#Astronomy

#Astronomy

In the days leading up to the winter solstice, amber streetlights switch on ever earlier as dusk falls over Flagstaff, Ariz., casting the city in a soft, warm hue. Longer nights mean even more time to spend under hundreds of stars and the cloudy swath of the Milky Way galaxy, which are visible even from the city's downtown. Spectacular views of the night sky are a given for the more than 77,000 residents of the world's first and largest dark sky city,

If there is one thing we can rely on in this world, it is human hubris, and space and astronomy are no exception. The ancients believed that everything revolved around Earth. In the 16th century, Copernicus and his peers overturned that view with the heliocentric model. Since then, telescopes and spacecraft have revealed just how insignificant we are. There are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, each star a sun

This December, like every December, will include a single moment - often marked by a particular day, which is December 21st here in 2025 - where our planet's axial tilt is perfectly aligned with the invisible line connecting the Earth to the Sun. In December, it's the northern hemisphere's pole that's tilted away from the Sun, while the southern hemisphere's pole is tipped towards it; in June, the opposite situation is true.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls.

Today the globe is circled by thousands of active satelliteseach prone to photobombing astronomers' telescopes as an artificial star zipping across the night sky. Scientists working with ground-based observatories such as the cutting-edge Vera C. Rubin Observatory have long worried about this visual interferencebut as satellites continue to proliferate, space-based telescopes, including the beloved Hubble Space Telescope, are beginning to suffer, too. And the problem is only going to get worse.

There are some major problems facing humanity in the 21st century, and they're all going to require an enormous investment of our collective resources if we want to solve them. From climate change to global pandemics to the energy and water crises and more, none of these problems are going to solve themselves. If they're to be solved at all, it's going to come down to humanity's collective actions.

WinterFest December 20th - 21st | 10AM-5PM FREE for Members, $24 Adults, $19 Children (2-12) and Seniors (65+) Step into a world of icy planets and faraway galaxies this winter at Chabot! With festive tunes and a variety of interactive activities blending science and seasonal cheer, this is a celebration you won't want to miss! Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.

Get out and walk! I mean, maybe not through the outback, but if you're in any of the cities, walk. I do that wherever I go. And I love to just go off and explore without knowing where I'm going, without a map or any preconceived ideas. I think it's the best way to discover a place, and it has the great virtue that if you turn a corner say in Sydney and there's suddenly the Harbour Bridge, you feel as if you've discovered it.

Big energetic shifts are in the air, as September not only coincides with the powerful magic of eclipse season, but it also heralds in the autumnal equinox, which is the first official day of fall here in the Northern hemisphere. In 2025, this celestial event takes place on Sept. 22, and it serves as the exact midpoint between the summer and winter solstices.

Scientists for the first time have spotted the insides of a dying star as it exploded, offering a rare peek into stellar evolution. Stars can live for millions to trillions of years until they run out of fuel. The most massive ones go out with a bang in an explosion called a supernova. Using telescopes that peer deep into space, researchers have observed many such explosions. The cosmic outbursts tend to jumble up a dying star's layers, making it hard for scientists to observe the inner structure.

A black moon occurs when there is a second new moon in a calendar month, or when there is a third new moon in a season of four new moons.

"Everything else disappeared," she told Giz, "even the bright central black hole, and only this little dot remained."

In the summer of 1999, I was a 19-year-old with an interest in astronomy, but no real idea of what I wanted to do with my life - then I saw my first total solar eclipse.

Light echoes occur when a massive star detonates, creating a flash of light that expands rapidly. This light defines a spherical shell around the explosion.

A rare planetary alignment will occur on August 10, involving Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune visible in an arc in the night sky.

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service has predicted that July 22 could come out about a millisecond short of a standard 24-hour spin.

We've captured a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born around young protostars. For the first time, we can conclusively say that the first steps of planet formation are happening right now.