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What happens when two stars fall into each other?

The universe is mostly empty, but once in a great while stars get close enough to crash into each other. Two stars recently combined to form Sco V1309. Find out what happened when they did. In 2008, two stars became one, only no one knew it yet. All anyone knew was a previously unknown star … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

The new Hubble Constant proves the universe isn’t avoiding us

New calculations have just been completed that show the rate of expansion for the universe. By zeroing in on the rate, the Hubble Constant, these calculations hammer another nail the casket of a quirky little idea called Void Theory. Image: Nasa STS-103 In the late nineties, physicists noticed that distant supernovas were dimmer than they … Continued

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The new Hubble Constant proves the universe isn’t avoiding us

New calculations have just been completed that show the rate of expansion for the universe. By zeroing in on the rate, the Hubble Constant, these calculations hammer another nail the casket of a quirky little idea called Void Theory. Image: Nasa STS-103 In the late nineties, physicists noticed that distant supernovas were dimmer than they … Continued

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Iapetus is Saturn’s amazing disappearing moon

Of all the hundreds of moons in the solar system, none are weirder than Saturn’s satellite Iapetus. We’ve already talked about its walnut-shaped ridge, but that’s nothing compared to the weird optical illusion that lets it disappear from our telescopes. Astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini first sighted Iapetus in 1671. The problem was that he could … Continued

Tech News

This Breathtaking Saturn Video Is Exactly What Everyone’s Soul Needs Right Now

After all the horror we are seeing these days, after the continuous bad news, I think it’s time for some mind- and spirit-cleansing beauty. Something to remind us that humans and nature can sometimes produce awe-inspiring things. Like this video. The Cassini spacecraft reached Saturn in 2004, sending the clearest images of the most striking … Continued

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The Hubble telescope eliminates one possible alternative to dark energy

The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, and we don’t know why. Dark energy is needed to explain this, but what is this strange phenomenon? We don’t know, but NASA has conclusively ruled out an alternative to dark energy. Based on our current theoretical understanding, the universe should eventually stop expanding and, thanks to … Continued

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The sad fate of a demoted, briefly Earth-like exoplanet

Of the 1235 possible planets discovered by NASA’s Kepler telescope, one of the most exciting was KOI 326.01, which appeared to be roughly Earth’s size and temperature. But it turns out the planet’s habitability is just a big clerical error. It’s all because the planet’s star isn’t as bright as astronomers thought. Its star, KIC … Continued

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The coldest brown dwarf ever discovered is colder than boiling water

Just 63 light-years away, there’s a failed star known as a brown dwarf barely any bigger than Jupiter. It’s temperature is way less than 100 degrees Celsius, which blurs the line even more between the smallest stars and biggest planets. Brown dwarfs occupy an odd middle ground between planets and stars. They’re not quite massive … Continued

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What is creating all that energy beneath the ice on Saturn’s moon Enceladus?

Enceladus is home to one of the solar system’s most incredible hotspots, churning out 15.8 gigawatts of power. It’s even more proof that there’s a liquid ocean hiding beneath the ice…but scientists have no clue what’s creating all that heat. The heat created in Enceladus’s southern polar region is 2.6 times that created by all … Continued

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The Moon dances around the Sun in partial eclipse video

Last Friday, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this video of a partial solar eclipse, which shows the Moon blotting out the edges of the Sun in most unusual fashion, seemingly reversing direction as it moves. What’s going on here? As Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy explains, the Moon’s back-and-forth movement is all about parallax. … Continued

Tech News

Science, Reason Explain Why a Second Sun Appeared Over China This Week

Everyone relax. While the jury may be out on abundant life in space we can squash this other space-related “second sun” story out of China. Our solar system has not sprouted a second sun and we are not on Tatooine. It was a mirage. More specifically, it was an example of optical refraction. The effect … Continued

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Martian crater gets hit by meteorites again…and again…and again

Most of the craters created by meteorite and asteroid impacts are round, nothing like this strangely elongated, oval-shaped crater recently discovered on Mars. This crater just might be the trendiest meteorite landing spot on all of Mars. The crater was discovered by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe, which found this unusual formation in … Continued

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Solar System’s Story Revealed in a Pea

Feast your eyes on some of the solar system’s earliest materials: the pink core comprises melilite, spinel and perovskite. The multi-colored rim contains hibonite, perovskite, spinel, melilite/sodalite, pyroxene, and olivine. This close-up reveals part of a pea-sized chunk of meteorite, a calcium-aluminum rich inclusion, formed when the planets in our solar system were still dust … Continued

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Should Earth get demoted from planet status just like Pluto?

There were many reasons why Pluto got demoted to dwarf planet status, one of which was that it couldn’t clear its orbit of asteroids and other debris. But Earth’s orbit is also crowded…too crowded for Earth to be a planet? Earth is indeed in a very crowded orbit, surrounded by tens of thousands of asteroids … Continued

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California has now become a nebula a thousand light-years from Earth

California has always been a little different from the rest of the US, but this is just ridiculous. Its outline is etched into the cosmic dust in the California Nebula, while Nevada has apparently collapsed into a single bright star. You can get an even better look at the nebula’s similarities to the golden state … Continued

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Another chance to learn astronomy in the company of great science fiction writers

Great news: the Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop has found a new funding source, the National Science Foundation, and is open to applications through March 31. Any established science fiction writer can go study in beautiful Laramie, WY, essentially for free from July 10 through 17. This time around, the workshop, will feature regular instructors Mike … Continued

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Why supermassive black holes are too greedy for their own good

The galaxy Markarian 231 is dying, and its own supermassive black hole is ripping it apart. The black hole is absorbing so much material and spewing so much dust and gas back out that star formation has been completely disrupted. The black hole at the heart of Mrk 231 is about ten million solar masses, … Continued

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Red Moon Over Edmonton

A blood red Moon hovers in between the steam-choked skyscrapers. This isn’t the apocalypse, but as any resident of Calgary will be all too happy to you, it’s the next best thing: it’s the Moon rising over Edmonton. So just how did Edmonton get the remarkable combination of a low, crimson Moon and steam rising … Continued

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The strange galaxies of the Pisces constellation

Located some hundred million light-years from here, these colorful galaxies can be seen behind the stars that make up the constellation of Pisces. We don’t know exactly how these galaxies got here…but they’re certainly amazing sights to look at now. A NASA astronomer explains: This colorful cosmic skyscape features a peculiar system of galaxies cataloged … Continued

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All the planets gather together for a family portrait

NASA’s Messenger probe is currently orbiting close around the Sun in preparation for its mission to Mercury. While making its lonely orbit, Messenger snapped this amazing photo that shows all the planets (plus our Moon) in one big family photo. Up top you can see the left half of the photo, which includes Venus, Earth … Continued