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☆ Alarmed by Climate Change, Astronomers Train Their Sights on Earth
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Katrina Miller | Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bush fires that had been on the horizon the day before were now rapidly approaching. That afternoon, from her home some miles away, Dr. Sackett watched burning embers fall from a smoky sky and worried. The fires also destroyed 500 homes across greater Canberra, and killed four people. The incident was an early warning for astronomy: Wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, were becoming a problem for their field. Since then, several other observatories have been damaged or threatened by fires and other extreme weather, and changing atmospheric conditions have made ground-based astronomical research more challenging.

Persons: Penny Sackett, . Sackett Organizations: Australian Locations: Stromlo, Canberra

☆ ‘God’s Hand’ cosmic feature reaches for a galaxy in new image
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Dark Energy Camera captured a stunning image of “God’s Hand,” a cometary globule 1,300 light-years from Earth in the Puppis constellation. Cometary globules are unique because they have extended tails, like those seen on comets — but that’s the only cometlike thing about them. Astronomers still don’t know how cometary globules come to exist in such distinctive structures. The new image of the glowing red hand-like feature showcases CG 4, one of many cometary globules found across the Milky Way galaxy. The Gum Nebula is believed to contain 31 cometary globules in addition to CG 4.

Persons: Blanco, Cometary, Bok globule, it’s, globules Organizations: CNN, Energy, Cerro Tololo Inter, American, UK Schmidt Telescope, Astronomers Locations: Chile, Australia

☆ Eta Aquariid meteor shower: How and when to watch
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —May kicks off with the Eta Aquariid meteor shower, and experts are anticipating a better show than in recent years, according to the American Meteor Society. The Eta Aquariid shower is often considered the best meteor shower of the year for the Southern Hemisphere, where sky-watchers could see between 20 and 40 meteors each hour, or perhaps even more, according to EarthSky. The source of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is Halley’s comet. It happens again in October, resulting in the Orionid meteor shower. The American Meteor Society is inviting spectators to share their observations of the shower, which will help astronomers determine whether there were more meteors than expected.

Persons: CNN —, EarthSky, Capricornids, Buck Organizations: CNN, American Meteor Society, Southern, Hemisphere, NASA, ” Astronomers, Eta, Meteor, Taurids, Farmers Locations: South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, North America

☆ New mission could reveal secrets of the moon’s ‘hidden side’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In one lunar region, Japan’s “Moon Sniper” mission has beaten the odds and survived three long, frigid lunar nights since its sideways landing on January 19. The Tianwen-2 mission will visit the space rock later this decade. But first, China has set its sights on returning to the moon’s “hidden side.”An illustration depicts the far side of the moon, with Earth behind it. Since the Chang’e 4 mission in 2019, China remains the only country to have landed on the moon’s far side, sometimes called the “dark side” of the moon. Scientists hope that returning samples from the far side could solve some of the biggest remaining lunar mysteries, including the moon’s true origin.

Persons: Graziano Ranocchia, Ranocchia, Plato, Emma Pomeroy, “ She’s, ”, Pomeroy, Armas Rakus, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Kevin Bacon, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Engineers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, Apollo, Platonic Academy of Athens, University of Pisa, Netflix, University of Cambridge, Norton Disney, Archaeology Group, Roman, International Space, CNN Space, Science Locations: China, Kurdistan, Gunung Leuser, South Aceh, Indonesia, Morocco

☆ Crater offers new clue near-Earth asteroid is really a piece of the moon, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The space rock, known as 2016 HO3, is a rare quasi-satellite — a type of near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun but sticks close to our planet. Astronomers first discovered it in 2016 using the Pan-STARRS telescope, or Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, in Hawaii. Scientists call the asteroid Kamo’oalewa, a name derived from a Hawaiian creation chant that alludes to an offspring traveling on its own. Kamo’oalewa specimen: A connecting puzzle pieceStudying crater impacts on the moon can also help scientists better understand the consequences of asteroid impacts should a space rock pose a threat to Earth in the future. There’s no other place, no other planet in our solar system with a moon like our moon.

