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Catch the biggest meteor shower of the year this December with an astronomer
If there’s ever a time to bring your sofa cushions outside and set up in a horizontal position in the hope of catching a shooting star, it would be December 14 – when the biggest meteor shower of 2023 will be lighting up the sky. It’s predicted that, with the Geminids meteor shower, 150 shooting…
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How Scientists Are Hunting for Alien Life on Other Planets
In September, NASA announced that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had detected potentially convincing evidence of life on an exoplanet about 120 light years from Earth. The atmosphere of K2-18b, a planet about nine times the size of our own, was found to contain methane, carbon dioxide, and—most tantalizing—a molecule called dimethyl sulfide. On…
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Stellar corpse nicknamed the ‘Tasmanian devil’ releases powerful explosions months later
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN — Space is full of extreme phenomena, but the “Tasmanian devil” may be one of the weirdest and rarest cosmic events ever observed. Months after astronomers witnessed the explosion of a distant star, they spotted…
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The Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend. Here’s how to see it
Probably the most famous of the annual meteor showers will soon be reaching its maximum: The Leonids. These ultrafast meteors are due to reach their peak on Saturday morning (Nov. 18). The Leonid meteor shower is known for producing some of the most amazing meteor displays in the annals of astronomy. Most notable are meteor…
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Jupiter’s moon Io is covered in active volcanoes. Now we have the 1st map of them
The most volcanically active world in the solar system, Jupiter’s moon Io, may possess a global ocean of magma underneath its surface, as well as mysteriously warm poles, a new study finds. Io, the innermost of Jupiter’s four largest moons, is slightly bigger than Earth’s moon. Io is the most volcanically active body in the…
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How ASTRO 3D Achieved Gender Parity in Astronomy in Just Five Years | Center for Astrophysics
Cambridge, MA – Around the world, research agencies are struggling to achieve gender parity. A paper published in Nature Astronomy today reports how the national Australian astronomy center ASTRO 3D, led at the time by Professor Lisa Kewley, now director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), achieved equal numbers of women…
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Scientists Uncover Source of Strange, Bright, Flashing Object
The night sky is full of flashes and explosions. Stars dying, galaxies crashing into one another, black holes and neutron stars ejecting jets of high-energy material. Astronomers use the consistent flashing of pulsars to measure distance, and suss out the presence of exoplanets by the occasional, faint dimming of stars. Every once in a while,…
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1 year after Artemis 1 launch, NASA readies Artemis 2 to shoot for the moon again (video)
Space fans, get ready to start your moon engines. NASA’s Artemis 1 uncrewed moon mission lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022. One year later, the next moon rocket ride for astronauts is in testing for a new mission that could launch in late 2024. The crewed mission,…
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Experience April’s total solar eclipse from the palm of your hand with the ‘Totality’ app from Big Kid Science
Download the app The free app is available for iOS and Android users in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. A total solar eclipse will be visible across the U.S. on April 8, 2024, and the free “Totality” app developed by Big Kid Science is the perfect tool to accompany your eclipse viewing experience. The app’s…
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Next Month An Asteroid Will Hide Betelgeuse And Might Reveal Its Secrets
If you live in a long but narrow part of the world, you have an opportunity next month to contribute to a global project exploring one of the most famous and enigmatic stars. That’s because on December 12, on a path running almost half the way around the planet, the asteroid 319 Leona will pass…