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☆ Solving the mystery of the most powerful objects in the universe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Astronomers first discovered quasars, considered to be the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe, 60 years ago — but they didn’t understand their origin. Now, scientists think they have unlocked the mystery behind what ignites these celestial objects. Astronomers observed 48 different galaxies that contain quasars and compared them to more than 100 galaxies without them. When two galaxies merge, massive amounts of gas are pushed toward the supermassive black holes located at their centers. “Quasars play a key role in our understanding of the history of the Universe, and possibly also the future of the Milky Way.”

☆ Solar eclipse tourism in Exmouth, Western Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Thursday’s hybrid solar eclipse will last for 62 seconds. That’s the hope for Exmouth and the surrounding Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia, which are hoping that April 20th’s once-in-a-decade natural phenomenon could kick off a tourism boom that lasts well beyond the eclipse. “They’re pretty intimidated but also very excited,” Roger Cook, Deputy Premier of Western Australia state, tells CNN about the residents of Exmouth. And there’s some evidence of the region’s growing prominence on the international stage: CNN Travel selected Western Australia for our list of the best places to visit in 2023. Altogether, Western Australia state spent 20 million AUD ($13.5 million) on infrastructure updates for the eclipse, which included everything from water and sanitation services to additional parking.

☆ Hybrid solar eclipse draws thousands to remote Australian town
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, April 20 (Reuters) - A rare hybrid solar eclipse over a remote town on Australia's west coast drew thousands on Thursday to witness the event. Astronomy fans and enthusiasts from around the world travelled to Exmouth, a tiny beachside town roughly 1,200 kilometers from state capital Perth, to witness the total solar eclipse. Thursday's eclipse was a rare "hybrid" type, not seen worldwide since 2013. In a hybrid eclipse, depending on where viewers stand, the moon either blots out the sun, a total eclipse, or obscures the center while leaving a ring of light visible, an annular eclipse. While the total eclipse was only visible from a few parts of Australia, Indonesia and Timor Leste, a partial eclipse was visible across all three countries and parts of southeast Asia.

☆ Compact galaxy's discovery shows Webb telescope's 'amazing' power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The discovery is another example of how observations by Webb, which was launched in 2021 and began collecting data last year, are transforming our knowledge of the nature of the early universe. The orbiting infrared observatory was designed to be far more sensitive than its Hubble Space Telescope predecessor. This galaxy, Kelly said, is "absolutely tiny" in relative terms. "Nonetheless, we found that it was forming about two stars each year, which is similar to the rate at which the Milky Way is forming stars," Kelly added. "The combined power of the James Webb Space Telescope and the galaxy's magnification due to gravitational lensing allows us to study this galaxy in detail," Williams said.

☆ First photo of a black hole resembles 'skinny' doughnut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The first photo ever taken of a black hole looks a little sharper now. The central region is darker and larger, surrounded by a bright ring as hot gas falls into the black hole in the new image. The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, called EHT, is a global network of telescopes that captured the first photograph of a black hole. Computers using PRIMO analyzed more than 30,000 high-resolution simulated images of black holes to pick out common structural details. But if heated materials in the form of plasma surround the black hole and emit light, the event horizon could be visible.

☆ That Famous Black Hole Just Got Even Darker
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Dennis Overbye | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four years ago, astronomers released the first ever image of a black hole: a reddish, puffy doughnut of light surrounding an empty, dark hole in the center of the giant galaxy M87, which lies 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The image made visible what astronomers, and the rest of us, had only been able to imagine: a celestial entity so massive that its gravity warped space-time, drawing matter, energy and even light into its bottomless vortex. The image was released on April 10, 2019, by an astronomy squad called the Event Horizon Telescope, so named for the boundary of no return around a black hole. The new image, they say, will sharpen constraints on how well the black hole in M87 fits with Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which first predicted the existence of black holes. Dr. Medeiros and her colleagues published the new image on Thursday in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

☆ Repeating radio signal leads astronomers to an Earth-size exoplanet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have detected a repeating radio signal from an exoplanet and the star that it orbits, both located 12 light-years away from Earth. The signal suggests that the Earth-size planet may have a magnetic field and perhaps even an atmosphere. The researchers believe the radio signal was created by interactions between the planet’s magnetic field and the star. How strong radio waves occurIn order for the radio waves to be detectable on Earth, they must be very strong, the researchers said. “This research shows not only that this particular rocky exoplanet likely has a magnetic field but provides a promising method to find more.”

☆ Ancient Egyptian zodiac symbols were found in a temple after archaeologists cleared away 2,000 years' worth of grime
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ancient Egyptian star signs were found under a thick layer of soot and dust in the Temple of Esna. The colors in the full set of Egyptian zodiac symbols are vivid after being protected by the grime. The set is just one of three full sets of ancient Egyptian zodiac signs uncovered in Egyptian temples, said Dr. Daniel von Recklinghausen, a Tübingen Egyptologist who worked on the project. These zodiac symbols were uncovered in the latest series of renovations, which revealed the designs in brilliant colors. Ancient Egyptians adopted astrology late in their reignThese symbols show the decans, which are zodiac symbols representing the 12 hours of the night.

