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Brightest quasar ever seen is powered by black hole that eats a ‘sun a day’
A newly discovered quasar is a real record-breaker. Not only is it the brightest quasar ever seen, but it’s also the brightest astronomical object in general ever seen. It’s also powered by the hungriest and fastest-growing black hole ever seen — one that consumes the equivalent of over one sun’s mass a day. The quasar,…
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We asked a radio astronomer to answer 8 of the biggest, trickiest questions about the Universe
What questions about the Universe keep you awake at night? Do you ever think about how the Universe began, how it will end, whether there was anything before this Universe? Questions abound in science, physics and astronomy. That’s what keeps science so dynamic and interesting: there’s always something new to discover, even if it’s simply…
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How infrared astronomy allows us to observe the Universe beyond visible light
Infrared astronomy has become much better understood by non-astronomers in recent years, thanks in part to the incredible image and discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope. But why is infrared so good for observing the Universe, and why do astronomers choose to observe a galaxy or star-forming region in infrared rather than optical light?…
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Space photo of the week: Astronomers make an ‘artificial star’ over Hawaii
What it is: The Gemini North telescope When it was published: Feb. 7, 2024 Where it is: The Gemini Observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii Why it’s so special: Stars twinkle — and that isn’t good if you want to study them using large telescopes. The twinkling comes from light passing through…
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Space photo of the week: Astronomers make an ‘artificial star’ over Hawaii
What it is: The Gemini North telescope When it was published: Feb. 7, 2024 Where it is: The Gemini Observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii Why it’s so special: Stars twinkle — and that isn’t good if you want to study them using large telescopes. The twinkling comes from light passing through…
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Astronomers Caught Dark Matter in the Cosmic Web, Revealing an Unseen Universe
Researchers just detected dark matter on the cosmic web for the first time. Using a technique known as gravitational lensing, the team was able to detect the presence of dark matter even though we can’t see it, further confirming a long-held theory about the superstructure of our universe. Hopefully, the discovery will be able to…
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Zoozve, the ‘quasi-moon’ of Venus, is officially named after space art error
Who names an asteroid? When astronomers first spot a new object in the sky, it gets a provisional ‘starter’ name that begins with the year the object was first spotted, followed by at least two upper-case letters to denote which part of the year it was found. The first letter is A through Y for…
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Amateur astronomers can make breathtaking discoveries. This new photobook on Kickstarter shows how
Shining with a striking assembly of astronomy-centric imagery, a new Kickstarter campaign from artist Daniel Stephen Homer hopes to create what’s being described as the world’s first photobook exploring the deep global collaborations between amateur and professional astronomers. This limited edition project, titled “Route de la Belle Etoile” (Route of the Beautiful Star), highlights the…
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Kink in cosmic ray spectrum puzzles astrophysicists
Kinky particles: the GRAPES-3 experiment in Ooty, India depicted with a simulated cosmic ray shower. The inset shows the cosmic ray proton spectrum measurement by GRAPES-3 along with observations by other space and ground-based experiments. (Courtesy: TIFR) Using observations from the GRAPES-3 muon detector, physicists in India and Japan have explored a poorly understood region…
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NASA selects ultraviolet astronomy mission but delays its launch two years
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — NASA has selected an ultraviolet observatory for development but will delay its launch by two years because of budget challenges. NASA announced Feb. 13 that it chose the Ultraviolet Explorer, or UVEX, spacecraft as its next astrophysics Medium-class Explorer mission. The spacecraft will perform an all-sky survey at ultraviolet wavelengths and be…
