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An unusual pair of stars may have been formed in a rare type of stellar merger when a helium star eats another one made of carbon and oxygen Space 15 February 2022 By Leah Crane Artist’s impression of a merger between two white dwarf stars Nicole Reindl, University of Potsdam Two strange stars that researchers … Read more
See the SpaceX booster? If you spot the booster in a telescope before it hits the moon, let us know! Send images and comments in to [email protected]. A rocket stage set to hit the moon March 4 might not be from SpaceX after all. The astronomer credited with discovering the forthcoming impact, Bill Gray, announced … Read more
The number of active satellites in the night sky has more than doubled since 2019 – from around 2,200 to 5,000. That is mostly due to Starlink, a SpaceX project aimed at providing internet anywhere in the world through ‘mega-constellations’ of satellites. Since it began, Starlink has launched over 2,000 satellites. Unfortunately, the thousands of … Read more
A pair of asteroids orbiting the Sun formed less than 300 years ago, a new study has revealed. This makes them the youngest pair of asteroids ever discovered in the Solar System, by a factor of 10. The discovery could tell us more about how asteroids crumble, while raising some intriguing new questions. “It’s … Read more
The most massive stars in the Universe are also the shortest-lived. The more mass a star has, the more quickly it burns through its fuel reserves, resulting in lifespans that are less than around 10 million years. This fascinating fact leads us to a puzzle. Most of these stars are found relatively close to … Read more
Three years ago, astronomers were reeling from the launch of the first 60 satellites of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which aims to provide broadband internet access worldwide. The satellites left bright traces on astronomical images, posing “an existential threat to observation from the ground,” said astronomer Debra Elmegreen, president of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), at … Read more
These are boom times for astronomers hunting black holes. The biggest ones—supermassive black holes that can weigh billions of suns—have been found at the centers of most every galaxy, and we have even managed to image one. Meanwhile, researchers now routinely detect gravitational waves rippling through the universe from smaller merging black holes. Closer to … Read more
There is an area of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle where ships, airplanes and people have been known to disappear without explanation. No-one knows for certain why more than 50 ships and 20 planes have vanished since the mid-19th century. But that’s not to say people haven’t had some fun seeking … Read more
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious, flickering object in our galaxy, the Milky Way, that belches enormous amounts of energy toward Earth three times an hour. This strangely powerful object — located about 4,000 light-years from the sun — is unlike any cosmic structure ever observed, researchers wrote in a statement. The object in question — named GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3 (but … Read more
Something in Earth’s cosmic neighborhood is emitting weird signals of a kind we’ve never seen before. Just 4,000 light-years away, something is flashing radio waves. For roughly 30 to 60 seconds, every 18.18 minutes, it pulses brightly, one of the most luminous objects in the low-frequency radio sky. It matches the profile of no known … Read more