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☆ Planet 9: Inside the search for a hidden planet in our solar system
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

“It could completely reshape our understanding of the solar system and of other planetary systems, and how we fit into that context. Brown and his colleague, planetary scientist Konstantin Batygin, reported having strong evidence of a hidden planet on the fringes of our solar system. “If you look at these bodies, their lifetimes are tiny compared to the age of the solar system,” Batygin said. “By now, we expected to have found many more of these extreme trans-Neptunian objects,” Sheppard said in an email. Finding a smaller planet would also spark excitement, Rice added, because every solar system planet is immensely useful for extrapolating information about the thousands of comparable exoplanets that researchers are uncovering across the galaxy.

Persons: Mike Brown, Pluto, ”, Brown, Pluto’s, Malena Rice, ” Rice, Konstantin Batygin, Neptune, they’ve, Brown’s, “, we’re, Scott Sheppard, Chadwick Trujillo, Trujillo, ” Brown, Batygin, ” Batygin, Patryk Sofia Lykawka, ” Lykawka, Lykawka, Rice, Hur, Renu Malhotra, Malhotra, Sheppard, ” Sheppard, ” Malhotra, she’s, “ It’s, Sigurd Naess, ” Naess, Vera C, Rubin, That’s Organizations: CNN, Caltech, NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Research, International Astronomical, ESA, Yale University, Getty, California Institute of Technology, Planet Nine, Carnegie Institution for Science, Northern Arizona University, Sheppard, Kindai University, Rice of Yale University, University of Arizona, Survey Telescope, Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, US National Science Foundation, Stanford University, Rubin, Rubin Observatory, Nine Locations: Pasadena , California, AFP, Washington ,, Japan, Neptune, Hawaii, Chile, Norway

☆ Vera C. Rubin Observatory: World’s largest digital camera will be a ‘game-changer’ for astronomy
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-23 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —On a mountaintop in northern Chile, the world’s largest digital camera is preparing to power up. The expectation is that in this way, Vera Rubin will discover about 17 billion stars and 20 billion galaxies that we’ve never seen before — and that’s only the beginning. “We’re anticipating about 10 million alerts per night coming off the telescope,” Higgs says. “The Vera Rubin Observatory will enable astronomers to map the distribution of dark matter like never before, based on how dark matter bends the path of ordinary starlight — a process known as ‘gravitational lensing,’” Kaiser explains. “After all, it was her seminal work on the detection of dark matter in spiral galaxies in the 1970s that got this pursuit going,” says Natarajan.

Persons: Vera C, —, Vera Rubin, “, Rubin, ”, Clare Higgs, Higgs, Charles Simonyi, Bill Gates, it’s, Olivier Bonin, ” Higgs, “ We’re, There’s, David Kaiser, Kaiser, ” Kaiser, Rubin Obs, Konstantin Batygin, Kate Pattle, “ Rubin, Priyamvada Organizations: CNN, Rubin, Department of Energy’s, Science, US National Science Foundation, Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University in, Accelerator, Survey, Netflix, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nine, California Institute of Technology, of Physics, Astronomy, University College London, Yale University Locations: Chile, Cerro Pachón, Chilean, Santiago, Stanford University in California, California

☆ See giant gas bubbles move on the surface of a nearby star
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Astronomers have observed the detailed motions of giant gas bubbles on the surface of a nearby star for the first time, which rise and fall like the inside of a lava lamp. The images show the surface of the star R. Doradus, a red giant star 180 light-years away in the Dorado constellation. The telescope enabled them to collect high-resolution images of the star’s surface over the course of a month. Convection bubbles can be seen moving on the surface of R. Doradus, as seen by the ALMA telescope in Chile. While convection bubbles have been spotted before on the surface of stars, the new observations tracked the motion of bubbles in a way that wasn’t possible earlier.

Persons: ”, Wouter Vlemmings, Vlemmings, ‘, ” Vlemmings, Theo Khouri, Chalmers, ALMA, Behzad Bojnordi, Claudia Paladini, Paladini, ” Paladini Organizations: CNN —, Chalmers University of Technology, NASA, Chalmers, Energy, European Southern Observatory, Sun Locations: Sweden, ALMA, Chile

☆ ‘Zombie star’ of supernova that exploded in 1181 revealed by study
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

But Zijlstra, who was not involved with the new study, was the first to make the connection to SN 1181. The report suggested that SN 1181 might belong to the elusive Type Iax category of supernova due to the presence of this “zombie” white dwarf. That energy causes the sudden brightness of the supernova.”That massive collision might explain another curious aspect of the SN 1181 zombie star. “We theorize that the star reignited because SN 1181 was a Type Iax supernova, which is an incomplete explosion. Schaefer added that SN 1181 represents one of the few reliable connections from supernova to supernova remnant.

