I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people

— Sir Isaac Newton

Astronomy

Math’s Block-Stacking Problem Has a Preposterous Solution

Scientific American.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:00am

In principle, this impossible math allows for a glue-free bridge of stacked blocks that can stretch across the Grand Canyon—and into infinity

Categories: Astronomy

ISS astronaut captures a rare phenomenon from orbit — a giant 'sprite' above a thunderstorm

Space.com - Sun, 07/06/2025 - 7:00am
Sprites have been known to form above intense thunderstorms.
Categories: Astronomy

Fig trees may benefit climate by turning carbon dioxide into stone

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 8:01pm
Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer
Categories: Astronomy

Fig trees may benefit climate by turning carbon dioxide into stone

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 8:01pm
Some carbon dioxide absorbed by fig trees gets turned into calcium carbonate within the wood and the surrounding soil, ensuring that the carbon is kept out of the air for longer
Categories: Astronomy

<p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod

APOD - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 4:00pm

Are these trees growing on Mars?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

'Humanity’s time is over!’ Apple TV+ drops release date and intense first teaser for 'Invasion' Season 3

Space.com - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 12:00pm
A scene from Apple TV+'s "Invasion" Season 3
Categories: Astronomy

For 100 years, we have marveled at planetariums. Here's a brief history of how humans brought the stars indoors

Space.com - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 11:00am
Humans have used the stars to navigate, keep time, and understand our place in the universe.
Categories: Astronomy

Devour a cosmic-sized chunk of Marvel lore ahead of 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps', with the 'The Coming of Galactus' novel

Space.com - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 11:00am
Titan Books' new novelization of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's 'Galactus Trilogy' heralds the coming of July’s 'Fantastic Four' blockbuster.
Categories: Astronomy

Rare snowfall in Atacama Desert forces the world's most powerful radio telescope into 'survival mode'

Space.com - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 10:00am
The ALMA radio telescope array in the Atacama Desert temporarily halted operations after a rare snowfall blanketed the base camp last week.
Categories: Astronomy

A 'Golden Handle' will appear on the moon tonight. Here's how to see it

Space.com - Sat, 07/05/2025 - 6:00am
The "Golden Handle" appears each month when the sun illuminates a mountain range lining a vast impact crater.
Categories: Astronomy

Galaxy Clusters Have Been Surrounded by High-Energy Particles for Almost Their Entire History

Universe Today - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 10:13pm

If you could see the Universe through a radio-wave "eye", you'd detect mini-halos of relativistic particles creating radio emissions around some galaxy clusters. Astronomers long figured those halos are relative "recent" happenings in the nearby Universe and didn't occur in the early epochs of cosmic history. That's all changed now that the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio observatory in Europe has revealed newborn galaxies in the early Universe already surrounded by a halo of particles. It's a rare look at what such clusters were like soon after they formed.

Categories: Astronomy

Correcting Radius Biases in TESS Exoplanet Discoveries

Universe Today - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 10:13pm

How accurate are the exoplanet radius measurements obtained by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)? This is what a recent study accepted to The Astrophysical Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how hundreds of exoplanetary radii measured by TESS during its mission might be incorrect and the data could be underestimating the radii measurements. This study has the potential to help astronomers develop more efficient methods more estimating exoplanetary characteristics, which could influence whether or not they are Earth-sized.

Categories: Astronomy

GJ 12 b: Earth-Sized Planet Orbiting a Quiet M Dwarf Star

Universe Today - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 10:13pm

What can Earth-sized exoplanets teach scientists about the formation and evolution of exoplanets throughout the cosmos? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as an international team of researchers announced the discovery of an Earth-sized exoplanet that exhibits temperatures and a density comparable to Earth. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of Earth-sized exoplanets and what this could mean for finding life beyond Earth.

Categories: Astronomy

Trump's signing of 'One Big Beautiful Bill' includes $85 million to move space shuttle Discovery from Smithsonian to Texas

Space.com - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 6:07pm
The "One Big Beautiful Bill," now enacted, directs that space shuttle Discovery be removed from the Smithsonian and placed on display at Space Center Houston by January 2027.
Categories: Astronomy

Ancient mass extinction shows how Earth turned into a super-greenhouse

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 1:00pm
A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years
Categories: Astronomy

Ancient mass extinction shows how Earth turned into a super-greenhouse

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 1:00pm
A study of fossils from the Permian-Triassic extinction event 252 million years ago shows that forests in many parts of the world were wiped out, disrupting the carbon cycle and ensuring that Earth remained hot for millions of years
Categories: Astronomy

10 fun tours and adventures for the ultimate total solar eclipse 2026 experience

Space.com - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 1:00pm
The total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026, will offer some fabulous travel options. Here are some adventures to consider.
Categories: Astronomy

<p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod

APOD - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 12:00pm

Tidally locked in


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Don't miss the Pleiades shine with Venus in the predawn sky on July 5

Space.com - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 11:07am
Uranus will also be on show, if you fancy a more challenging target.
Categories: Astronomy

Cyberattacks could exploit home solar panels to disrupt power grids

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Fri, 07/04/2025 - 11:00am
The growth of domestic solar installations opens the possibility of hackers targeting their smart inverter devices as a way to cause widespread power-system failures
Categories: Astronomy