HS-ESS1-3
Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.
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Close-up of the sun reveals ‘campfires’
Solar Orbiter’s first images are in. The spacecraft’s pics show tiny, never-before-seen flares across the sun’s surface.
- Physics
Explainer: Stars and their families
Most pinpoints that light the night sky are raging infernos we call stars. As adults, many will create new elements that they later cast off into the cosmos.
- Physics
Milky Way’s tidal forces are shredding a nearby star cluster
The nearest star cluster is being pulled apart, due largely to the tidal forces of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Bye bye, Hyades!
- Space
Black hole mega-burp was truly explosive
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a black hole blasted out 100 billion times as much energy as our sun ever will. One word for that: Wow!
- Space
See the sun in dazzling detail
These images show the sun as it has never been seen before. They come from the new Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.
- Space
Our sun is neighbor to a giant wave of gas
The Earth and sun sit relatively close to a newfound thread of star-forming gas. That gas is being called the Radcliffe Wave.
- Space
This ‘Sombrero’ stole a big galaxy
The Sombrero Galaxy is an odd spiral galaxy that outshines all others within 35 million light-years of Earth. Its bright, iron-rich halo suggests it consumed one or more large galaxies.
- Physics
NASA’s Parker probe spots rogue waves and magnetic islands on the sun
The Parker probe’s first data is giving scientists a look at what’s to come as the craft moves closer to the sun over the next few years.
- Physics
Explainer: Understanding meteors and meteor showers
Meteors regularly enter Earth’s atmosphere. Most ‘shooting stars’ pose few risks to life on the ground, but the rare big ones can be lethal.
- Physics
Magnetic fields may supercharge the sun’s release of heat
Astronomers have linked flame-like tendrils rising from the sun to changes in its magnetic fields. This may be one step toward understanding why the sun’s corona is so very, very hot.
- Physics
Explainer: What are black holes?
Among the most extreme celestial bodies in the universe, black holes are dense, massive entities whose gravity can sometimes hold together an entire galaxy.
- Physics
After 30 years, this supernova is still sharing secrets
It’s been 30 years since astronomers first witnessed the stellar explosion known as SN 1987A. Today, researchers are still learning from this cataclysmic phenomenon.
