Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2023

Crystal-studded space rock found in the Sahara may rewrite the history of the early solar system

In May 2020, some unusual rocks containing distinctive greenish crystals were found in the Erg Chech sand sea, a dune-filled region of the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. On close inspection, the rocks turned out to be from outer space: lumps of rubble billions of years old, left over from...

Sep 6, 2023

Enormous fireball meteor turns the sky over Turkey green in eerie viral video

A stunning video captured the moment a vibrant green fireball streaked across the skies above Turkey. Taken by Onur Kaçmaz in a playground in the Turkish city of Erzurum on Saturday (Sept. 2), the now-viral video shows the sky and surrounding clouds bathed in a deep-sea snot green as the...

Oct 17, 2023

Orionid meteor shower peaks this weekend: How to get the best views

The Orionid meteor shower will peak this weekend as Earth bursts through a field of dust and debris left in the inner solar system by Halley's comet. Although the Orionids are active from Sept. 26 through Nov. 22, the best time to watch will be in the early hours of...

Oct 27, 2023

Is NASA's OSIRIS REx asteroid sample the most expensive material on Earth?

After a journey of seven years and nearly 4 billion miles, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed gently in the Utah desert on the morning of Sept. 24, 2023, with a precious payload. The spacecraft brought back a sample from the asteroid Bennu. Roughly half a pound of material collected from the...

Nov 3, 2023

How to watch the Taurid meteor showers peak this weekend and next

The Taurid meteor shower is upon us — but unlike most annual displays of shooting stars, this one has two peak nights falling five days apart. Known for its fireballs — very bright meteors that appear as flashes while falling through the atmosphere — the Taurid meteor showers are modest,...

Nov 14, 2023

The fiery Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend. Here's how to watch.

The Leonid meteor shower will peak this weekend, bringing about 15 shooting stars per hour to the night sky on Friday night and early Saturday (Nov. 17-18). However, this annual meteor shower — named after the constellation Leo, the lion — may offer a bonus show this year, with some...

Dec 8, 2023

The Geminids — this year's only multicolored meteor shower — peaks next week. Here's how to watch.

The Geminid meteor shower will peak on Dec. 13 and 14, with the moon absent from the night sky for what experts predict will be 2023's most prolific display of shooting stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Active from Nov. 19 to Dec. 24 each year, the annual event is lesser...

Dec 11, 2023

Brand-new meteor shower from 'Christmas comet' may appear over Earth for 1st time this week

A brand-new meteor shower may light up Earth's skies on Dec. 12, arriving just before the peak of the colorful Geminid meteor shower, a new study suggests. Meteor showers occur when meteoroids, or rocky particles from outer space, burn and glow upon entering Earth's atmosphere. Most meteor showers come from...

Dec 13, 2023

Barringer Crater may have been formed by a cosmic 'curveball,' asteroid simulations show

Loosely-bound clumpy asteroids with curveball-like spins may have scooped out some of Earth's most distinctly shaped craters, including Arizona's bowl-like Barringer Crater, a study published Nov. 22 in the journal Physical Review E suggests. Craters carved by fast-spinning space rocks tend to be wider and shallower than those formed from...

Jan 1, 2024

Quadrantid meteor shower 2024: The year's 1st meteor shower blazes over North America on Jan. 3

The Quadrantid meteor shower will peak this week and could bring up to 120 shooting stars per hour to the night sky. It has the potential to be the strongest meteor shower of 2024, according to the American Meteor Society, but with such a short peak — just six hours...

Jan 10, 2024

Mysterious 'Green Monster' lurking in James Webb photo of supernova remnant is finally explained

The bizarre, grinch-like wisp of green light dubbed the Green Monster, first seen last year snaking through the glowing remnants of an exploded star, belongs to a blast wave bordering the debris field, a new study reveals. Last April, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) photographed the unusual...

Jan 15, 2024

'We do not understand how it can exist': Astronomers baffled by 'almost invisible' dwarf galaxy that upends a dark matter theory

Scientists have discovered an almost invisible dwarf galaxy that cannot be explained by our current understanding of the cosmos. The mysteriously faint object, which has evaded detection for years, is so dim that researchers haven't even been able to pin down exactly where it is. The newfound galaxy, named Nube...

Jan 23, 2024

Faint radio signal from ancient star cluster could be rare 'missing link' black hole, astronomers report

Astronomers have discovered a mysterious radio signal at the heart of an ancient, tightly packed ball of stars, and it may be coming from a long-hidden black hole. The radio signal was picked up by the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio telescope as it created the most sensitive image...

Jan 29, 2024

Dark matter could be gently wobbling space-time around us — and scientists may finally know how to detect it

Scientists may soon be able to detect the most mysterious entity in the universe using a fleet of next-generation satellites, a new theoretical study suggests. Dark matter — a poorly understood substance that does not emit, absorb or reflect light but exerts a clear gravitational influence on other matter —...

Feb 3, 2024

How do galaxies grow while ensnared in the universe's cosmic web?

Just like being trapped within a spider's web drastically changes a fly's life, galaxies ensnared in the vast cosmic web are dramatically and irreversibly altered. Now, scientists from the University of Kansas are aiming to better understand the mechanisms at play in shaping clusters of galaxies as they travel through...