Persons: they’ve, Giordano Bruno, Yifei Jiao, ”, Erik Asphaug, Kamo’oalewa, “ You’d, Asphaug, ” Jiao, ” Asphaug, Renu Malhotra, China’s, Patrick Michel, Noah Petro, Artemis III, Petro, “, ” Petro, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Survey Telescope, University of Arizona’s, Laboratory, Tsinghua University, University of, London, NASA, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, National Centre for Scientific Research, Reconnaissance, Artemis Locations: Hawaii, Beijing, “, France

☆ Hubble image may contain evidence of stellar cannibalism in dumbbell-shaped nebula
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The nebula, 3,400 light-years away in the Perseus constellation, is an expanding shell of gases kicked out by a dying red giant star. Before the aging red giant star collapsed, it released a ring of gas and dust. The companion star, once in orbit around the red giant, is nowhere to be seen in Hubble’s image. Since collapsing, the red giant star has transformed into a dead stellar remnant known as an ultra-dense white dwarf star. “The space telescope is the most scientifically productive space astrophysics mission in NASA history,” according to a NASA release.

Persons: Charles Messier, Pierre Méchain, Hubble, James Webb Organizations: CNN, Hubble, NASA

☆ Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week right before the pink full moon
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The total solar eclipse has come and gone, but sky-gazers have reason to keep looking up — a meteor shower will peak this week right before a full moon rises. The Lyrid meteor shower will be most active Sunday night through the early morning hours of Monday, according to the American Meteor Society. And April’s full moon, also known as the pink moon, reaches the crest of its full phase at 7:49 p.m. The pink moon actually got its moniker due to its annual appearance not long after the start of spring, much like its namesake, a hot pink wildflower called Phlox subulata that blooms in early springtime, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Instead, an annular solar eclipse creates a “ring of fire” in the sky as the sun’s light surrounds the moon.

Persons: Ashley King, don’t, “, ” King, Paul Hayne, Hayne, It’s, ” Hayne, Lorenzo Di Cola, Alpha Capricornids, Perseids, Draconids, Orionids, Leonids, Geminids, Ursids Organizations: CNN, American Meteor Society, Northern, NASA, University of Colorado, Orvieto Cathedral, •, Alpha Locations: Southern, University of Colorado Boulder, Orvieto, Umbria, Italy, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, North America

☆ Fossil found on a beach by tween reveals massive marine reptile
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. CNN —As Earth Day approaches and the Wonder Theory newsletter celebrates three years of arriving in your inboxes, I look to the future with hope. “And it’s up to you to choose what sort of impact you make.”Ocean secretsDr. Dean Lomax, (from left) Ruby Reynolds, Justin Reynolds and Paul de la Salle are shown with the fossil discovery in 2020. Dean LomaxIn May 2020, Ruby Reynolds, then 11, and her father, Justin, were searching for fossils on a Somerset beach along the English coast when she spotted something unusual. And when it came to sheer size, the marine reptile likely rivaled the blue whale, currently the largest living animal.

Persons: Jane Goodall, Goodall nurtures, Goodall, ” Goodall, Dean Lomax, Ruby Reynolds, Justin Reynolds, Paul de, Justin, ”, Gaia BH3, Nigel Raine, Dr, Matt Kasson, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Paul de la Salle, Indian Institute of Technology, ESA, West Virginia University, Explorations, NASA, International, CNN Space, Science Locations: Somerset, India, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Guatemala, France, Australia, Naples , Florida, what’s, Canada

☆ Rainbow-like phenomenon may glow on hellish exoplanet WASP-76b
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Observations from the European Space Agency’s Cheops space telescope, or Characterising ExOplanet Satellite, detected a “glory effect” on WASP-76b, an ultra-hot exoplanet 637 light-years from Earth. Cheops captured data from WASP-76b as the planet passed in front of its star, making 23 observations over three years. But the glory effect is created as light moves through a narrow opening and bends, creating colorful, patterned rings. An artist's illustration shows the night-side view of the exoplanet WASP-76b, where iron rains down from the sky. Lueftinger said she believes that the James Webb Space Telescope or Ariel may be able to help prove the presence of the glory effect on WASP-76b.

