"The large-scale homogeneity of the universe makes it very difficult to believe that the structure of the universe is determined by anything so peripheral as some complicated molecular structure on a minor planet orbiting a very average star in the outer suburbs of a fairly typical galaxy."

— Steven Hawking

Astronomy

What Is Your Cat Trying to Say? These AI Tools Aim to Decipher Meows

Scientific American.com - Tue, 06/17/2025 - 8:00am

AI is shedding new light on the 12,000-year conversation between cats and their humans, suggesting that house cats wield a far richer vocabulary than once thought

Categories: Astronomy

Huge galaxy cluster is wrapped in a cocoon 20 million light-years wide, NASA space telescope finds

Space.com - Tue, 06/17/2025 - 8:00am
Using NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope, astronomers have discovered an entire galaxy cluster wrapped in a 20 million light-year-wide envelope of charged particles.
Categories: Astronomy

50 years later, Apollo 17’s moon samples are still revealing secrets about lunar volcanoes

Space.com - Tue, 06/17/2025 - 6:00am
The beads are over 3.3 billion years old, and date from the formation of the "Man in the Moon."
Categories: Astronomy

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APOD - Tue, 06/17/2025 - 4:00am

Do you know the names of some of the brightest stars?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

SpaceX launch from California sends 26 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (video)

Space.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 11:49pm
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket placed 26 Starlink internet broadband satellites into low Earth orbit, lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on June 16, 2025.
Categories: Astronomy

Geomagnetic Storms Bring Satellites Down Faster

Universe Today - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:35pm

When the Sun rages and storms in Earth's direction, it changes our planet's atmosphere. The atmosphere puffs up, meaning satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) meet more resistance. This resistance creates orbital decay, dragging satellites to lower altitudes. One researcher says we can change the design of satellites to decrease their susceptibility.

Categories: Astronomy

The Galactic Center Struggles to Form Massive Stars

Universe Today - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:35pm

Gas clouds in the Milky Way's Galactic Center contain copious amounts of star-forming gas. But for some reason, few massive stars form there, even though similar gas clouds elsewhere in the galaxy easily form massive stars. The clouds also form fewer stars overall. Are they a new type of molecular cloud?

Categories: Astronomy

At Cosmic Noon, this Black Hole Was the Life of the Party

Universe Today - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:35pm

About 3 billion years after the Big Bang, star formation exploded across the cosmos. During the era dubbed "cosmic noon.” It was also when galaxies and supermassive black holes were growing faster than at any other time in the history of the universe. Now astronomers have discovered a monster from this frenzied period: a supermassive black hole unleashing jets that stretch over 300,000 light-years into space, revealing the sheer violence of its feeding frenzy.

Categories: Astronomy

The prospectors hunting hydrogen along a US continental rift

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:00pm
A gaggle of companies are searching the US Midwest for underground hydrogen fuel produced by a billion-year-old split in the continent – New Scientist visited one of the first to start drilling
Categories: Astronomy

The prospectors hunting hydrogen along a US continental rift

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:00pm
A gaggle of companies are searching the US Midwest for underground hydrogen fuel produced by a billion-year-old split in the continent – New Scientist visited one of the first to start drilling
Categories: Astronomy

SpaceX, NASA target June 22 for launch of private Ax-4 astronauts due to ISS leak

Space.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 5:00pm
Leaks aboard the International Space Station, as well as on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, delayed Axiom's next private astronaut mission, but the crew now has a target launch date of June 22.
Categories: Astronomy

How Drone Swarms Work—From Iran’s Shahed Attack to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb

Scientific American.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 4:40pm

Iranian Shahed drones, Ukrainian quadcopters and the U.S.’s Golden Horde program reveal three paths to massed autonomy, and each rewrites the rules of air defense

Categories: Astronomy

The Milky Way's black hole may be spinning at top speed

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 4:00pm
Using machine learning to analyse data from the Event Horizon Telescope, researchers found the black hole at the centre of our galaxy is spinning almost as fast as possible
Categories: Astronomy

The Milky Way's black hole may be spinning at top speed

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 4:00pm
Using machine learning to analyse data from the Event Horizon Telescope, researchers found the black hole at the centre of our galaxy is spinning almost as fast as possible
Categories: Astronomy

Lego Marvel Infinity Gauntlet review

Space.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 4:00pm
There's a good reason the Lego Marvel Infinity Gauntlet has been around since 2021: Few sets are as striking as this.
Categories: Astronomy

Hubble Studies a Spiral’s Supernova Scene

NASA Image of the Day - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 2:45pm
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the barred spiral galaxy IC 758.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

What I Wish Parents Knew about Social Media

Scientific American.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 2:00pm

I study social media for a living. Here’s what parents need to know so that kids can use it safely and productively

Categories: Astronomy

Star-forming cloud Chamaeleon I looks like a cosmic masterpiece in new Dark Energy Camera image (video)

Space.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 2:00pm
Part of the closest star-forming region to us, known as the Chamaeleon Complex, has been illuminated by the light of young stars in this artwork by nature captured by the Dark Energy Camera.
Categories: Astronomy

Fujifilm X-T50 review

Space.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 1:00pm
The Fujifilm X-T50, with its powerful 40.2-MP sensor and excellent creative functionality, is a great beginner camera for astrophotography.
Categories: Astronomy

Behold! 1st images of artificial solar eclipse captured by ESA's Proba-3 mission

Space.com - Mon, 06/16/2025 - 12:25pm
The first images of an artificial solar eclipse from ESA's Proba-3 mission have been unveiled.
Categories: Astronomy