Persons: ”, Takatoshi Ko, Albert Zijlstra, Dana Patchick, Zijlstra, ” Zijlstra, “, coauthors, NASA's Chandra, ” Ko, Chandra, Ko, Bradley Schaefer, Schaefer, ” Schaefer, astrophysicists Organizations: CNN, Astrophysical, University of Tokyo, University of Manchester, Survey, NASA, ESA, JPL, Caltech, Subaru, Louisiana State University Locations: China, Japan, England, New Mexico, Hawaii

☆ Oceans of water may be trapped deep beneath the Martian surface
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Data from a retired NASA mission has revealed evidence of an underground reservoir of water deep beneath the surface of Mars, according to new research. A team of scientists estimates that there may be enough water, trapped in tiny cracks and pores of rock in the middle of the Martian crust, to fill oceans on the planet’s surface. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took an image of InSight sitting on the Martian surface on February 2, 2019. “It’s certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life. Windows into Martian historyThe findings add a new piece to the Martian water puzzle.

Persons: ”, Vashan Wright, ‘, Mars, orbiters, InSight’s seismometer, Wright, James Tuttle Keane, Aaron Rodriguez, Michael Manga, “ It’s, haven’t, Alberto Fairén, Fairén, Bruce Banerdt, we’re, Banerdt, al, ” Banerdt, “, ” Wright Organizations: CNN, NASA, National Academy of Sciences, Reconnaissance Orbiter, JPL, Caltech, University of Arizona, University of California, Diego’s Scripps, of Oceanography, Mars, Interior Exploration, Transport, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of Maryland, Cornell University Locations: Mars, Berkeley

☆ Venus atmosphere shows potential signs of life — again
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“We’re a long way from saying this, but if there is life on Venus producing phosphine, we have no idea why it’s producing it. So finding them in the atmosphere of Venus is interesting on that basis as well. But further analysis of that data by Clements’ team revealed weak traces of the molecule, reinforcing the theory. “To date, our analyses remain unchallenged in the literature,” said Mogul, who was not involved in the research of Clements’ team. While detecting phosphine and ammonia in Venus’ clouds is exciting, it is just the beginning of a longer journey to unravel the mysteries of that planet’s atmosphere, he said.

Persons: James, Maxwell, “ There’s, ”, Dave Clements, “, we’ve, Clements, ” Clements, Venus, Clements ’, Rakesh Mogul, Jane Greaves, NASA's, ” Greaves, Greaves, Javier Martin, Torres, Martín, Kate Pattle, ” Pattle, Pattle Organizations: CNN, Astronomical Society, Imperial College London, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Saturn, Venus, Telescope, California State Polytechnic University, ” Mogul, Cardiff University, Green Bank, Royal Astronomical Society, European Space Agency, University of Aberdeen, University College London Locations: Hull, England, Hawaii, SOFIA, ALMA, Pomona, United Kingdom, West Virginia

☆ Surprising element found in traces of Tyco Brahe’s alchemy lab confounds scientists
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

The covert nature of Brahe’s work was common among alchemists of the Renaissance, who kept their knowledge close to the vest. “Tungsten had not even been described at that time, so what should we infer from its presence on a shard from Tycho Brahe’s alchemy workshop?” Rasmussen said. In addition to serving as Brahe's home, Uraniborg functioned as a scientific center where students across Europe came to live and work. And Brahe himself wrote that the king was eager to support the scientist’s work in both astronomy and alchemy. Given the amount of gold found in Brahe’s remains, he may have also taken medicine containing potable, or drinkable, gold.

