Contrary to a popular theory that icy comets or asteroids delivered water to a dry newborn Earth, the planet itself may have produced its earliest water supply, a new study…
Category: Astronomy
How do we know how far away and early in the universe galaxies are?
Since it started delivering its first results in July 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been supplying stunning images of the universe that include observations of the most…
Relive launch of Europe’s JUICE Jupiter mission in stunning photos
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched its flagship Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission on Friday (April 14), producing some stunning images in the process. The Ariane 5 rocket carrying…
Webb Shows Areas of New Star Formation and Galactic Evolution
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope spent over 20 hours observing the long-studied Hubble Ultra Deep Field for the first time on Oct. 11, 2022. The general observer program (GO 1963) analyzed…
M87 in 3D: New view of galaxy helps pin down mass of the black hole at its core
Seen from Earth, the giant elliptical galaxy M87 is just a two-dimensional blob, though one that appears perfectly symmetrical and thus a favored target of amateur astronomers. Yet, a new,…
New findings that map the universe’s cosmic growth support Einstein’s theory of gravity
A new image reveals the most detailed map of dark matter distributed across a quarter of the entire sky, reaching deep into the cosmos. The findings, from the Atacama Cosmology…
Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details in Cassiopeia A
The explosion of a star is a dramatic event, but the remains the star leaves behind can be even more dramatic. A new mid-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space…
Twinkling stars fuel interstellar dust
Of the many kinds of stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, usually slightly larger and older than our own sun, are known to produce interstellar dust. Dusty AGBs are particularly…
The Smithsonian’s ‘Lights Out’ inspires visitors to save the fading night sky
Bright, artificial lights are drowning out the night sky’s natural glow. Now, an exhibition is highlighting some of the consequences of a fading starry night — and how people can…
How to see the invisible: Using the dark matter distribution to test our cosmological model
How do you measure dark matter, which by definition emits no light? Watch how it impacts things you can see — specifically, how light from distant galaxies bends around it, as predicted…
