone

What Are the Odds of an Alien Megastructure Blocking Light From a Distant Star?

A strange star located 1,500 light-years from Earth is exhibiting strange flickering behavior that’s leading some scientists to speculate that an alien megastructure is blocking the light. But what would such a structure be exactly and how likely is it that the Kepler space telescope has actually spotted one? Right now the star KIC 8462852…

Space & Spaceflight Anders Sandberg—The Conversation

Unexpected Asteroid to Zip Past Earth On Halloween

We can expect a totally different kind of trick-or-treater this coming Halloween. A rather large asteroid—discovered less than three weeks ago—is set to to fly past the Earth at a distance not seen in nearly a decade. The asteroid, dubbed 2015 TB145, was discovered on October 10 by astronomers using the Pan-STARRS telescope. The object…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

We’ve Had Some Amazing Trips to Venus and It’s Time to Go Back

After decades of neglect, Venus might just be making a comeback. Late last month, NASA announced five finalists for the next low-cost space probes; two of them are missions to Venus. Venus has captivated our imaginations for centuries, and Cold War-era exploration of the planet brought about a lot of firsts in the history of…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Aliens or Not, We’ve Still Got A Lot To Learn From NASA’s Kepler Mission

This week, the internet worked itself into a frenzy over the possibility that we’ve found an alien megastructure. But whether or not there’s a Dyson sphere buried in the Kepler data, the discovery of a strange, flickering star is very interesting. Indeed, it points to an entirely new use for the spectral data on 150,000-odd…

Tech News Maddie Stone

The Giant Magellan Telescope’s Fourth Mirror Melting Is Mesmerising

Mirrors start off as melted glass—and big mirrors need an appropriately large oven to cast properly. It takes a full year to cast segments of the mirrors used to build the Giant Magellan Telescope, and the melting process is elaborate and hypnotic. The GMT will be an enormous ground-based in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Scheduled…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy

Cassini Reveals Enceladus’ North Pole in Glorious Detail

On Wednesday, NASA’s Cassini probe made its closest pass yet above the north pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, coming within 1,142 miles (1,839 kilometers) of the icy, eruptive satellite. Yesterday, we started to get back images of the encounter — and dang, they are beautiful. Enceladus may be tiny —from end to end it could…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Berkeley Professor Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment Resigns

Geoff Marcy, the prominent astronomer found guilty of sexually harassing several female students between 2001 and 2010, has resigned from his tenured position on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley. The action comes in the wake of a growing outcry over the university’s lack of sanctions against him for his misconduct, including an…

Tech News Jennifer Ouellette

The Many, Many Times Astronomers Mistook Mundane Phenomena for Aliens

The science world is all in a tizzy this week about the supposed discovery of an alien megastructure. It’s an intriguing theory, no doubt, but one deserving hefty amounts of skepticism. As we’ve learned before, inexplicable observations are all too often confused for aliens. Here are some classic examples. A strange star located about 1,500…

Tech News George Dvorsky

New Hubble Video Shows Jupiter in Glorious Ultra High Definition

Using data acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists at NASA have updated their maps of Jupiter. The new images—shown in 4K ultra high definition—reveal changes to the Great Red Spot and rare waves not seen since the Voyager 2 mission. NASA updates its maps of Jupiter each year, but this year’s project proved to…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

How Is It Possible That Galaxies Are Moving Away From Us Faster Than the Speed of Light?

