One of my favorite planetary nebulae in the sky, Sh2-68, aka The Flaming Skull Nebula. Photo by T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF) I’ll be honest: Every episode of Crash Course Astronomy has been fun to write, edit, and shoot. They all really have. But the past few episodes, …
Crash Course Astronomy: White Dwarfs and Planetary Nebulae Read More »
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration A team of international scientists, led by astronomers from Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy, has shown for the first time that galaxies can change their structure over the course of their lifetime. By observing the sky as it is today, and peering back in …
Astronomers unravel the history of galaxies for the first time Read More »
The MESSENGER spacecraft depicted flying over Mercury’s surface. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington The MESSENGER team initiated the “hover” observation campaign, which was designed to gather data from the planet at ultra-low altitudes until the last possible moment. By Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland | Published: Thursday, …
Hover campaign promises bird’s-eye view of Mercury’s surface Read More »
Infrared images from instruments at Kitt Peak National Observatory (left) and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope document the outburst of HOPS 383, a young protostar in the Orion star-formation complex. Background: A wide view of the region taken from a Spitzer four-color infrared mosaic. E. Safron et al.; Background: NASA/JPL/T. Megeath (U-Toledo) The observed outburst …
NASA satellites catch a “growth spurt” from a newborn protostar Read More »
An artist’s concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the size of Mercury. NASA/JPL-Caltech Instead of core formation occurring by iron sinking down to the growing Earth’s core in large blobs, that iron was vaporized, spread out in a plume over the surface of …
Iron rain fell on early Earth, new Z machine data supports Read More »
