Earth's Place in the Universe
- Space
They came from other stars! [COMIC]
Only three interstellar objects have ever been spotted. Here’s what we know about them and why they’re so cool.
- Earth
Experiment: How does the tilt of Earth’s axis affect the seasons?
Seasons have nothing to do with Earth’s distance from the sun. The real reason for the seasons is the tilt of Earth’s axis.
- Space
This cosmologist studies the invisible parts of the universe
Katie Mack started out building solar-powered LEGO cars as a kid. Now she studies dark matter to better understand how galaxies form and evolve.
- Space
This is the largest, most detailed radio image yet of our Milky Way
Supernova remnants, stellar nurseries and more populate this new view of our galaxy, as seen from Earth’s southern hemisphere.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Van Allen belts
Astronomers have detected these radiation belts around Earth and beyond. Jupiter’s belt is thousands of times as intense as Earth’s.
- Space
Fast, mysterious clouds swarm around our galaxy
Astronomers want to know the source — and importance — of these faint, fast-moving clouds that zoom beyond and toward our Milky Way’s disk.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Supermoon
This supersized lunar event occurs when a full moon or new moon coincides with the moon’s perigee — the point where it is the closest to Earth.
- Space
Scientists caught a black hole ringing like a bell
Two black holes merged, creating a new, bigger one. This event triggered the clearest ripples in spacetime ever observed.
- Space
Let’s learn about spooky ‘dark energy’
No one knows exactly what this stuff is, but it’s shaping our universe on the largest scales.
- Space
The Vera Rubin Observatory is set to revolutionize astronomy
Equipped with the world’s largest digital camera, this new telescope is poised to help solve some of the universe’s biggest mysteries.
- Space
Analyze This: Ice around baby stars may hint at origins of Earth’s water
Scientists have now gotten a good look at the ice around a baby star. It might help them unravel the origins of the water needed for life on Earth.
- Space
Looking for aliens from the far side of the moon [COMIC]
Earth’s noise and light pollution can make it hard to detect signs of life on other planets. The solution? Telescopes that use the moon as a shield.