Persons: Cheops, ”, Olivier Demangeon, Wilson, ” Demangeon, Matthew Standing, —, “, Theresa Lueftinger, Lueftinger, James Webb, Ariel Organizations: CNN —, WASP, Astrophysics, of Astrophysics, Space Sciences, ESA, Hubble, Spitzer, Telescope, European Space Agency, “, James Webb Space Locations: Portugal, Cheops

☆ Pluto’s heart was likely created by an ancient collision
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A deep basin called Sputnik Planitia, which makes up the “left lobe” of the heart, is home to much of Pluto’s nitrogen ice. The New Horizons spacecraft took an image of Pluto's heart on July 14, 2015. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/NASAThrough new research on Sputnik Planitia, an international team of scientists has determined that a cataclysmic event created the heart. The teardrop shape of Sputnik Planitia is a result of the frigidity of Pluto’s core, as well as the relatively low velocity of the impact itself, the team found. The researchers believe that the new theory regarding Pluto’s heart could shed more light on how the mysterious dwarf planet formed.

Persons: Clybe Tombaugh, Pluto, it’s, ”, Harry Ballantyne, Erik Asphaug, ” Asphaug, “ That’s, Sputnik Planitia, Martin Jutzi, Kelsi Singer, ” Singer Organizations: CNN, Regio, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Research Institute, NASA, Sputnik, Pluto, University of Bern, University of Arizona’s, Laboratory, University of Bern’s Physics, Kelsi, Southwest Research, New Locations: United States, Switzerland, Boulder , Colorado

☆ ‘Sleeping giant’ massive black hole found in the Milky Way galaxy
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have spotted the most massive known stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy after detecting an unusual wobble in space. The wobbling movement of an old giant star in the Aquila constellation revealed that it was in an orbital dance with a dormant black hole, and it’s the third such dormant black hole spotted by Gaia. So Gaia BH3 is the most massive black hole in our galaxy that formed from the death of a massive star. Stellar black holes observed across the Milky Way galaxy are about 10 times as massive as the sun on average. True to expectations, the researchers found that the star orbiting Gaia BH3 was metal-poor, which means that the star that formed Gaia BH3 was likely the same.

Persons: ”, Gaia BH3, —, munch, Aquila, Gaia, Pasquale Panuzzo, BH3, hadn’t, Elisabetta Caffau, “, Carole Mundell Organizations: CNN —, Southern, Astrophysics, “, France’s National, for Scientific Research, ESO, Space Locations: Atacama, Paris, France’s

☆ What to do with your solar eclipse glasses
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

For the fortunate folks who witnessed the rare solar event, there may not be a need to throw out gently used pairs of solar eclipse viewing glasses. That means the same glasses worn during the 2024 total solar eclipse will serve as effective protection during the next total solar eclipse in 2026 that will be visible over Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and a small portion of Portugal and appear as a partial eclipse in parts of Europe, Africa and North America. Where to donate solar eclipse glassesIf the owner of a pair of solar eclipse glasses is not planning on globe-trotting to catch a glimpse of the upcoming solar eclipses, there are several organizations collecting viewers with the aim of donating to those who will be on the path of upcoming events. Eclipse Glasses USA, a retailer of eclipse glasses approved by the American Astronomical Society, is collecting used but undamaged glasses to send to schools in Chile and Argentina that will be within the path where the October 2024 annular eclipse, otherwise known as the “ring of fire,” will be visible. Astronomers Without Borders, a nonprofit organization that collected more than 2 million glasses after the 2017 total solar eclipse and redistributed hundreds of thousands of pairs before the 2024 eclipse, has a growing list of drop-off locations for donations of gently used glasses.

Persons: “, ”, Kerry Hensley, Hensley Organizations: CNN, American Astronomical Society, AAS Nova, American Academy of Ophthalmology Locations: North America, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Europe, Africa, United States, North Dakota, Montana, Chile, Argentina

☆ I tried to snap a photo of the 'Devil comet' during the solar eclipse. Here's what happened.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThe weeks leading up to Monday's total solar eclipse became even more exciting when astronomers announced that comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the "Devil comet," might be visible during totality. Where it all went wrongEven in the darkness of totality, I wasn't able to spot the "Devil comet" with my naked eye or my camera. But instead, I shot vaguely in the direction of where I thought the comet might be, and only captured darkness. All in all, I learned that photographing a comet with a standard DSLR is tricky. And in general, I wouldn't recommend trying to snap a picture of a comet during a total solar eclipse.

