Space News & Blog Articles

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Dino-Era Asteroid Came from the Outer Solar System

A new chemical analysis confirms the Chicxulub impactor was a fragile type of asteroid that formed in the outer solar system, unlike several other ancient impactors.

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Status Report and Expectations for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

Is Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS falling apart? How bright will it likely get? We try to answer those questions and more.

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How to Define a Planet – The Sequel

Hold your breath: astronomers are re-evaluating their definition of a planet. Spoiler: it won’t bring Pluto back into the family.

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Did the Milky Way Form Faster Than We Thought?

New research suggests that our galaxy’s first stars might have come together within a billion years after the Big Bang.

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Status Report: Gravitational Waves

Astronomers at the International Astronomical Union report that we have now detected more than 200 gravitational-wave events, most the merger of two black holes.

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Tonight's Perseid Meteor Shower May Be Dipped in Aurora Sauce

The Perseids peak on Sunday night, August 11-12 and just might be joined by a colorful display of northern lights. 

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, August 9 – 18

The Perseid meteor shower peaks late Sunday night August 11th and maybe Monday night too. Jupiter and Mars have a close conjunction on the morning of the 14th, looking radically different in the same telescopic view.

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Prepare for the Perseids and a Pretty Planetary Pairing

The year’s long-awaited Perseid meteor shower will be accompanied by a graceful planetary conjunction. It’s well worth staying up all night to watch.

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The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field, 15 Years Later

Fifteen years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope gazed intently at the infrared glow of galaxies in a tiny fraction of the sky. New research shows how this patch of space has changed since then.

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Neutron Stars Might Be Squishy Inside

New data on the brightest pulsar observed with a telescope on the International Space Station suggests neutron star interiors are "squishy."

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Enroll in the School of Stars

Amateur astronomers are all life-long learners — and this "back to school" time of year provides just the right motivation.

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Does This Mars Rock Show a "Potential Biosignature"? Or Just "Wet Chemistry"?

"Leopard spots" on a Mars rock could come from life — or they could simply be a sign of a type of chemical reaction that requires water.

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, August 2 – 11

The Perseid meteors ramp up this week to their peak. Saturn is nicely up by late evening. Jupiter and Mars near their conjunction in the morning sky. And there's a story behind Poniatowski's Bull.

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Woo-hoo — The Perseid Meteor Shower Is Coming!

It's time again for the annual August meteor-shower fest, the Perseids. This year's display should be a beauty with only minor moonlight and a special surprise at dawn.

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August Podcast: Nova Watch in the Northern Crown

Let’s go on a night-sky tour of the stars and planets that you’ll see overhead during August. Find a good seat for some great “shooting stars,” watch Saturn climb in the eastern sky in early evening, check out the summer's brightest stars, and start looking for a once-in-your-lifetime star blast. 

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Reading the Tea Leaves: The Future of the Hubble and Chandra Space Telescopes

Future funding for NASA's remaining Great Observatories — Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope — is still up in the air.

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Remembering David Crawford (1931–2024)

A professional astronomer turned dark-sky champion, David L. Crawford became synonymous with the fight against light pollution around the world.

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Neutron Star Eaten by Small Black Hole (Probably)

Gravitational-wave astronomers have identified ripples in spacetime from the coalescence of a neutron star with what’s likely one of the smallest black holes ever found.

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, July 26 – August 3

Very low in the west in bright twilight, have you picked up Venus yet? Binoculars help. Much tougher will be Mercury and Regulus. Their arrangement changes all week.

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Astronomers Find 21 “Dark” Neutron Stars Orbiting Sun-like Stars

New analysis has revealed 21 Sun-like stars in mutual orbit around dark objects of neutron star–like masses — rare systems that have escaped destruction by supernova.

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A Closer Look at a Potential "Eyeball Planet"

New James Webb Space Telescope observations of LHS 1140b hint at a temperate water world with a nitrogen-rich atmosphere.

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