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Astronomers keep hearing eerie bird sounds from space – and they finally know why
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting…
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Why some astronomers are excited about the search for alien life : Short Wave
Enlarge this image Bettymaya Foott/National Radio Astronomy Observatory At the turn of the century, 3.8 million people banded together in a real-time search for aliens — with screensavers. The project was called SETI@home. The hope was that with the power of millions of computers, researchers could comb through radio signals hitting Earth from outer space…
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Explore Space Like Never Before! Students Dive into Astronomy
Students Engage with the Cosmos at Potter Gray Elementary In an extraordinary event at Potter Gray Elementary in Bowling Green, Kentucky, students immersed themselves in a unique educational experience with the Orbit Earth Expo. This interactive program featured massive inflatables representing the Earth, sun, and moon, capturing the imaginations of young learners the moment they…
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Telescope – Technology, Optics, Astronomy
Besides the telescope itself, the electronic computer has become the astronomer’s most important tool. Indeed, the computer has revolutionized the use of the telescope to the point where the collection of observational data is now completely automated. The astronomer need only identify the object to be observed, and the rest is carried out by the…
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Telescope – Technology, Optics, Astronomy
Besides the telescope itself, the electronic computer has become the astronomer’s most important tool. Indeed, the computer has revolutionized the use of the telescope to the point where the collection of observational data is now completely automated. The astronomer need only identify the object to be observed, and the rest is carried out by the…
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Weird icy balls in space could be a totally new kind of star
Images of the two peculiar icy objects captured by the ALMA radio telescope Takashi Shimonishi/Niigata University Two strange, icy objects in our galaxy that look unlike anything astronomers have ever seen could be an entirely new kind of star. In 2021, Takashi Shimonishi at Niigata University in Japan and his colleagues spotted what appeared to…
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Wrinkles in spacetime could remember the secrets of exploding stars
Asymmetric collapse: Simulations of core-collapse supernovae indicate that existing gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO could spot telltale signs of cosmic distortions known as gravitational memory if the supernova is close enough to Earth. (Courtesy: M. Sandoval/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Permanent distortions in spacetime caused by the passage of gravitational waves could be detectable from Earth.…
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3D structure of iconic Ring Nebula gives ‘a brand new view of an old astronomical friend’
One of the most photographed objects in the night sky is the Ring Nebula, wreckage of a bygone sun-like star about 2,000 light-years from Earth. Its striking, smoke-ring-like appearance has both awed and puzzled astronomers, who have long debated whether this remnant truly takes on a ring shape or if its appearance is merely an…
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Nanaimo astronomers will hear how space telescopes have redrawn our view of the universe
The guest presenter who’ll launch Nanaimo Astronomy Society’s 2025 lecture series will bring some Hubble history and wonders from the Webb to this month’s meeting. Chris Gainor, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Victoria Centre and editor of Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly, will be the guest presenter at the society’s meeting Thursday,…
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An interstellar visitor may have changed the course of 4 solar system planets, study suggests
A planet-size object that possibly once visited the solar system may have permanently changed our cosmic neighborhood by warping the orbits of the four outer planets, a new study suggests. The findings may shed light on why these planets’ paths have certain peculiar features. For decades, astronomers have debated how the solar system’s planets formed.…
