astronomical

Penumbral lunar eclipses slightly darken the Moon. Credit: H. Raab/Wikipedia Commons, CC BY-SAOn May 5, 2023, people around the world will witness a lunar eclipse when the Earth gets between the Sun and the Moon and casts part of its shadow on the Moon.The eclipse will be visible in Africa, Asia, Australia and large portions of Europe, though not in the U.S. this time around. This eclipse is not what some call a “blood moon,” as it will not turn red. Instead, the Moon will dim slightly as it passes through a lighter part…

For the first time, astronomers have identified the flare of light as a dying star engulfs and destroys one of its orbiting worlds.Although this phenomenon has long been theorized, finally observing it in action will help astronomers figure out what happens to a planetary system as the star enters its dramatic death throes, puffing up to hundreds of times its original size and swallowing everything in its path, before ejecting its outer material and collapsing down into a hotly glowing stellar remnant.Previous…

By ESA/Hubble January 15, 2023This Hubble Space Telescope image includes a host of astronomical objects. Strewn across the image are background galaxies ranging from stately spirals to fuzzy ellipticals. Also present are bright foreground stars much closer to Earth, surrounded by diffraction spikes. In the center of the frame, the faint outline of the tiny galaxy UGC 7983 can be seen as a blurry cloud of light. But hidden within this image lies an unexpected cosmic intruder. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. TullyA host…

The James Webb Space Telescope is a space observatory to see further into the Universe than ever before. In July 2022 it became fully operational for science and released its first full-color images and spectroscopic data. Credit: ESA/ATG medialabIn 2022, we helped humanity take a major step toward a permanent presence in deep space …We captured new awe-inspiring views of the universe …And we witnessed a first-of-its-kind mission hit its mark …Here’s a look back at those and other things we did this year at <span…

While tracing a burst of high-energy light identified in 2021, astronomers discovered the first astronomical event in which a long gamma-ray explosion (GRBs) and a rare kilonova emission coexisted.   This occurred about 1 billion light-years away, on the edges of the Milky Way.   The earliest stage of a kilonova was observed by the 3.6 m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT). Its crucial information fundamentally altered scientists' view of the origin of GRBs.   GRBs are extremely strong cosmic bursts of high-energy…

A folio from the Codex Climaci Rescriptus. Credit: Peter MalikWritten over 2000 years ago, the Hipparchus Star Catalogue is the oldest known attempt to determine the precise position of fixed stars.Fragments of the Star Catalogue written by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus during the second century BC have recently been discovered by researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Sorbonne University, and Tyndale House (associated with the University of Cambridge). These texts were discovered…

This animation depicts a star experiencing spaghettification as it’s sucked in by a supermassive black hole during a ‘tidal disruption event’. In a new study, done with the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope and ESO’s New Technology Telescope, a team of astronomers found that when a black hole devours a star, it can launch a powerful blast of material outwards. Credit: ESO/M. KornmesserAstronomers have determined the source of an incredibly bright X-ray, optical, and radio signal appearing from halfway across the…

Tree rings are not just a great record of a tree’s life, but they can preserve a snapshot of the Earth and beyond at different times. Now Australian scientists analyzing these records have found evidence of huge radiation storms that periodically bathe the planet – and their origin remains a mystery.In 1859, less than a day after huge solar flares were spotted by astronomers, Earth was struck by the most intense geomagnetic storm on record. Strong aurora were visible almost all the way to the equator, telegraph systems…

Astrophysicists have observed some puzzling behavior in star clusters that seem to defy our current understanding of gravity at cosmic scales. Intriguingly, the observations fit with an alternative theory of gravity that could negate the need for dark matter.Although it’s since been superseded by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, Newton’s law of universal gravitation still holds pretty well as an explanation for the large-scale structure and movements of the universe. But now, new observations have been made that…

DETROIT – The Biden administration's elimination of tax credits for imported electric vehicles deals a massive blow to Hyundai Motor's business, an executive for the automaker said Wednesday.Jose Munoz, global president and chief operating officer, declined to disclose a specific financial impact associated with the requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act, but described it as a huge impact to the automaker's bottom line. Hyundai and others are lobbying for some of those requirements to be reversed."It will be very,…