Perhaps the greatest and most frustrating mystery in cosmology is the Hubble tension problem. Put simply, all the observational evidence we have points to a universe that began in a hot, dense state, and then expanded at ...
Astronomy
Jan 17, 2024
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When you look up in the night sky and find your way to the North Star, you are looking at Polaris. Not only is it the brightest star in the Ursa Minor constellation (the Little Dipper), but its position relative to the north ...
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2023
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189
The bright, red star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion has shown some unexpected behavior. In late 2019 and 2020 it became fainter than we had ever seen it—at least in records going back more than a century. Briefly ...
Astronomy
Jun 12, 2023
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315
A low-cost, high-value observatory with a passing resemblance to a garden shed has been set up in the grounds of the University of Bath. The observatory is proving to be a game-changing experimental tool for undergraduates ...
Astronomy
Apr 21, 2023
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Against an inky black backdrop, the blue swirls of spiral galaxy NGC 6956 stand out radiantly. NGC 6956 is a barred spiral galaxy, a common type of spiral galaxy with a bar-shaped structure of stars in its center. This galaxy ...
Astronomy
Dec 16, 2022
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In the top left corner of this starry sight, the globular cluster NGC 2031 shines brilliantly. This dense group of thousands of stars is held together in a spherical shape by its stars' mutual gravitational attraction. The ...
Astronomy
Dec 8, 2022
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Binary systems are ideal for accurately identifying basic physical parameters, such as mass, radius and luminosity, of stars. Pulsating variable stars are especially significant, as they offer means for detecting stellar ...
Astronomy
Nov 25, 2022
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In the decades-long search for extraterrestrial intelligence, there has never been confirmed evidence of an alien signal. There have, however, been a few tantalizing mysteries. Perhaps the greatest of these is known as the ...
Astronomy
Jun 23, 2022
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The first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy brings radio astronomy back to its celestial birthplace. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a worldwide collection of millimeter-wave radio ...
Astronomy
May 13, 2022
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Duane Hamacher's "The First Astronomers" explores the deep and living star knowledge of First Nations people from around the world—and challenges the notion that Indigenous knowledge is not scientific.
Astronomy
Mar 29, 2022
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