☆ The solar system was hit with a gamma-ray burst so bright, it blinded scientists' equipment in space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Chris Panella | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Our solar system was hit by a gamma-ray burst so bright, it blinded space equipment and telescopes. A gamma-ray burst that recently hit our solar system was so bright, it temporarily blinded gamma-ray instruments in space, according to a NASA release. Scientists say the gamma-ray burst (GRB), the most powerful type of explosion in the universe, was 70 times brighter than any previously recorded event. What is a gamma-ray burst? Because it blinded space instruments, they couldn't accurately record it, so scientists weren't sure how bright the burst was when it first reached our planet.

☆ Are you 'The Achiever' or 'The Enthusiast'? Why so many people—including your boss—are obsessed with the Enneagram test
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Even if you haven't taken the Enneagram test yourself, you may have been roped into a conversation about it. The Enneagram is 'focused on internal emotions rather than external behaviors'Unlike other personality tests, the Enneagram has an unlikely foothold in disparate communities. Howe, who lives in Pasadena, California, grew up taking the Myers-Briggs Test and other personality tests, but said the Enneagram is different. She first heard of the Enneagram test from a friend but didn't take it seriously until she read "The Road Back to You." Like astronomy or other typologies, every Enneagram test result is positive.

Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars are set to align in an arc formation on the nights of March 25 through 30, alongside the moon. If you want to spot all five planets in one night, timing, dark skies, and a clear view of the horizon are key. You'll need to peer low on the horizon to spot Jupiter and Mercury. An easy way to identify the planets is to download an astronomy app like Sky Tonight or SkySafari, which will show you exactly where each planet is in the night sky. NASANow it's time to admire Venus — the brightest "star" in the sky, poised above Jupiter — and look for Uranus with your binoculars.

☆ A bright comet is heading towards Earth and could outshine the stars in the sky, say astronomers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The last time the comet visited Earth was around 80,000 years ago, astronomers said. It could be as bright or brighter as our stars, and much more brilliant than the recent ZTF green comet that passed the Earth last month. By comparison, the recent Green Comet ZTF had a brightness of around magnitude +4.6 (the lower the magnitude, the brighter), per space.com. Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) taken at NAOJ Mitaka Campus on January 31, 2023. On that occasion, we were lucky and the comet only passed our planet, offering spectacular vistas to onlookers.

☆ Elon Musk's Starlink satellites are ruining images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, threatening future science
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is getting more satellites ruining its images, a new study found. Hubble images streaked with white lines show the impact of just one satellite flying through the telescope's field of view. The proportion of Hubble images that look like this is increasing as more satellites fill Earth's orbit, the study found. Hubble peers through a growing 'wall' between us and the universeThe Hubble Space Telescope in Earth's orbit. So far SpaceX has launched more than 3,000 Starlink satellites and plans to eventually maintain up to 42,000 satellites in orbit.

New data shows light pollution has made the night sky today twice as bright as it was eight years ago. That would mean 60% of the stars we see today will be gone by 2041 if light pollution keeps growing. For decades, astronomers have been building telescopes in the darkest places on Earth to avoid light pollution. However, satellites miss the blue light of LEDs, which are commonly used for outdoor lighting – resulting in an underestimate of light pollution. Note: If a night sky containing 250 stars today has only 100 stars in 18 years, that equates to a loss of 60% of the stars in the night sky by the year 2041.

☆ 5 times scientists thought they'd maybe discovered signs of extraterrestrial life but sadly didn't
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Extraterrestrial life could exist, but mysterious objects in the sky aren't evidence of aliens. Scientists have thought they were close to discovering alien life a few times — none of it via UFOs. As the US discovered a flurry of UFOs — officially called "unidentified anomalous phenomena," or UAPs — in early February, Google searches for "extraterrestrial life" and "are aliens real" spiked. There have been incidents in the past where some researchers thought they'd come close to discovering signs of alien life — or even extraterrestrial intelligence — but none were UFOs. They dubbed the first interstellar object 'Oumuamua, which is a Hawaiian term meaning "a messenger from afar arriving first."

☆ I tried to see the green comet and totally failed. I needed more planning and equipment than I expected.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

I tried to see the famous green comet in the night skies, far from the city, last weekend. The moon outshined most of the stars, and I couldn't locate the faint comet, even with binoculars. I've heard (and written) a lot of hype about this comet, called C/2022 E3 (ZTF), or Comet ZTF for short. Morgan McFall-JohnsenIf I had spotted the green comet, there's no way I would've been able to capture it on my iPhone X. Who knows, maybe I looked right at the green comet and didn't recognize it because it was too faint.

