Astronomers Create Largest 3D Map of the Universe
A team of astronomers working with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) created the largest ever three-dimensional map of the universe. Released along with an accompanying study, the astronomers say the new map is the first to exclusively use the positions of quasars to chart the significant structures of the Universe. “Because quasars are so […]
Researchers Doubt the Existence of Dark Energy
According to NASA, the universe is composed of three things. About 4.6% of it is normal (visible) matter, 24% is dark matter and the remaining 71.4% is made up of dark energy. In other words, hypothetically speaking, around 95% of everything in the universe can’t even be seen. Now a Hungarian and American team of […]
New Horizons Journey; Wrong Way Asteroid; Ring Around Mars?
New Horizons Halfway to Next Flyby Destination NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft provided scientists an amazing once in a lifetime look at the distant dwarf planet Pluto as it flew by it in July 2015. Along with spectacular images of Pluto the spacecraft also sent back those of Pluto’s five moons including high definition shots of […]
Astronomers Find Newborn Stars Near Supermassive Black Hole
A star being consumed by a black hole may seem quite common. But, news of stars being formed alongside a black hole could be something to notice! But that’s just what a UK-led group of astronomers say they recently discovered. While they were studying the ongoing collision of two galaxies, known jointly as IRAS F23128-5919, […]
NASA Prevents Space Wreck; Black Hole Winds; Oldest Fossils Found
NASA Prevents a Wreck at Mars The folks at NASA’s MAVEN program recently had to give their spacecraft a small unscheduled course correction so that it wouldn’t smash into Mars’s moon Phobos. The spacecraft that’s been circling the Red Planet for a little over two years conducted a motor burn that give it a slight […]
Is the Universe Connected By a Cosmic Web?
Some people think that the universe is just a hodge-podge of various celestial objects, such as planets, stars and galaxies. But over the years, scientists have found more evidence that the universe may be anything but random, and is actually more organized and interconnected—like an enormous spider web. Our place in the web Let’s start […]
Biggest Wave Spotted; Walking Heel-to-Toe; Newborn Exoplanets
New Record for Biggest Wave Measured by Buoy The UN’s World Meteorological Society says the biggest wave ever to be measured by a buoy was identified at 0600 universal time on February 4, 2013. The colossal 19-meter swell was spotted in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the UK. The previous highest wave recorded […]
Advanced Weather Satellite in Space; Can Migraines Lead to Stroke?
NASA Launches NOAA’S Advanced Weather Satellite On Saturday, 11/19/16, NASA launched the first of four advanced weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will maintain a geostationary orbit nearly 36,000 kilometers above Earth’s western hemisphere. Called the Geostationary Operational Environmental […]
Powerful Punch of Gamma Rays Found in Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts
Astronomers at the Pennsylvania State University say they have discovered that the mysterious and elusive astronomical phenomenon called fast radio bursts, or FRB’s, can also pack a powerful punch of gamma rays along with their mighty but brief pulse of radio waves. This discovery of the FRB’s gamma rays was made after researchers studied observational […]
Odd Feature from Galactic Collision; Crack in the Magnetosphere; Smartphones Make Us Trust Less?
Galactic Fender-Bender Produces Eye-Lid Shaped Feature A team of astronomers say what started as a fender-bender between two galaxies has sent a torrent of stars and gas crashing through the center of one, which then produced a rare eyelid shaped star formation. Working with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in Chile, the astronomers identified […]