Persons: Tycho Brahe, Brahe, Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Poul Grinder, Hansen, Uraniborg, Lund University Gold, Rasmussen, ”, “ Tungsten, ” Rasmussen, Ann Ronan, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Juan José, Fausto d’Elhuyar y de Suvisa, wolfram, Georgius Agricola, Agricola, Lawrence Principe, Drew, ” Principe, King Frederick II of Denmark, De Agostini, Paracelsus, Rudolph II, Emperor, Stjerneborg, “, ” Brahe, Isaac Newton, Johns, King Frederick II’s, Christian IV, Johannes Kepler, Kepler, Newton, Galileo Galilei Organizations: CNN, University of Southern, National Museum of Denmark, Heritage, Lund University, Getty Images, Humanities, Singleton Center, Johns Hopkins University, De Agostini Editorial, Culture, Hulton, Art, Sun, Scientific Locations: Danish, Ven, Sweden, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Europe, Baltimore . Principe, Norway, Uraniborg, Brahe’s, Mercury, Principe, Johns Hopkins

☆ NASA’s Chandra Observatory just celebrated 25 years in space. Budget cuts could threaten its future
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chandra X-ray Observatory Center/NASASo far, Chandra has taken nearly 25,000 observations of the universe. Chandra X-ray Observatory Center/NASAShortly after launch, the observatory focused on what has become an iconic celestial target: supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. Chandra has returned to this feature again and again, revealing new insights each time. Chandra X-ray Observatory Center/NASA“Before Chandra, it was known that there was a sort of diffuse haze of X-ray emission coming from all directions in the sky. The NASA budget allotment for Chandra will gradually dwindle in the coming years, based on the agency’s budget request released in March. Chandra X-ray Observatory Center/NASADespite 25 years spent in space, Chandra remains in good health and virtually all of the spacecraft’s systems are in good condition, Slane said.

Persons: NASA’s Chandra, Chandra, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Eileen Collins, ” Collins, ”, Pat Slane, astrophysicists Riccardo Giacconi, Harvey Tananbaum, NASA’s, Slane, Chandra’s, ” Slane, “ Organizations: CNN, NASA, Center, Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Hubble, Telescope, Spitzer, Compton Gamma, “ NASA, Chandra Locations: Columbia, Cambridge , Massachusetts, “

☆ Unusual world offers astronomers a glimpse into how planets become ‘hot Jupiters’
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The star is one of a binary pair, so the planet orbits the primary star, while the primary star orbits a secondary star. While Jupiter takes 4,000 Earth days to complete one orbit around the sun, hot Jupiters complete one orbit every few days. Astronomers use “eccentric” to refer to the shape of a planet’s orbit on a scale from zero to 1. “It’s a pretty extreme process in that the changes to the planet’s orbit are massive,” Millholland said. Discovering a second hot Jupiter precursor is helping astronomers to confirm the idea that high-mass gas giants transform into hot Jupiters as they migrate from eccentric to circular orbits, the researchers said.

Persons: —, ”, Arvind Gupta, NOIRLab, Gupta, Suvrath Mahadevan, Verne, Willaman, Jason Wright, ” Wright, ” Gupta, Sarah Millholland, “, ” Millholland, Wright, James Webb Organizations: CNN —, Penn State, Astronomy, Mercury, NASA, Massachusetts Institute, Technology’s Kavli, for Astrophysics, Space Research, chrysalis Locations: Kitt, Arizona

☆ At least 7 stars in our galaxy have the potential to harbor advanced alien technology, researchers find
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewIn the search for intelligent alien life, finding a Dyson sphere would be like hitting the jackpot. Dyson spheres are a hypothetical, super-advanced form of alien technology that may surround seven stars in our galaxy. Love Employee/Getty ImagesDespite what the name suggests, a Dyson sphere isn't necessarily one solid sphere that encases a star, although the most advanced ones could be. AdvertisementFor their study, Majumdar and colleagues analyzed more than 5 million stars throughout the Milky Way that exhibit IEEs. Next, the researchers will look closer at these seven strong Dyson sphere candidates using spectroscopic analysis, Majumdar said.

