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The Night Sky Will Soon Get ‘a New Star.’ Here’s How to See It.
If you keep a close eye on the night sky in the weeks and months ahead, you may spot something new. It will shine as bright as Polaris, the North Star, for no longer than a week before fading back into darkness. This ephemeral lighthouse is T Coronae Borealis, often referred to as T CrB.…
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Good News and Bad News for Astronomers’ Biggest Dream
The National Science Foundation takes a step (just one) toward an “extremely large telescope.” The United States should commit $1.6 billion to building an “extremely large telescope” that would vault American astronomy into a new era, according to the National Science Board, which advises the National Science Foundation. In a statement on Feb. 27, the…
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Space-borne atoms herald new tests of Einstein’s equivalence principle
Free falling: Einstein’s equivalence principle holds that the motion of freely-falling bodies (whether apples, oranges, or anything else) is independent of their composition. The Cold Atom Laboratory aboard the International Space Station aims to test this principle using ultracold atoms with different masses. (Courtesy: Ali Lezeik, adapting original image from Roskosmos/NASA) The motion of freely-falling…
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Astronomers detect ‘waterworld with a boiling ocean’ in deep space
Astronomers have observed a distant planet that could be entirely covered in a deep water ocean, in findings that advance the search for habitable conditions beyond Earth. The observations, by Nasa’s James Webb space telescope (JWST), revealed water vapour and chemical signatures of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the exoplanet, which is…
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James Webb Space Telescope has found the first universe’s stars in an ancient galaxy
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has yet again peered into the early universe giving scientists new insights into how the first stars formed galaxies. Our universe is about 13.8 billion years old. The JWST has wowed astronomers by revealing ancient galaxies that challenge our understanding of how they form. Within the first 6 months…
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Voyager 1, First Craft in Interstellar Space, May Have Gone Dark
The 46-year-old probe, which flew by Jupiter and Saturn in its youth and inspired earthlings with images of the planet as a “Pale Blue Dot,” hasn’t sent usable data from interstellar space in months. A time-lapse video from NASA captures Voyager 1’s approach to Jupiter.By NASA When Voyager 1 launched in 1977, scientists hoped it…
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James Webb telescope detects oldest ‘dead’ galaxy in the known universe — and its death could challenge cosmology
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered the oldest “dead” galaxy ever seen — but the cosmic corpse has left scientists puzzled as it defies explanation by our current knowledge of the early cosmos. The galaxy suddenly and mysteriously halted star formation when the universe was just 700 million years old, when…
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How this astronomer brings space down to Earth
Astronomer Dr Rok Nežič talks outreach, scientific value and why we’re all comets if you think about it. The science advocacy group, Science Europe, succinctly explains the value of scientific communication and outreach programmes: “the science doesn’t speak for itself”. As such, science communicators can bridge the gap between the experts and the people who…
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Rare 11th-century star chart reveals complex history of Islamic, Jewish and Christian astronomy
An 11th-century astrolabe — a device used for accurately calculating the date and time based on star positions — found in a museum in Verona, Italy, is clear evidence for scientific exchange and cooperation between Muslim, Jewish and Christian people, a new study finds. The astrolabe stands out because, having been built by Muslim craftsmen,…
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100x the power of JWST? Diffractive lenses could alter astronomy
A team of scientists from The University of Arizona aims to usher in a new era for space observatories. The team believes its in-development Nautilus Space Observatory could have up to 100 times more sensitivity than the James Webb Space Telescope. In an interview with IE, team leader Daniel Apai explained that “we are at…