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…
Category: 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…
Scientists Unveil a 5.7 Terapixel Global Image of Mars
A planet-spanning online image of Mars created at a scale of 5 meters per pixel was unveiled today. The image is freely available to the public and can be accessed…
Scientists find first evidence that black holes are the source of dark energy
NGC524: NGC 524 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is at a distance of about 90 million light-years away from Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble Observations of supermassive black…
Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable
SEATTLE — Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars is the stuff of science fiction. But Tatooine-like planets in orbit around pairs of stars might be our best bet in…
Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable
SEATTLE — Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars is the stuff of science fiction. But Tatooine-like planets in orbit around pairs of stars might be our best bet in…
New data show how quickly light pollution is obscuring the night sky
The night sky has been brightening faster than researchers realized, thanks to the use of artificial lights at night. A study of more than 50,000 observations of stars by citizen…
Enceladus is blanketed in a thick layer of snow
Saturn’s moon Enceladus is shrouded in a thick layer of snow. In some places, the downy stuff is 700 meters deep, new research suggests. “It’s like Buffalo, but worse,” says…
