Astronomy
The Pleiades Star Cluster Has a Secret Stellar Family
The “Seven Sisters” of the Pleiades are part of a much larger complex that can help reveal our galaxy’s deep history
This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 2 – 11
The bright Moon shines over Jupiter, Pollux and Castor on Friday evening the 2nd, then
groups right up amidst them on Saturday the 3rd.
The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 2 – 11 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
A neighbouring vista of stellar birth
Our verdict on The Player of Games: Iain M. Banks is still a master
Our verdict on The Player of Games: Iain M. Banks is still a master
The challenges of writing from the perspective of a sex robot
The challenges of writing from the perspective of a sex robot
Read an extract from Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Read an extract from Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Murder victim discovered to have two sets of DNA due to rare condition
Murder victim discovered to have two sets of DNA due to rare condition
The ALMA Array is Completed With 145 New Low-Noise Amplifiers
The Atacama Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world's most powerful radio telescope, has received 145 new low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) that will increase its range and sensitivity.
The Best Meteor Showers in 2026
The Quadrantids and Eta Aquariids will have Moon trouble in 2026, but the beloved Perseids and Geminids should be glorious.
The post The Best Meteor Showers in 2026 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
When Stars Blow Bubbles
For the first time, astronomers have caught a stellar nursery in the act of blowing giant celestial bubbles, revealing a massive outflow of gas stretching over 650 light-years from one of the Milky Way’s most extraordinary star clusters. Using nearly two decades of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, researchers traced this budding stream of supercharged particles as it expands beneath our Galaxy’s disk, offering crucial insights into how young, massive stars shape galactic evolution.
The Sticky Problem of Lunar Dust Gets a Mathematical Solution
Lunar dust poses one of the most persistent challenges for spacecraft operations on the Moon, clinging stubbornly to surfaces and infiltrating equipment with potentially devastating consequences. Now, researchers have developed a comprehensive mathematical model that reveals exactly how electrically charged dust particles behave when they collide with spacecraft at low speeds, uncovering surprising insights about what makes them stick and what allows them to bounce away.
The Interstellar Comet That’s Spilling Its Secrets
Astronomers have measured water streaming from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS for the first time since it passed closest to the Sun. Using a spacecraft that’s been watching the Sun for nearly three decades, scientists detected hydrogen glowing around the comet and calculated that it was producing water at extraordinary rates. These measurements not only confirm that interstellar comets behave remarkably like our own Solar System’s icy wanderers, but also provide crucial clues about what comets looked like in the early universe.