Persons: —, Pons, Brooks, Dan Bartlett, Bartlett, I'm, I'd Organizations: Service, Business

☆ What Solar Eclipse-Gazing Has Looked Like for the Past 2 Centuries
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Sarah Eckinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For centuries, people have been clamoring to glimpse solar eclipses. From astronomers with custom-built photographic equipment to groups huddled together with special glasses, this spectacle has captivated the human imagination. Creating a Permanent RecordIn 1860, Warren de la Rue captured what many sources describe as the first photograph of a total solar eclipse. He took it in Rivabellosa, Spain, with an instrument known as the Kew Photoheliograph. This combination of a telescope and camera was specifically built to photograph the sun.

Persons: Warren de la Organizations: Warren de la Rue, Kew Locations: Rivabellosa, Spain

Editor’s note: Follow along with CNN’s live updates of the total solar eclipse. Special eclipse momentsWhile totality is considered to be the most exciting part of a total solar eclipse, there are other special phases to watch for before the big moment arrives. Amateur astronomers prepare to watch a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, on Monday. After the total solar eclipse ends, it’s a bit of a wait for the next such celestial sightings in the United States. Those living in Alaska will catch a glimpse of a total solar eclipse on March 30, 2033, and a partial solar eclipse will shine over most of the US during that event.

Persons: Ron Jenkins, Karen Siegel, ” Siegel, Michael Zeiler, Heinz, Peter Bader, Pons, Brooks, Fernando Llano, it’s, Don’t Organizations: CNN, NASA, Indianapolis, GPS, Reuters, JPL, Caltech, Amateur Locations: United States, North America, Texas, Maine, Kerrville , Texas, Cleveland, Newfoundland, Canada, Mazatlan, Coast, Fort Worth , Texas, Texas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Missouri , Illinois , Kentucky , Indiana , Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York , Vermont , New Hampshire, Vermont, Missouri, Indiana, Lincoln , New Hampshire, Newton , Massachusetts, Barton , Vermont, Mexico, Alaska, North Dakota, Montana, California , Nevada , Utah , Colorado , Kansas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Mississippi, Alabama, Florida

☆ 7 times a total solar eclipse revolutionized science
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In the middle of the afternoon, day will shift to night, as a total solar eclipse touches 15 states. We know now what causes a total solar eclipse. Here are seven times a total solar eclipse has helped advance human science. Culture Club/Bridgeman via Getty ImagesOn March 14, 189 BCE, a total solar eclipse swept over what is now northern Turkey. Corbis via Getty ImagesGemini 12 astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to see a total eclipse from space.

Persons: —, China's emporer, Edmond Halley, De, Anaxagoras, Hipparchus, Nicaea, Edmond, Halley, Isaac Newton's, Norman Lockyer, Pierre Jules César Janssen, Janssen, Lockyer, James Craig Watson, Vulcan, Albert Einstein, Einstein, Corbis, Jim Lovell, Buzz Aldrin Organizations: Service, Business, Getty, Alexandria . Culture Club, Bridgeman, Science, Society Picture Library, Sun, Mercury, Wallops, Smithsonian Magazine, NASA Locations: Ireland, China, Alexandria, Turkey, Egypt, England, India, French, Guntur, Brazil, Principe, Africa, Virginia, Peru

☆ Opinion: Ancient superstitions about eclipses paved the way for this scientific truth
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Opinion Jason Colavito | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —In ancient Mesopotamia, a solar eclipse was a cause for deep concern. Today, eclipses retain a little bit of their historic role as harbingers of doom. Many cultures imagined a solar eclipse occurred when a mythological being ate the sun. A group of people safely watching a solar eclipse in New York City in 1865. During the solar eclipse of 1842, 20,000 people of all social classes gathered in Perpignan, France, and applauded the sun’s performance.

