HS-ESS1-2
Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe.
- Physics
Einstein taught us: It’s all ‘relative’
One hundred years ago, a German physicist shared some math he had been working on. In short order, his theory of relativity would revise forever how people viewed the universe.
- Space
Pollution may give ‘first’ stars a youthful look
The oldest stars should be made of only light elements. But these suns may have sucked up heavier elements, giving them a more youthful appearance, a new study finds.
- Physics
Stephen Hawking says his group has solved a black hole puzzle
Physicist Stephen Hawking says light sliding along the outside of a black hole holds the key to understanding what’s inside.
- Planets
Pluto hosts ice mountains, data suggest
Geologic activity appears to have been reshaping Pluto, erasing craters and more.
- Space
Students sent instrument to Pluto
The student-built dust counter on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is measuring how much grit and debris orbits out beyond Neptune.
- Space
Scientists Say: Gravitational lens
A gravitational lens is an effect that occurs when a massive object lies between a viewer and something further away. The massive object’s gravity bends light arriving from the more distant object.
- Physics
Light robs galaxy of star-making gas
Stars form from clouds of hydrogen and other gases. Astronomers have found the light from newborn stars can drive off that gas. That action can starve a galaxy of the ingredients needed to make more stars.
- Animals
When life exploded
Life exploded in diversity during the Cambrian Period. Experts are exploring what could account for this sudden change 540 million years ago.
- Planets
Explainer: What are asteroids?
Leftovers from the creation of the solar system, asteroids are space rocks that orbit the sun. Let’s hope the big ones never become meteorites.
- Planets
First mega-Earth found
Astronomers are puzzled by Kepler-10c. This exoplanet is rocky like Earth — but as massive as Neptune. And that challenges their accepted ideas about how planets form.
- Space
Sun sibling spotted
Separated at birth: Astronomers find a star 110 light-years away. It was born at the same time as our sun and from the same cloud of gas and dust.
- Planets
Distant planet may boast the longest year
On a planet far, far away, a single pass around its sun may seem to last forever.
