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Is there any sound in space? An astronomer explains
Matter in deep space is spread out, which makes it impossible for any sound waves to travel. Credit: NASA How far can sound travel through space, since it’s so empty? Is there an echo in space? – Jasmine, age 14, Everson, Washington In space, no one can hear you scream. You may have heard this…
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Astronomers detect oldest black hole ever observed
The international team, led by the University of Cambridge, used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to detect the black hole, which dates from 400 million years after the big bang, more than 13 billion years ago. The results, which lead author Professor Roberto Maiolino says are “a giant leap forward”, are reported in…
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Will we ever figure out how to defy gravity?
The gravitational force is by far the weakest of the four forces of nature. It’s simple to defy gravity: just lift something in the air. But the annoying thing about gravity is that it’s both persistent and has an infinite range, which takes a surprising amount of work to overcome. Gravity is so weak that…
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Where is the center of the universe?
Although artist’s illustrations are often used to represent the Big Bang, there is no center and no boundary to the universe. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly Where is the center of the universe (where the Big Bang occurred) and where is its edge? As counterintuitive as it may seem, the universe has no center, and it…
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Welcome to the next step in smart telescope astronomy: Unistellar Odyssey
On January 7 2024 Unistellar proudly unveiled the new Odyssey range of smart telescopes at the world’s biggest tech show, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, held in Las Vegas. Smart telescopes are here, and they are here to stay — with numerous optics brands battling it out to come up with the very best…
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Award-winner Karteepan reaches for the stars at Croydon High
After touching the edge of space with weather balloons, teacher’s astronomy club is now planning to launch a satellite – earning the plaudit: ‘her impact resonates far beyond the confines of her classroom’ A Croydon secondary school teacher has been named the winner of the 2024 Royal Astronomical Society Secondary and Further Education Award. <img…
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Globular star cluster emitting mysterious radio signal
The most sensitive image ever of a globular cluster – and the deepest, most detailed radio image ever produced by an Australian radio telescope – has thrown up a surprise. Globular clusters are round collections of stars bound together by gravity, but usually much smaller and less complex in structure than a typical galaxy. The…
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‘We do not understand how it can exist’: Astronomers baffled by ‘almost invisible’ dwarf galaxy that upends a dark matter theory
Scientists have discovered an “almost invisible” dwarf galaxy that cannot be explained by our current understanding of the cosmos. The mysteriously faint object, which has evaded detection for years, is so dim that researchers haven’t even been able to pin down exactly where it is. The newfound galaxy, named Nube (or “cloud” in Spanish), was…
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The strange story of the grave of Copernicus
Nicholas Copernicus was the astronomer who, five centuries ago, explained that Earth revolves around the Sun, rather than vice versa. A true Renaissance man, he also practised as a mathematician, engineer, author, economic theorist and medical doctor. Upon his death in 1543 in Frombork, Poland, Copernicus was buried in the local cathedral. Over the subsequent…
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Mysterious ‘Big Ring’ found in space ‘must surely be telling us something’
It is 1.3bn light-years in diameter and appears to be roughly 15 times the size of the Moon in the night sky as seen from Earth. Photo: University of Central Lancashire Scientists at the University of Central Lancashire have discovered a gigantic, ring-shaped structure in space. It is 1.3 billion light-years in diameter and appears…