Astronomy

The new year has arrived, and the Quadrantid meteor shower is coming in hot. Here’s how to see this often-spectacular shower at its peak

Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge, says these are the three things everyone should do this New Year to cultivate a more positive mindset

Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge, says these are the three things everyone should do this New Year to cultivate a more positive mindset

In this month’s episode, start with one of the year’s best meteor showers, then spend some time with Jupiter, and check out a mythical queen and hunter who have ego problems. So bundle up, grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

The post January Podcast: Jupiter and Orion appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

ESA’s Gaia space telescope has achieved something astronomers thought nearly impossible, detecting planets while they’re still forming inside the dusty discs surrounding newborn stars. By measuring the subtle gravitational wobbles that unseen companions induce on their host stars, Gaia has found hints of planets, brown dwarfs, and companion stars in 31 young stellar systems out of 98 surveyed.

The iconic 2019 and 2022 photographs of black holes M87* and Sagittarius A* captivated astronomers worldwide with their fuzzy orange doughnut shapes. Now, scientists are preparing to take the next giant leap by creating the first ever 3D movies of black holes that could fundamentally reshape our understanding of gravity and the universe’s most violent phenomena.

Two spiral galaxies locked in a slow motion collision have been captured in stunning detail by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory. The pair grazed past each other millions of years ago, triggering spectacular waves of star formation and distorting their elegant spiral arms into sweeping silver blue streamers. This celestial dance, playing out over hundreds of millions of years, offers astronomers a rare glimpse into the violent yet creative process that shapes galaxies across the universe.

Space Forge plans to manufacture semiconductors from space—without the need for humans

A galaxy cluster discovered on New Year’s Eve in 2020 shines in a new image from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Understanding the chemical properties of a molecule is an inherently quantum problem, making quantum computers a good tool for the job – and we may start seeing this take off in 2026

Understanding the chemical properties of a molecule is an inherently quantum problem, making quantum computers a good tool for the job – and we may start seeing this take off in 2026

Tour 15 of the sky's brightest stars all in one night on this New Year's Eve! This interactive Worldwide Telescope video will show you the way.

The post Tour 15 of the Brightest Stars on New Year's Eve (VIDEO) appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Astronomers have found a system of three supermassive black holes, all actively feeding, that appear to be combining into a single system – a rare event that will help elucidate the physics of complex mergers

Astronomers have found a system of three supermassive black holes, all actively feeding, that appear to be combining into a single system – a rare event that will help elucidate the physics of complex mergers

Astronomers combined data from NASA’s JWST and Chandra X-ray Observatory to create a stunning new image of two merging spiral galaxies

A supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1181 CE didn’t fully explode, instead it sputtered and left behind a rare “zombie star” surrounded by long filaments resembling fireworks. New research by Syracuse University physicist Eric Coughlin explains how these unusual structures formed. After the failed detonation, the surviving white dwarf launched a fast, dense wind that slammed into surrounding gas. The collision created finger-like plumes through a fluid instability, but a second instability that normally tears such structures apart never activated. In some sense, the stars didn’t quite die!

A star forming region

A female mouse that spent two weeks aboard China’s space station has successfully given birth to healthy pups after returning to Earth. This marks the first time offspring have been born from mammals that have traveled in space. The birth demonstrates that short term spaceflight doesn’t impair reproductive capability and provides crucial data for understanding how space environments affect mammalian development, a critical question for future long-l duration human missions beyond Earth.

An explorer and a glaciologist are kite-skiing across Antarctica with a ground-penetrating radar to gather data that will help understand the past and future of the ice sheet