Scientists have received an unexpected Christmas gift this year: a potential solution to the mystery of JuMBOs, strange celestial objects that seem not to be planets or stars. Try putting a bow on that! This gift comes courtesy of a team of researchers who believe that mysterious JuMBOs (Jupiter-mass binary objects) are actually stellar cores … Read more
View larger. | Artist’s illustration of TRAPPIST-1 b as it is about to pass behind its red dwarf star. A new study suggested that TRAPPIST-1 b is either airless but very geologically active, or has a hazy carbon dioxide atmosphere. Image via Thomas Müller (HdA/ MPIA/ Max Planck Society). TRAPPIST-1 b is the innermost rocky … Read more
The past year was a big one for space. Skywatchers across the United States witnessed a total solar eclipse, SpaceX caught a giant rocket out of mid-air with a pair of chopstick arms, and telescopes on Earth and in space revealed to us images of the universe that have changed our very understanding of the … Read more
What makes up the matter we perceive in the universe? To start, there are the usual suspects, like electrons, protons, quarks and neutrinos. But if those particles aren’t strange enough for you, I’m here to help. There are other particles that are so rare, we’re not even sure they exist. Here are five of the … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered that the centaur called 2060 Chiron is an oddball. The object, which is a minor body that orbits the sun in the expanse between Jupiter and Neptune, has a mixture of ices and gases that make it stand out from other objects in the distant outer solar system. … Read more
It’s been a busy year on the sun, as it officially entered the peak of its roughly 11-year cycle of activity, known as solar maximum. In 2024, the sun launched over 50 X-class solar flares — the most powerful type of solar flare — at Earth. Solar flares are categorized by the level of X-rays … Read more
NASA’s first two crewed Artemis moon missions have been pushed back to 2026 and 2027, respectively, and the move could have big ramifications for the agency’s Artemis program and competition with China for leadership in space. Artemis 2, which will send a crew of three Americans and a Canadian astronaut around the moon, was due … Read more
Earth has never been more observed, with swarms of spacecraft providing nonstop satellite imagery of our planet. And there’s some amazing imagery to look back on this year! From historic hurricanes to a total solar eclipse, here are 12 breathtaking sights captured by NOAA’s GOES satellites in 2024. The 2025 EarthSky Lunar Calendar is now … Read more
Life in Silos 17 and 18 isn’t getting any easier as we enter the sixth episode of Apple TV+’s “Silo” titled “Barricades.” And this is an apt name for this chapter as all the traumatized denizens of the bunkers suffer restrictions from barricades, both physical and emotional, as their unnatural subterranean life seems to be … Read more
Bonobos (along with chimpanzees) are the closest surviving relatives to humans. They live solely in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. Bonobos are listed as endangered due to habitat loss and poaching for meat and pets. Unfortunately, poaching has left many bonobos orphans. On December 18, 2024, Durham University in the U.K. … Read more