supernovae

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MarsMars
+7+7
Radioactive cosmic dust is raining down on Earth’s surface

Radioactive cosmic dust is raining down on Earth’s surface

It sounds worse than it is. In fact, it’s really cool and telling us about our local galactic neighborhood

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+5+5
Record-breaking JWST observation shows the universe’s first stars were better alchemists than we thought

Record-breaking JWST observation shows the universe’s first stars were better alchemists than we thought

Astronomers find more oxygen than expected in an incredibly distant galaxy

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
MarsMars
+4+4
Farewell Mars, and bigger black holes form by eating each other

Farewell Mars, and bigger black holes form by eating each other

Psyche takes a parting shot of the red planet; black holes in the “mass gap” form by merging two smaller black holes

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+5+5
A low-mass star is screaming past us. Was it spat out by a supermassive black hole?
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A low-mass star is screaming past us. Was it spat out by a supermassive black hole?

It’s moving at 1.6 million kilometers per hour, and may be falling back into the galaxy

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+3+3
How much carbon-14 is in the air around you?
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How much carbon-14 is in the air around you?

I was surprised to learn how little it actually is

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+3+3
Mini-Neptunes may be hot and solid. Also, a star blew out a LOT of stuff before exploding.
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Mini-Neptunes may be hot and solid. Also, a star blew out a LOT of stuff before exploding.

Exoplanets keep getting weirder, and a pre-supernova star expelled truly vast amounts of helium

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+4+4
A red supergiant that isn’t yellow
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A red supergiant that isn’t yellow

WOH G64 has apparently kept its hue. Also, the sun does seem to be able to fry asteroids that venture too close

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space Telescope
+6+6
Another gorgeous Hubble galaxy, but it has many secrets
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Another gorgeous Hubble galaxy, but it has many secrets

NGC 7722 is a weird hybrid of galaxy types. What does that tell us?

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
supernovaesupernovae
+7+7
Watch a supernova explosion sweep through space
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Watch a supernova explosion sweep through space

Animation shows X-rays from an exploded star as it expands over the decades

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+6+6
An egg-shaped planet orbits a death star

An egg-shaped planet orbits a death star

And that’s not the only thing weird about it

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+3+3
An immense and catastrophic explosion of a nearby supernova still graces our sky

An immense and catastrophic explosion of a nearby supernova still graces our sky

The Vela Supernova Remnant is a masterpiece of chaos

Philip Plait
Philip Plait