impacts

miscellanyHubble Space TelescopeMarsclimate changesupernovaeexoplanetscometssolar systemESA2025Jupiterwhite dwarfsPlutoaliensdustasteroidsneutron starsastrophotographymeteoritesstar clustersvolcanoesmathEarthcosmologypulsarsmoonsthe SunscifiFast Radio BurstsVera Rubin ObservatorynebulaAstronomybrown dwarfsNASAPoliticsgalaxy clusterslight pollutionplanetary nebulaedebunkingblack holesphysicsTVgravitational lensingVenusAbout the newsletterMoonAbout meimpactsnovaebinary starsSgr A*starsTNOssciencegalaxiesJWSTGamma-ray burstsColliding galaxiesMilky Way GalaxyScientific AmericanGaia
asteroidsasteroids
+2+2
Way too much DART news

Way too much DART news

The NASA spacecraft hit the moon Dimorphos, but that yanked the whole system hard enough to measure. Also, the plume was modeled in 3D, and the bigger asteroid is spitting rocks at its moon. So yeah, a lot.

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+5+5
Looks like the asteroid 2024 YR4 won’t impact the moon, plus Rubin Observatory sends out its first cosmic alerts... 800,000 of them!

Looks like the asteroid 2024 YR4 won’t impact the moon, plus Rubin Observatory sends out its first cosmic alerts... 800,000 of them!

Supernovae, asteroids, and more: That’s a lot of alerts.

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
asteroidsasteroids
+5+5
Standing up for Science rally, Physics Girl is back, and we need to find more asteroids

Standing up for Science rally, Physics Girl is back, and we need to find more asteroids

I’m angry about anti-science attacks, Dianna Cowern has made a new video, and a graph shows why we need to look for near-Earth asteroids

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
MarsMars
+3+3
More Martian lightning, China peaks its emission, and satellite re-entries shake the ground
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More Martian lightning, China peaks its emission, and satellite re-entries shake the ground

Three very cool science stories about Mars, Earth, and near-Earth space

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
exoplanetsexoplanets
+3+3
Can we detect rings around exoplanets?
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Can we detect rings around exoplanets?

Also, more evidence that Mercury may not be as dead as we thought

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
solar systemsolar system
+5+5
The planet that hit Earth to form the Moon was local! Plus, a dizzy asteroid
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The planet that hit Earth to form the Moon was local! Plus, a dizzy asteroid

Theia may have formed near Earth, and asteroid 2005 MN45 spins fast

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
solar systemsolar system
+4+4
A wee asteroid came VERY close to us last week

A wee asteroid came VERY close to us last week

Plus, Rubin is going to find a lot more

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
meteoritesmeteorites
+3+3
Did space debris hit an airplane? No, but some did hit Australia.
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Did space debris hit an airplane? No, but some did hit Australia.

Two stories of space debris, one real, one not

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
solar systemsolar system
+4+4
Asteroids from Venus pose an invisible — but uncertain — threat

Asteroids from Venus pose an invisible — but uncertain — threat

Bottom line: we need to look for them

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
asteroidsasteroids
+6+6
A black hole is eating way above its weight, and ancient tektites in Australia
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A black hole is eating way above its weight, and ancient tektites in Australia

Something is helping this black hole gobble down material at incredible rates

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
solar systemsolar system
+5+5
A portrait of our planet and moon from across the solar system

A portrait of our planet and moon from across the solar system

Psyche snaps Earth and Moon, I’m talking to teachers in Texas, and a newly discovered impact crater in India

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
ESAESA
+5+5
Could asteroid 2024 YR 4 hit the Moon? And it’s way past time to take space debris seriously

Could asteroid 2024 YR 4 hit the Moon? And it’s way past time to take space debris seriously

Space is dangerous, y’all

Philip Plait
Philip Plait