Persons: —, Freeman Dyson, Suman Majumdar, Majumdar, Dyson, Jason Wright, Boyajian, Gaia, Wright Organizations: Service, Business, Royal Astronomical Society, Indian Institute of Technology, Penn State University, Dyson, ESA, Gaia, Space Agency, Louisiana State University

☆ How primordial black holes could explain dark matter
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The late physicist Stephen Hawking hypothesized that dark matter could be hiding in black holes formed during the big bang. “We were making use of Stephen Hawking’s famous calculations about black holes, especially his important result about the radiation that black holes emit,” Kaiser said. This is not to say dark matter is not a particle, or that it’s for sure black holes. “The next generation of gravitational detectors could catch a glimpse of the small-mass black holes — an exotic state of matter that was an unexpected byproduct of the more mundane black holes that could explain dark matter today.”Many forms of dark matterWhat does this mean for the ongoing experiments that are trying to detect dark matter, such as the LZ Dark Matter Experiment in South Dakota? And those indeed might pick up some of the stray signals from the very violent formation process of primordial black holes.”There’s also the possibility that primordial black holes are just a fraction of the dark matter, Alonso-Monsalve added.

Persons: Vera Rubin, Kent Ford, ” Rubin, ”, Fritz Zwicky, Stephen Hawking, —, David Kaiser, Stephen Hawking’s, ” Kaiser, didn’t, Elba Alonso, Monsalve, ” Alonso, Alonso, Kaiser, “, There’s, Nico Cappelluti, “ Cappelluti, Priyamvada Natarajan, Joseph S, Sophia S, Fruton, Natarajan Organizations: CNN, NASA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Science, MIT, University of Miami, Astronomy, Yale University Locations: —, American, Swiss, British, South Dakota

☆ Dyson spheres: Could alien megastructures exist in the Milky Way? Scientists found 7 places to look
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Now, a new study that looked at 5 million stars in the Milky Way galaxy suggests that seven candidates could potentially be hosting Dyson spheres — a finding that’s attracting scrutiny and alternate theories. If Dyson spheres really exist, what could they be used for? “Freeman Dyson said that we should dismantle Jupiter — the whole planet (for the raw materials).”That supercolossal scale probably means that Dyson spheres, if they exist at all, are very rare. “However, contamination by circumstellar debris disks, which mimic Dyson Sphere infrared signatures, remains a concern,” he added in an email. However, he added, the radiation fingerprint of the seven Dyson sphere candidates might be explained by natural phenomena as well.

Persons: Freeman Dyson, ”, Dyson, Olaf Stapledon’s, George Dyson, ’, Freeman J, couldn’t, Matías Suazo, Suazo, “, Webb, that’s, Gabriella Contardo, NASA’s James Webb, ” Suazo, “ Freeman Dyson, Jason Wright, James Webb, —, Leslie Surginer, ” George Dyson, Tomotsugu Goto, Zaza Osmanov, ” Osmanov, George Organizations: CNN, Institute of, “, ‘, AP, Dyson, SETI Institute, Fermi, Accelerator Laboratory, Fermilab, Royal Astronomical Society, Uppsala University, NASA, Survey, JPL, ESA, European Space Agency, Micron, Sky Survey, University of Massachusetts, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, International School, Studies, Telescope, Penn State University, James Webb Space Telescope, William Press, Computer Science, University of Texas, Tsing Hua, SETI, of Physics, Free University of Tbilisi Locations: British, Princeton , New Jersey, Sweden, Trieste, Italy, Austin, Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, Georgia

☆ Nova: ‘New star’ will appear in the night sky after stellar explosion
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

While a supernova is the explosive death of a massive star, a nova refers to the sudden, brief explosion from a collapsed star known as a white dwarf. The dwarf star remains intact, releasing material in a repetitive cycle that can occur for thousands of years. “It’s incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat.”T Coronae Borealis, otherwise known as the “Blaze Star,” is a binary system in the Corona Borealis that includes a dead white dwarf star and an aging red giant star. The red giant becomes increasingly unstable over time as it heats up, casting off its outer layers that land as matter on the white dwarf star. Cooke recalled that the last nova he witnessed — Nova Cygni in 1975 — had a similar brightness to what is expected from T Coronae Borealis.