Persons: Jason Colavito, Jimmy, James Dean, Herodotus, Thales, Miletus, Corbis, “, Pierre Gassendi, Christopher Columbus, Mark Twain, François Arago Organizations: New, Slate, CNN, puma, Thales, Connecticut Yankee, King Locations: New York, New Republic, Mesopotamia, United States, American, Vietnam, North America, China, New York City, France, Paris, Columbus, King Arthur’s, Perpignan

☆ The largest map of the cosmos hints that dark energy is changing. It could prove Einstein wrong and upend a pillar of modern physics.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Jessica Orwig | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

New data from the largest 3-D map of our universe suggests we may be wrong about dark energy. One of the driving forces behind that evolution is also one of our age's biggest mysteries in physics: dark energy. Einstein abandoned the idea as his "greatest blunder" in the 1930s, as astrophysicist Ethan Siegal explains, but a constant dark energy would have vindicated him. "If true, it would be the first real clue we have gotten about the nature of dark energy in 25 years," Adam Riess, a Nobel laureate for his co-discovery of dark energy, told Quanta Magazine. "The idea that dark energy is varying is very natural," Paul Steinhardt, a Princeton University cosmologist, told the magazine.

Persons: —, we're, Michael Levi, Levi, DESI, Marenfeld, Claire Lamman, Albert Einstein's, Einstein, Ethan Siegal, Albert Einstein, Ernst Haas, Adam Riess, Paul Steinhardt, Princeton University cosmologist, Riess, Vera C, Travis Lange, Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell, NASA's Nancy Grace, Arnaud de Mattia, Mattia Organizations: Service, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, American Physical Society, Princeton University, NASA, Rubin, Accelerator, Atomic Energy Commission Locations: Arizona, Princeton , New Jersey

☆ A Tantalizing ‘Hint’ That Astronomers Got Dark Energy All Wrong
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Dennis Overbye | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dark energy was assumed to be a constant force in the universe, both currently and throughout cosmic history. He shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with two other astronomers for the discovery of dark energy, but was not involved in this new study. “It may be the first real clue we have gotten about the nature of dark energy in 25 years,” he said. That conclusion, if confirmed, could liberate astronomers — and the rest of us — from a longstanding, grim prediction about the ultimate fate of the universe. Instead, it seems, dark energy is capable of changing course and pointing the cosmos toward a richer future.

Persons: “, Biden, ”, Adam Riess, — Organizations: Johns Hopkins University, Telescope Science Locations: Baltimore

Clocks may have to skip a second — called a “negative leap second” — around 2029, a study in the journal Nature said Wednesday. “We are headed toward a negative leap second," said Dennis McCarthy, retired director of time for the U.S. Without the effect of melting ice, Earth would need that negative leap second in 2026 instead of 2029, Agnew calculated. In 2012, some computer systems mishandled the leap second, causing problems for Reddit, Linux, Qantas Airlines and others, experts said. Then add in the “weird” effect of subtracting, not adding a leap second, Agnew said.

Persons: ”, Duncan Agnew, “ It’s, Agnew, Dennis McCarthy, Judah Levine, McCarthy, timekeepers, ” Levine, ” McCarthy, Levine, “, It’s, it’s, ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: Nature, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, U.S . Naval, National Institute of Standards, Technology, “, Linux, Qantas Airlines, Tech, Google, Amazon, Associated Press Locations: San Diego, AP.org

☆ Opinion | Why I Can’t Wait for the Sun to Go Dark
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 1991, I went to Teotihuacán, Mexico, to watch a total solar eclipse from the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. At the time of totality, it just got really dark. I didn’t see a hole in the sky surrounded by a shimmering corona or any other eclipse phenomena: Baily’s beads, the diamond ring. Eclipse-watching, on the other hand, is very much like economics in that it’s vulnerable to all kinds of uncontrollable effects. “People laugh, cry, stare dumbfounded, jump up and down,” Peter Tyson, editor in chief of Sky & Telescope magazine, wrote in a special issue this year.

