The solar system has eight planets. In 2006, astronomers reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, the same class that contains Eris, Sedna, Quaoar, Ceres and perhaps many more solar system small bodies. These are defined approximately ...
Astronomy
Mar 14, 2022
5
815
The rate at which the universe is expanding, known as the Hubble constant, is one of the fundamental parameters for understanding the evolution and ultimate fate of the cosmos. However, a persistent difference called the ...
Astronomy
Sep 12, 2023
109
271
In the time since the first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, astronomers have detected more than 5,000 planets orbiting other stars. But when astronomers detect a new exoplanet, we don't learn a lot about it: We know that ...
Astronomy
May 2, 2022
5
2611
In early November of this year, aurora borealis were observed at surprisingly low latitudes, as far south as Italy and Texas. Such phenomena indicate the impacts of a solar coronal mass ejection on the Earth's magnetic field ...
Astronomy
Nov 30, 2023
0
165
Astronomers are one step closer to revealing the properties of dark matter enveloping our Milky Way galaxy, thanks to a new map of twelve streams of stars orbiting within our galactic halo.
Astronomy
Jan 11, 2022
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283
For the very first time, astronomers have imaged in real time the dramatic end to a red supergiant's life, watching the massive star's rapid self-destruction and final death throes before it collapsed into a Type II supernova.
Astronomy
Jan 6, 2022
11
908
An international team of astronomers led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, has discovered an unusual massive cluster of young galaxies forming in the early universe. The newly discovered growing galactic ...
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2022
3
1025
How did we get here? Where are we going? And how long will it take? These questions are as old as humanity itself, and, if they've already been asked by other species elsewhere in the universe, potentially very much older ...
Astronomy
May 14, 2023
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159
Astronomers using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have identified a new threat to life on planets like Earth: a phase during which intense X-rays from exploded stars can affect planets over ...
Astronomy
Apr 20, 2023
1
126
While black holes and toddlers don't seem to have much in common, they are remarkably similar in one aspect: Both are messy eaters, generating ample evidence that a meal has taken place.
Astronomy
Sep 17, 2021
40
663
