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Arcturus is a red giant star in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth‘s sky and the brightest star in the constellation Boötes (the herdsman). Arcturus is also among the brightest stars that can be seen from Earth. Astronomers say Arcturus will end up as a white dwarf at the end of its life. The name Artcurus comes from … Read more
Comet Hale-Bopp was an unusually bright comet that flew by Earth, reaching its closest approach to the planet in 1997. It was most spectacular in the Northern Hemisphere and visible to the naked eye for about 18 months. Hale-Bopp was probably one of the most viewed comets in history. With an absolute magnitude of -1, … 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
Skywatchers will be treated to a cosmic duet tonight (Dec. 17), as the brightest comet of 2021 and the brightest planet pair up for a night sky double feature. Comet Leonard, also known as Comet C/2021 A1, will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere as it passes near the planet Venus — sometimes referred to … Read more
The cause of a mysterious cosmic kaboom – so bright it led to the classification of a new type of space explosion – may have now been revealed. According to an analysis of the 2018 event, nicknamed “the Cow” (AT2018cow), it was likely an unusual kind of core-collapse supernova that led to the formation of … Read more
The December Geminid meteor shower is usually considered the most satisfying of the annual meteor displays, but this year, the moon will put a damper on the spectacle. Unfortunately, the moon will be full on Dec. 18 and as such will seriously hamper viewing the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, predicted to occur during … Read more