According to Albert Einstein, the speed of light is an absolute constant beyond which nothing can move faster. So, how can galaxies be traveling faster than the speed of light if nothing is supposed to be able to break this cosmic speed limit? I’m a little world of contradictions. “Not even light itself can escape…

Space & Spaceflight Fraser Cain—Universe Today

Here’s How Black Holes Turn on the Lights In the Universe Around Them

Despite their popular reputation as dark inescapable pits, black holes really put out a lot of energy. They thrust out jets of matter. They get matter to heat up through friction as it swirls around them. And, in some cases, they contribute to bursts of incredibly high energy photons, thanks to a phenomenon first encountered…

Physics & Chemistry Esther Inglis-Arkell

The Blood Moon Was Recorded Back in 19th Century Thailand

This past Monday, people from around the world aimed their cameras upwards in hopes of catching a glimpse of the “blood moon” lunar eclipse. But as this 19th century manuscript shows, it’s a phenomenon that’s been chronicled long before the advent of camera phones and telescopic lenses. This Thai manuscript dates back to the time…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Open Channel: Blood-Red, Supermoon Eclipse Edition

So, tonight is the big #superbloodmooneclipse event that happens only every couple of decades. The next time this event will happen? 2033. Staying up tonight? Share your pictures and thoughts in the comments tonight!

io9 Andrew Liptak

Here’s NASA’s Animated Supermoon Eclipse Primer

If you’re wondering about the mechanics behind why the Moon looks bigger than usual tonight, or what that has to do with a lunar eclipse, this quick NASA animation will explain the basics of tonight’s astronomical event. We call this a “supermoon,” but it’s actually a pretty simple optical illusion. As you can see in…

Space & Spaceflight Kiona Smith-Strickland

There are Hints of Sunbeams and Fog Buried in Pluto’s Atmosphere

Earlier this month, New Horizons released a batch of absolutely breathtaking photos of Pluto at dusk, including the one above. In these images, particles in Pluto’s thin atmosphere are causing sunlight to scatter, revealing a complex, layered haze. Now, by studying that haze more closely, the New Horizons science team thinks it’s found yet another…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Scientists Discover Weather on Rosetta’s Comet

Earth’s favorite comet is chock full of surprises. The latest? Weather, of sorts. According to research published this week in Nature, Comet 67P has a small weather system driven by an intense day-night cycle. We got our first hint of comet weather last August, when the Rosetta probe’s VIRTIS instrument sniffed a square kilometer-sized patch…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

These Are Some of the Most Ancient and Distant Galaxies Ever Discovered—And They’re Glorious

This Is What it Looks Like When a Black Hole Shreds a Star

These Star-Crossed Stellar Lovers Are Heading for a Disaster of Cosmic Proportions

Most Earth-Like Worlds Haven’t Been Born Yet

What Are the Odds of an Alien Megastructure Blocking Light From a Distant Star?

Unexpected Asteroid to Zip Past Earth On Halloween

We’ve Had Some Amazing Trips to Venus and It’s Time to Go Back

Aliens or Not, We’ve Still Got A Lot To Learn From NASA’s Kepler Mission

The Giant Magellan Telescope’s Fourth Mirror Melting Is Mesmerising

Cassini Reveals Enceladus’ North Pole in Glorious Detail

Berkeley Professor Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment Resigns

The Many, Many Times Astronomers Mistook Mundane Phenomena for Aliens

New Hubble Video Shows Jupiter in Glorious Ultra High Definition

How Is It Possible That Galaxies Are Moving Away From Us Faster Than the Speed of Light?

Here’s How Black Holes Turn on the Lights In the Universe Around Them

The Blood Moon Was Recorded Back in 19th Century Thailand

Open Channel: Blood-Red, Supermoon Eclipse Edition

Here’s NASA’s Animated Supermoon Eclipse Primer

There are Hints of Sunbeams and Fog Buried in Pluto’s Atmosphere

Scientists Discover Weather on Rosetta’s Comet

Roku’s 2025 Streaming Stick HD Is 40% Off to Compete With Amazon Fire TV Stick During Spring Sale

Epstein Victims Sue Google, Claim AI Mode Exposed Personal Information

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Anthropic and OpenAI Just Gave Us a Glimpse Into the Future of Model Pricing

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Smart Glasses Now Have One of the Vision Pro’s Best Features

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Trump Drops $1B to Kill 2 Wind Farms, Then Watches a Bigger One Go Online

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