The gravitational wave itself is the least exciting part of the announcement from LIGO and Virgo. Observing this new source answers many longstanding questions.
Full moon photographed from Earth.
Gregory H. Revera/wikimedia
Astronomy on the continent has been given a much needed boost with Ghana’s converted radio telescope between it and South Africa, to conduct scientific observations.
The star TRAPPIST-1 with three of its planets.
ESO/M. Kornmesser/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)
At a time in the sun’s cycle when space weather experts expect less solar activity, our star is going bonkers with solar flares and coronal mass ejections. What effects will Earth feel?
Lasers being shone from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
These lasers help remove the twinkles in the night sky and help astronomers see stars clearer on Earth than ever before.
F. Kamphues/ESO
For centuries, scientists have known when and where eclipses will be visible. They pack their bags, head for the line of totality and hope for the best – which doesn’t always happen.
What message would you send to outer space?
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Franklin advanced a scientific – not supernatural – understanding of astronomical events such as eclipses. His satirical character ‘Poor Richard’ mocked those who bought into astrological predictions.
Composite image of moments before, during and after totality.
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
An astronomer explains how. why and when eclipses happen, what scientists can learn from them, and what they would look like if you were standing on the Moon.
The Sun is currently middle-aged, having celebrated its 4,568,000,000th birthday at some point in the last million years.
Flickr/ChopWood CarryWater
What caused the Big Bang is still a mystery. And that’s just one of the many unanswered questions, in spite of everything we do know about the birth of the Universe.