Collaborate Disseminate
In the early morning hours of April 10th, a support cable at the Arecibo Observatory pulled lose from its mount and crashed through the face of the primary reflector below. Images taken from below the iconic 305 meter dish, made famous by films such as Contact and GoldenEye, show …read more
Continue reading Damage to Arecibo Leaves Gaping Hole in Astronomy
Astronomers have identified an asteroid that’s just made the closest pass to Earth ever recorded – and it was only spotted after it had passed. The object skimmed Earth’s atmosphere over the weekend, close enough to have its orbit changed by the planet… Continue reading Astronomers spot closest Earth-buzzing asteroid ever recorded
Most meteorites that fall to Earth belong to one of two broad groups – there are rocky ones, and there are metallic ones that were once molten iron. But one puzzling group of meteorites appears to belong to both camps at once, and now scientists have d… Continue reading Mysterious meteorites came from an asteroid with a liquid metal core
Over the last few weeks the media has been full of talk about NEOWISE, one of the brightest and most spectacular comets to ever pass through our solar system that you can still see if you hurry. While the excitement over this interstellar traveler is more than justified, it’s also …read more
Continue reading The WISE in NEOWISE: How a Hibernating Satellite Awoke to Discover the Comet
Earth is a famously watery planet, but where exactly it all came from is a mystery. Now, researchers in Japan have suggested a new origin story, by showing that water – and petroleum – can form inside clouds of organic matter, at high temperatures and … Continue reading Interstellar organic matter might be a major source of Earth’s water
As NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft homes in on Bennu ahead of its sample collection later this year, the probe is continuing to reveal fascinating insights about the attributes of the primitive asteroid. Mission scientists are now reporting a long-suspect… Continue reading Close inspection of asteroid Bennu reveals rocks cracking from sunlight
The exact nature of the bizarre interstellar object ‘Oumuamua remains a mystery. There’s been no shortage of ideas, but now astronomers at Yale and the University of Chicago have proposed that it’s a brand new type of object: a hydrogen iceberg.Continu… Continue reading New theory proposes ‘Oumuamua is an interstellar hydrogen iceberg
The exact nature of the bizarre interstellar object ‘Oumuamua remains a mystery. There’s been no shortage of ideas, but now astronomers at Yale and the University of Chicago have proposed that it’s a brand new type of object: a hydrogen iceberg.Continu… Continue reading New theory proposes ‘Oumuamua is an interstellar hydrogen iceberg
It turns out that the dinosaurs had far worse luck than we thought. While a gigantic asteroid slamming into the Earth is never going to be a sign of good luck, a new study has shown that the space rock hit the planet at the deadliest possible angle, ma… Continue reading Dinosaur-killing asteroid struck at “deadliest possible angle”
Scientists using the University of Hawaii‘s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope have discovered an asteroid that shows the property of a comet. Designated 2019 LD2, the Trojan asteroid shares the same orbit as Jupiter, yet e… Continue reading ATLAS telescope spots an asteroid that has sprouted a comet-like tail