Persons: “ It’s, ”, Rebekah Hounsell, ” Hounsell, “, Burchard, William J, Cooke, Vega, skywatchers, Elizabeth Hays, ” Hays, they’ll, Hounsell, ” Cooke, —, Koji Mukai Organizations: CNN —, NASA, Goddard Space Flight, “ Blaze, Blaze Star, Coronae, Polaris, North Star, Northern Hemisphere, Northern Crown, Northern, Corona, NASA Goddard, “ Citizen, ” Locations: Greenbelt , Maryland, Ursberg, Germany

☆ A mysterious Jupiter-sized planet that shouldn't exist is as puffy as a marshmallow and astronomers finally think they know why
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

WASP 107b: The exoplanet that shouldn't existAn artist's impression of WASP 107b passing in front of its host star. But models suggested that WASP 107b's core would be too small to have formed a gas giant. Scientific models didn't align with observationsHubble images of WASP 107b didn't solve the mystery of its large size and low density. Venom82Why it took astronomers years to understand WASP 107b's mysterious origins stems from what many astronomers face: a lack of information due to technological limits. But WASP 107b's surface temperature was cold enough that it should have had more methane than what JWST observed.

Persons: —, they've, it's, David Sing, NASA's, Luis Welbanks, Sagan, James Webb, Welbanks —, Sing, Welbanks, Ralf Crawford, we're, Scott Gaudi, Gaudi, Olmsted, Russo Organizations: Service, Business, ESA, Hubble, NASA, Kornmesser, Bloomberg, Johns Hopkins University, WASP, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, ESO, Arizona State University, Telescope, Sing, WASP 107b's, CSA, JHU, Ohio State University

☆ NASA Lucy mission: A space rock got a moon after sun-driven quake
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Astronomers were in for a surprise when NASA’s Lucy mission flew by an asteroid named Dinkinesh in November and spotted a contact binary — two smaller space rocks that touch each other — orbiting the asteroid like a moon. “Basically, the planets formed when zillions of smaller objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids, ran into each other. The Lucy mission captured additional imagery revealing that the asteroid Dinkinesh’s moon is actually two space rocks that are touching one another. Too distant to be seen in detail with telescopes, the asteroids will get their close-up when Lucy reaches the Trojans in 2027. The mission borrows its name from the Lucy fossil, the remains of an ancient human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.

Persons: NASA’s Lucy, Dinky ”, ”, Hal Levison, Lucy, Dinkinesh, Goddard, Johns Hopkins, Keith Noll, Jessica Sunshine, ” Levison, Sunshine, Selam, “ I’m, “, NASA Galileo, Ida, Lucy’s, NASA Lucy, ” Sunshine, Dinky Organizations: CNN —, Southwest Research, NASA, Goddard Space Flight, University of Maryland, College Locations: Boulder , Colorado, Greenbelt , Maryland, Dinkinesh, Ethiopia, Jupiter

☆ Archaeologists found a secret chamber at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and they have no idea what it is
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Western Cemetery holds hundreds of rectangular tombs called mastabas that line the base of Giza's Great Pyramid. AdvertisementThe L-shaped structure's corners are "too sharp" to be naturally occurring, researcher Motoyuki Sato, who helped find the anomaly, told Live Science. For deeper structures, ERT can locate walls, shafts, and similar anomalies but without as much detail. DeAgostini/Getty ImagesAt some point, the shallower L-shaped structure was filled with sand, which could be a clue to its purpose. They don't know what, if anything, is in the deeper structure.

Persons: —, Khufu, Motoyuki Sato Organizations: Service, Western, Business, swatch, Higashi Nippon International University, Tohoku University, National Research Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, ERT Locations: Giza, Egypt

☆ Scientists a step closer to unraveling mystery of sun’s magnetic field
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In contrast to previous research that assumed the sun’s magnetic field originates from deep within the celestial body, they suspect the the source is much closer to the surface. This view of the sun's magnetic field was generated by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. NASA/GSFC/Solar Dynamics ObservaModeling the sun’s magnetic fieldIt’s difficult to see the sun’s magnetic field lines, which loop through the solar atmosphere to form a complicated web of magnetic structures far more complex than Earth’s magnetic field. To better grasp how the sun’s magnetic field works, scientists turn to mathematical models. Like the 11-year solar magnetic cycle, torsional oscillations also experience an 11-year cycle.

Persons: Galileo, ”, Daniel Lecoanet, ” Lecoanet, “, Lecoanet, Geoff Vasil, Ellen Zweibel, Zweibel Organizations: CNN, Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering, Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration, Research, Astrophysics, NASA's Solar Dynamics, NASA, Dynamics, University of Edinburgh, University of Wisconsin Locations: United Kingdom, Madison

☆ Study proves black holes have a ‘plunging region,’ just as Einstein predicted
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Using telescopes capable of detecting X-rays, a team of astronomers has for the first time observed this area — called the “plunging region” — in a black hole about 10,000 light-years from Earth. The study’s findings could help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of black holes. One thing that’s missing from the study is an actual image of the black hole, because it is too small and far away. But another team of Oxford researchers is working on something even better than a picture: the first movie of a black hole. “For example, it can be used to measure the rotation rate of the black hole,” said Reynolds, who was not involved in the study.