☆ Fact Check-False claims about the sun and clouds at night shared online
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Contrary to online claims, the earth is 93 million miles from the sun, is not flat and there is plenty of night-time footage of the planet taken from space, experts told Reuters. It also says the earth is flat and questions why clouds can’t be seen in nighttime images of the earth taken from space. Orsola de Marco, an astrophysicist at Macquarie University in Sydney, told Reuters that visibility of clouds at night could also depend on camera angle and the light source. Rather than a spacecraft looking directly through a cloud, shooting from an angle makes clouds more visible because more light can be reflected off the clouds, she said. Photos shared by the European Space Station at night showing clouds can be seen (here), (here), and (here).

When it comes to queer books, the loudest headlines may be about bans and censorship, but a quieter truth about the state of LGBTQ books reveals the resilience of their authors and commitment of their readers. The queer titles debuting in 2023 are as full of joy as they are examples of resistance, and those in the industry say LGBTQ writers are only getting more ambitious. And while queer young adult books are often the target of book-banning efforts, these titles drove the highest gains in the category, the report found. When it comes to considering a queer future, and what’s next for queer books, that’s something that’s been on the mind of Suzi F. Garcia, the editor of Lambda Literary, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ books and authors. She described the book as having a “queer core” and a sense of hope while discussing issues critical to LGBTQ and Black communities.

☆ How exoplanet hunters find alien worlds hundreds of light-years away and figure out if they have water
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the journal Nature Astronomy, astronomers announced that the two exoplanets — Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d — could be made up of mostly water. NASA AmesSince the first worlds outside our solar system were discovered in 1992, astronomers have searched for other planets orbiting sun-like stars. Astronomers have already captured direct evidence of 5,241 planets beyond our solar system, according to NASA's Exoplanet Archive. Water worlds beyond our solar system could be abundant in the universeWorlds rich in liquid water might not be as rare as astronomers previously thought, Piaulet said. But by discovering and studying new worlds, astronomers can hone in on what makes a world habitable beyond a sample size of one — Earth.

The comet, officially known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), will make its closest approach to the sun on Thursday and could be bright enough to be seen through telescopes and binoculars. The icy object will then make its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 2, NASA officials said. If the comet continues brightening, it may be possible to see it with the naked eye as it makes its closest approach to Earth in early February. After that, the next opportunity to see Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) won't come around for a long, long time. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered last March by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility's wide-field survey camera at the Palomar Observatory, located north of San Diego.

☆ Fact Check-Moon visible during daytime is not proof of flat Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The moon visible during the day is not proof that the Earth is flat, despite claims shared online. The moon is commonly visible during the day, however, and it is not always directly opposite the sun, experts told Reuters. At full moon, the moon rises as the sun sets and at the end of that night the moon sets at sunrise. During this lunar phase, we see part of the moon illuminated because only a part of the moon that is being illuminated by the sun is visible to us, he said. “However, the best argument against flat Earth (using the moon) is that during a lunar eclipse, the moon enters Earth shadow,” Fe McBride, assistant professor in the Physics and Astronomy department at Bowdoin College told Reuters.

The first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institut / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERONASA released the first batch of images from the tennis court-sized observatory to much fanfare in July. The exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope. Back to the moonFifty years after the final Apollo moon mission, NASA took key steps toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Chinese officials have also said they intend to use the space station for space tourism and commercial space initiatives.

☆ Gorgeous animation shows how the Earth changes with the seasons
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An animation showcases how the seasons change with Earth's orbit around the sun. Earth's angle causes very specific weather patterns and daylight during the course of a year. That ancient bump is what caused the Earth's seasons — times of the year that have very specific weather patterns and hours of daylight that vary depending on the latitude. Earth’s seasons are caused by its axis being tilted about 23 degrees. The angle of the Earth's tilt is relatively stable, but there are some slight shifts over large time scales (tens of thousands of years).

☆ Fact Check-Meteor-like flares seen over Dubai night sky were skydivers, not meteoroids or asteroids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Meteor-like flares recorded soaring over the Dubai skyline on Dec. 11 were skydivers performing a stunt with flares attached to them, not meteoroids or asteroids, as has been claimed online. One Facebook user uploaded a video of glowing objects flying over the UAE city’s night sky on Sunday (here), along with the caption: “Numbers of meteorites falling in Earth. Every time planet Nibiru comes in our solar system it drags space dust, asteroids and meteorites with its tail. It shows sky divers performing a stunt with flare-like objects attached to them. The video shows skydivers performing a stunt involving flares, not meteors breaking up in the atmosphere over Dubai’s skyline.

U.S. scientists have achieved “ignition” — a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to create — a critical milestone for nuclear fusion and a step forward in the pursuit of a nearly limitless source of clean energy, Energy Department officials said Tuesday. The process imploded a tiny capsule inside the hohlraum that is filled with deuterium and tritium, creating a fusion reaction. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory"We have taken the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source," said Jill Hruby, the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration. The Inflation Reduction Act provided millions in new funding for fusion projects and the White House this year convened the first fusion summit and developed a 10-year plan to commercialize fusion technology. A technician reviews an optic inside the preamplifier support structure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., in 2012.

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