How to see the Super Worm Moon tonight, the first supermoon of 2020
The first supermoon of 2020 — the Super Worm Moon — happens on the evening of March 9th. Supermoons occur when the Moon and Earth …
astronomy
Alien life on distant planets almost certainly exists, scientist says
Scientist says that life almost certainly exists outside of Earth. However, based on the odds of RNA formation, life is likely very rare and will …
Scientists may have finally cracked the dark matter mystery
When astronomers gaze into space they can see many different things. Galaxies, stars, and even black holes can be spotted from our place here on …
Our galaxy is warping and astronomers have no idea why
From our perch here on Earth, it’s impossible for most of us to notice changes happening in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers, on …
Bizarre ‘cotton candy’ planets might have rings, scientists say
Our solar system has a nice selection of planet types. We have ultra-hot worlds orbiting close to our Sun, rocky worlds like Earth and Mars, …
Students stumble upon new black hole in NASA asteroid probe data
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has spent the majority of its life studying the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. It was tasked with traveling to the asteroid, orbiting it, …
Astronomers spotted a white dwarf star so massive, it defies explanation
A team of astronomers has spotted what they describe as an “ultra-massive” white dwarf hanging out in space at a distance of around 150 light-years …
Student astronomer finds 17 new planets, and one is about the size of Earth
Finding new planets lurking in space isn’t as hard as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a challenge. High-tech instruments like …
Venus and the crescent Moon will be side-by-side tonight – here’s when you can see them
It’s been a relatively quiet start to 2020 as far as skywatching goes. Sure, we’ve had some full Moons and a few other treats here …
Earth might have caught a new moon, and it’s super tiny
Many of the planets in our solar system have multiple moons, and some even have dozens of large objects cruising around in orbit around them. …
Supernova dreams crushed as Betelgeuse starts brightening again
For a couple of months now, the nearby star known as Betelgeuse has been acting rather strange. At first, the star appeared to be getting …
A massive new planet that dwarfs Jupiter was just found lurking nearby
In our solar system, Jupiter is king. It’s far larger than the other planets in our system and it absolutely dwarfs Earth. But in the …
Something is blasting out a mysterious signal from deep space
Of all the mysteries of outer space, fast radio bursts (or FRBs for short) are some of the most interesting. These incredibly powerful signals are …
Incredible image shows two massive stars locked in battle
Our Sun flies solo, chilling out in a relatively calm arm of the Milky Way galaxy and not causing much trouble for its stellar neighbors. …
Astronomers spot dead ‘monster’ galaxy lurking in deep space
Over the years, scientists studying space have spotted countless galaxies in all different phases of their lives. From newborn galaxies churning out new stars to …
NASA’s solar probe won’t stop smashing records
In case you hadn’t been keeping up on NASA’s mission to “touch the Sun” with its Parker Solar Probe, let me get you up to …
This is actually what the surface of the Sun looks like
The Sun rises and falls every day, giving us plenty of opportunities to see it. From Earth, we can’t really make out what it is …
Scientists think they spotted active volcanoes on Venus
Our Solar System is filled with interesting worlds that mankind has yet to fully explore. Venus, which is closer to the Sun than Earth but …
Hubble spotted a gigantic galaxy that makes our Milky Way look tiny
We tend to think of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, as being impossibly large. To us here on Earth, our galactic home is indeed …
NASA’s aging Hubble telescope offers gorgeous glimpse at churning galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope, which is operated by both NASA and the European Space Agency, is one of the most trustworthy tools for observing distant …
A colossal nearby star called Betelgeuse is acting very strange, but is it going to explode?
Our Sun is the reason we’re all here today. Some day it’ll go boom, but we’ll all (hopefully) be long gone, one way or another, …
Astronomers are spotting so many exoplanets that there’s no time to study them all
Today, astronomers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. Technology has reached a point that scientists can finally spot planets outside of our …
Astronomers just spotted a black hole more massive than any in our cosmic neighborhood
Of all the objects astronomers have observed in space over centuries of scientific investigation, black holes are one of the most bizarre and mysterious. Objects …
Astronomers just spotted a black hole so huge it technically shouldn’t exist
Astronomers in China have discovered something that technically shouldn’t even exist, at least according to what humans understand about space, black holes, and physics. Peering …
SpaceX’s satellite horde is a nightmare for astronomers
SpaceX has done a lot to help scientists over the years. It’s a business, first and foremost, but by lowering the bar for satellite launches …
Black holes are bad news for tiny galaxies
While astronomers have only recently been able to spot a black hole directly, there’s a lot that scientists think they know about them. For starters, …
Astronomers spotted a planet that shouldn’t exist
When we imagine what other solar systems are like it’s easy to fall into a trap of assuming that our own system is a model …
‘Alien’ comet from outside our solar system gets an official name
It’s now been a couple of weeks since an amateur astronomer stumbled across what appeared to be the second interstellar object ever observed by mankind. …
Scientists think they’ve solved the mystery of sunspots
We owe a lot to our Sun, and without it, well, we wouldn’t be here at all. Scientists have studied our star for a long …
Maybe the universe isn’t as old as everyone thought
We like to think we’re the center of the universe, but in the grand scheme of things, humans have only been around for a tiny, …