Persons: CNN — Albert Einstein, “ We’ve, ”, Andrew Mummery, ” It’s, Einstein’s, Mummery, “, We’ve, ” Mummery, Weiss, Christopher Reynolds, Reynolds, Dan Wilkins, Wilkins, ” Wilkins Organizations: CNN, Royal Astronomical Society, Leverhulme, Peierls, University of Oxford, NASA, Space, JPL, Caltech, Oxford, University of Maryland, College, Stanford University in Locations: United Kingdom, Africa, Namibia, Stanford University in California

☆ Will the total solar eclipse disrupt your cell service?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( John Towfighi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —As darkness envelops millions of people during Monday’s total solar eclipse, spectators will hold their cellphones skyward to capture the moment. A family looks through a pair of giant solar eclipse glasses at Veterans Memorial Park in Dripping Springs, Texas, on April 4, 2024. When the last total solar eclipse cut a path across America in 2017, AT&T reported network usage spikes up to 15% around certain cell towers in the path of totality. People view the solar eclipse at 'Top of the Rock' observatory at Rockefeller Center, August 21, 2017 in New York City. “A total eclipse of the sun is unlike any other experience that a human being can have.

Persons: Adam Davis, Shutterstock, ”, Caty Pilachowski, ” Pilachowski, Drew Angerer, Chris Serico, Serico, ” Serico, it’s, ” Verizon’s Serico, Heather Groll, ” Groll, Michelle Eng, Pichnaieu Chung, Anthony Behar, Lisa Winter, Winter, Rick Dietz, Aaron Sadler, Pilachowski, “ Organizations: CNN, Veterans Memorial, Indiana University , Bloomington, Bloomington, Rockefeller Center, Verizon, 5G, New York State Division of Homeland Security, Emergency Services, “, New, MTA, Hall, AP, NASA, Technology Services Department Locations: Texas, Maine, Springs, Texas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Missouri , Tennessee , Illinois , Kentucky , Indiana , Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York , Vermont , New Hampshire , Maine, Mexico, Canada, America, New York City, Niagara, Erie, New York, Northeast Ohio, Dallas, United States, Buffalo , NY, Rochester , NY, Hall , New York, NY, Rock , Arkansas, Little

☆ How to see the eclipse: Why your path of totality maps might be slightly off
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Calculations that use a slightly larger radius for the size of the Sun yield an eclipse path that is slightly narrower,” said NASA spokesperson Karen Fox in an emailed statement. And even if the NASA map is wrong, Irwin’s calculations indicate it’s only off by a couple thousand feet on the edges. A woman views a map showing the eclipse path during the Solar Eclipse Festival at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California, on August 19, 2017, two days before the total eclipse on August 21. And NASA also acknowledges that exact measurements of the eclipse path are difficult to pin down. “When you see the total eclipse, you can’t go back,” Guinan said.

Persons: ”, Karen Fox, Edward Guinan, John Irwin, Guinan, Frederic J . Brown, Irwin, ” Guinan, Jonathan Ernst, “, can’t, ” Don’t Organizations: CNN, North America, NASA, Villanova University ., California Science Center, Getty, Sun, Reuters Locations: North, Guildford, England, Los Angeles , California, AFP, Smoky, Tennessee

☆ NASA may build giant telescopes on the moon in your lifetime. Check out the blueprints.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

One moonshot plan would build a giant radio dish spanning an entire crater on the far side of the moon. An illustration of a conceptual radio telescope within a crater on the moon. Silk argues that lunar telescopes would open the door to a new era of major space discoveries. A satellite trail streaks in front of galaxies in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Any radio telescope on the moon's back end would pick up the pure emissions of the universe.