Persons: …, dumbfounded, ” Peter Tyson, ” Kate Russo Organizations: Sun, Sky & Locations: Teotihuacán, Mexico, Plattsburgh, N.Y, Lake Champlain

☆ Here’s how to see the upcoming worm moon lunar eclipse
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A glowing worm moon will light up the sky on Monday with a celestial performance in store for people venturing out in the early morning hours — a penumbral lunar eclipse. The moon looks slightly darker during a 2023 penumbral lunar eclipse in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It’s not going to be a super dramatic change in what we see in the moon,” Schmoll said. The penumbral eclipse comes about two weeks before a total solar eclipse that will cross Mexico, the United States and Canada on April 8. While a penumbral eclipse is not as dramatic as a total lunar eclipse with the moon appearing an eerie red, there is no special equipment required to view a lunar eclipse such as the viewing glasses needed for a solar eclipse, Schmoll said, allowing for lunar eclipses to be viewed with the naked eye.

Persons: Mahyuddin, Dr, Shannon Schmoll, “ It’ll, It’s, ” Schmoll, you’re, Schmoll, • Lyrids, Alpha Capricornids, Perseids, Draconids, Orionids, Leonids, Geminids, Ursids Organizations: CNN, Farmers, Getty, Michigan State University, NASA, American Meteor Society, Alpha Locations: Banda Aceh, Indonesia, AFP, Europe, North, East Asia, Australia, Africa, North America, South America, Mexico, United States, Canada, Asia

☆ An ancient dinner still sits in a Bronze Age village 2,850 years later
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

First, one of the crew found a marble head of a Roman lady, and two weeks later its bust surfaced nearby, reuniting the pieces. Cambridge Archaeological UnitMust Farm was a thriving Bronze Age stilt village, perched above a river in eastern England, when it burned down 2,850 years ago — just nine months after its inhabitants had built it. The site, acclaimed by experts as “Britain’s Pompeii,” preserved rare information that reveals a new, less hierarchical portrait of Bronze Age society. Malhan/MPIAAstronomers have spied two streams of ancient stars that likely helped build the Milky Way galaxy billions of years ago. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Earl of Exeter, ”, Chris Wakefield, Kermit the, Jim Henson’s, Payne, Shiva, Li Yibo, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Burghley, University of Cambridge, Smithsonian National Museum of, NASA, Force, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, CNN Space, Science Locations: United Kingdom, Peterborough, England, Cambridge, Africa, Ethiopia’s, China, Shaanxi, Iran

☆ A Dark Day Is Coming for Buffalo. It Can’t Wait.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Sarah Maslin Nir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After that, it’s up to Buffalo to make the most of its moment in the sun (or should that be: out of the sun? ), when it will be met with an estimated one million eclipse tourists. “For a couple of minutes the whole world will be thinking about Buffalo,” said Dave Horesh, the co-founder of Oxford Pennant, a local felt flag factory. “I was thinking: All this city has ever been known for is bad sports teams, snow and chicken wings,” he said. “This is an opportunity.”Buffalo’s Erie County and nearby Niagara County lie in what astronomers call “the zone of totality,” a band stretching from Dallas to Montreal in which the moon will fully block out the sun.

Persons: snowstorms, ”, Dave Horesh, Oxford Pennant, Horesh, Patrick Kaler Organizations: Buffalo, Oxford, Visit Locations: Buffalo, Erie, Erie County, Niagara County, Dallas, Montreal, Pennsylvania, Visit Buffalo Niagara

☆ An exploding star nova is due to show up in our skies soon. Here's how to spot it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewA nearby exploding star is due to offer a spectacular show that could outshine our North Star this year. The star, which is 3,000 light-years from Earth, is expected to burst in a gigantic explosion — known as a nova — in the coming months. This cosmic blast happens when a tiny white dwarf — the core of a dead star — is locked in the orbit of a giant red star. An artist's impression of a white dwarf exploding near a red giant. Nearby is an arc of four visible stars called the Corona Borealis.

Persons: —, Bradley Schaefer, NASA's, Schaefer, Vega, Pons, Brooks Organizations: Service, Star, NASA, Business, Louisiana State University, New York Times, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, Times, Corona, Canada Locations: Canada

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