-
Northern Arizona astronomy: The sun through space
To view this content you must be logged in as a subscriber. 4 WEEKS $2.50 UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS 4 WEEKS 1 YEAR $25 UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS FOR 12 MONTHS Plans include full website access, e-Edition and exclusive online extras. Print and Digital combo plans also available. GET STARTED NOW ALREADY A PRINT SUBSCRIBER? GET FULL…
-
Astronomers looking for space gas accidentally find 49 new galaxies
Stars are born from huge clouds of mostly hydrogen gas floating in space. Astronomers like me study this gas because it helps us understand how stars and galaxies form and grow. Hydrogen gas gives off a faint glow that is invisible to human eyes but can be observed with a telescope tuned to detect radio…
-
Universe of sound: NASA opens space to the blind
NASA’s Universe of Sound program has shared the splendour of the mind-blowing images of the cosmos, like those captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), with people who are blind, low vision or sighted. “Historically, astronomy has prioritised visuals to present information, with scientists and communicators overlooking the critical need to communicate astrophysics with…
-
The Chandra X-ray spacecraft may soon go dark, threatening a great deal of astronomy
Last week, an ominous letter was published to the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s website. “Dear Chandra community,” it starts, “As many of you are aware, the NASA budget for FY25 and beyond was released…” This letter was written by Patrick Slane, director of the Chandra X-ray Center. In it, he’s talking about NASA’s budget proposal for…
-
Cosmic Forecast: Blurry With a Chance of Orbital Chaos
Astronomers have gotten better at tracking the motions of stars just beyond the solar system. But that’s made it harder to predict Earth’s future and reconstruct its past. Regardless of what stock market analysts, political pollsters and astrologers might say, we can’t predict the future. In fact, we can’t even predict the past. So much…
-
Save nearly $50 on these highly-rated astronomy binoculars
If you’re on the lookout for a new pair of astronomy binoculars, you’ll be pleased to know that Amazon has got you covered. With powerful 25x magnification and an impressive 100mm objective lens, these SkyMaster binoculars from Celestron are currently 12% off in the Amazon Spring Sale, saving you nearly $50. Save over $46 on…
-
Life After Asteroid Bennu
Dante Lauretta, the planetary scientist who led the OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a handful of space dust, discusses his next final frontier. Last fall, a NASA spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx dropped a capsule containing more than 120 grams of space dust into the Utah desert. That material came from Bennu, an asteroid that, a billion years…
-
Astronomers call for radio silence on the far side of the moon
There’s a growing and passionate call for preserving radio silence on the far side of the moon. A first-of-its-kind international symposium is being held this week, turning up the volume to mull over the prospect of protecting real estate on the moon’s far side exclusively for dedicated scientific purposes. Despite the moon being surrounding by…
-
Astronomers criticize proposed space telescope budget cuts
WASHINGTON — Astronomers are pushing back against plans by NASA to cut the budgets of two venerable space telescopes, arguing that the cuts to one of them could jeopardize the future of X-ray astronomy in the United States. NASA’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, released March 11, proposed reducing the operating budgets of two of…
-
Space weather phenomenon observed in the lab for the first time
Observation of spontaneous chorus emission in RT-1: When the plasma confined in the dipole magnetic field of RT-1 contains a significant fraction of high-temperature electrons (red particles), a chorus emission (white emission lines) forms with a variable frequency (sound height) similar to birdsong. Courtesy: National Institute for Fusion Science Space weather events known as whistler…