Persons: —, Vladimir Vustyansky, James Webb, Dallan Porter, Roger Angel, Joseph Silk, Jack Burns, Burns, That's, Stefica Nicol, Artemis, Ronald Polidan, FarView, Jack Burns Karan Jani, LILA, Fermilab LILA, Jani, NASA's James Webb, Temim, Webb, Angel, Chris Gunn, Nick Woolf, Angel Roger, Phil, Martin Elvis, Elvis Organizations: Service, NASA, Business, Vanderbilt Lunar Labs, Telescope, University of Arizona, American Astronomical Society, Payload, University of Colorado Boulder, Hubble Space, Hubble, ESA, Radio Telescope, REUTERS, NASA JPL, Caltech, Radio Science Investigations, Houston, Lunar Resources, Resources, Inc, Vanderbilt University, Fermilab, Telescopes, CSA, Princeton University, Engineers, James Webb Space, Industry, AP Locations: New Orleans, Australia

☆ This animation shows why leap years are necessary. Without them, December would eventually drift into summer.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Leap Day is February 29. Without leap years, December would drift into summer in 400 years. We get a bonus day on Thursday — Leap Day, February 29 — to keep the seasons in check. O'Donoghue's animation reveals what would happen if we didn't have leap years — after 400 years, our calendar months would drift into new seasons. That extra quarter of a day, of course, adds up to one full day of drift every four years.

Persons: —, James O'Donoghue, O'Donoghue, Shayanne Organizations: Service, NASA, JAXA

☆ NASA's James Webb telescope spotted a strange 13 billion-year-old galaxy that shouldn't exist
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's new space telescope spotted a 13 billion-year-old galaxy that is much too complex to exist that early in the universe. The galaxy, which is bigger than the Milky Way, could upheave what we know about how dark matter shaped the early universe. Light travels at a fixed speed through space, so the image of these early galaxies in the past is only reaching us now. According to current cosmology models, that should not be possible because dark matter is not supposed to have been mature enough at that time. "This dark matter — we don't know what it actually is —started out really smooth, with only the tiniest of ripples.

Persons: —, Karl Glazebrook, James Webb, Ivo Labbe, Swinburne University of Technology —, Labbe, Claudia Lagos, it's Organizations: Service, Swinburne University of Technology, Telescope, Reuters, University of Western Locations: University of Western Australia

☆ Universe’s brightest known object and fastest-growing black hole revealed
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Astronomers have spotted the brightest known object in the universe, and it’s a quasar powered by the fastest-growing black hole on record, according to a new study. The black hole powering the quasar devours the equivalent of one sun per day and has a mass about 17 billion times that of our sun, the researchers found. A black hole is massive power sourceThe intense gravitational influence of black holes draws matter toward these celestial objects in such an energetic way that the process creates light. The blinding radiation is due to the black hole’s accretion disk, or the ring around the black hole where material gathers before being consumed. The team followed up with observations from the powerful Very Large Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert to confirm details about the black hole, including its hefty mass.

Persons: ”, Christian Wolf, ” Wolf, Samuel Lai, Wolf, Southern Observatory’s Schmidt, Christopher Onken Organizations: CNN —, Southern, National University’s College of Science, National University’s Research, of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Hubble, Southern Observatory’s, Sky Survey, Sky, Dark Energy Survey, Energy Survey, ESO Locations: Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Atacama

☆ Elon Musk's SpaceX was the satellite villain of the skies. It's taking a 'money hit' to try and fix the problem.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewNEW ORLEANS — When SpaceX launched its first Starlink satellites, astronomers all over the world freaked out and the company quickly became a villain of the skies. Nonetheless, Starlink satellites — now more than 5,000 strong — are streaking across astronomers' views of the cosmos, ruining their data. SpaceX leads the way for changeA satellite trail streaks in front of galaxies in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. The visors were a regular feature for many Starlink satellites until SpaceX added laser communications. AdvertisementChris Hofer, international team lead for Amazon's Project Kuiper internet satellites, told the astronomers in New Orleans that SpaceX's Starlink tinkering has been helpful.

Persons: —, James Lowenthal, Lowenthal, SpaceX isn't, Jonathan McDowell, McDowell, that's, Patricia Cooper, Elon Musk, Slaven Vlasic, They're, Chris Hofer, Hofer, Kristina Barkume, Barkume Organizations: Service, SpaceX, New York Times, Business, Times, Hubble, Telescope, NASA, ESA, American Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union, CPS, Planet Labs, Amazon Locations: New Orleans

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