SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket fires away from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with two U.S. Space Force satellites. Credit: SpaceX
A U.S. military data relay satellite and a rideshare platform with its own suite of payloads rocketed into a sunset sky over Florida’s Space Coast Sunday on a Falcon Heavy launcher, putting on a dazzling show for local residents and visitors as the rocket’s two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral for landing.
You’re looking at NGC 346, a star cluster 210 light years away that is energetically pumping out brand new stars from a dense cloud of gas and dust. Between 10 and 11 billion years ago, nearly all galaxies in the Universe underwent an era of intense star formation similar to what we see in NGC 346. This flurry of stellar birth is poetically nicknamed cosmic noon. Since then, star formation in the Universe has gradually dwindled, though it still blazes away in small pockets. By studying NGC 346 and other clusters like it, we can learn more about the era of cosmic noon and the evolution of galaxies.
In a recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, an international team of researchers examined the levels of light pollution at astronomical observatories from around the world to better understand how artificial light is impacting night sky observations in hopes of taking steps to reduce it. But how important is it to preserve the scientific productivity of astronomical observatories from the dangers of light pollution, as noted in the study’s opening statement?
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launched on its fifth-ever mission on Sunday (Jan. 15), sending multiple satellites aloft for the U.S. Space Force.
Solar coronal jets are fast moving plumes of plasma that erupt suddenly from the polar regions of the Sun. Astronomers believe that these help heat up the solar corona, but the physics behind the formation of these jets is poorly understood. Recently a team of astronomers have used observations with the Solar Dynamic Observatory and the Solar Orbiter to discover that multiple intertwining magnetic fields that connect and reconnect can power these fast moving jets.
A new search for alien signals focuses on planetary transits, when exoplanets pass right in front of their suns.
A new time-lapse image shows two major sunspot groups moving across the surface of the sun in December 2022, when the number of solar splotches also skyrocketed to an eight-year high.
The accelerator at FRIB started working at low power, but when it finishes ramping up to full strength, it will be the most powerful heavy-ion accelerator on Earth.
New time-lapse images of the beautiful Butterfly Nebula come closer to explaining its spectacular strangeness.
The James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed its first exoplanet, a rocky Earth-size planet, and attempted to take the measure of its atmosphere.
You can help NASA discover new planets using your personal telescope or even just your smartphone.
"Star Wars: The Bad Batch" Season 2 hits Disney+ with a new year of galactic mayhem.
Keep your eyes on the sky for a comet, another Mars rover has died, the leaky Soyuz will be replaced, JWST dominates the American Astronomical Society meeting, and Starship is just around the corner.
It’s no secret that the study of extrasolar planets has exploded since the turn of the century. Whereas astronomers knew less than a dozen exoplanets twenty years ago, thousands of candidates are available for study today. In fact, as of January 13th, 2023, a total of 5,241 planets have been confirmed in 3,916 star systems, with another 9,169 candidates awaiting confirmation. While opportunities for exoplanet research have grown exponentially, so too has the arduous task of sorting through the massive amounts of data involved.
Astronomers have performed an impressive suite of observations at multiple wavelengths of the same system, dubbed the HH 24 complex. This complex hosts stars in the process of being born and the impacts of their violent interactions with each other, including the ejection of one of their siblings.
A supernova that skywatchers in the Far East observed almost 850 years ago has produced the most unusual remnant astronomers have ever found
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center on the USSF-67 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission will deploy two main payloads into geosynchronous orbit, and the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for landing. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
With the James Webb Space Telescope safely at work, a leading scientist offers glimpses of what could come next.
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When Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel took the stage in the Miss Universe 2023 National Costume Show this week, she wore the moon, literally.
The face of the moon will be half-illuminated once again on Saturday (Jan. 14) as the moon enters its last quarter phase heading to the next new moon and the start of the next lunar cycle.
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