If we didn’t correct for gravitational effects on the Earth’s orbit, the winter solstice would shift backwards by a day every 72 years.
The region around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, imaged with South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope.
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)
The comet 46P/Wirtanen is just 1.2km in size but it should be visible in the night sky this Saturday as it makes a close approach to Earth this year. And don’t forget the Geminids meteor shower.
A comet-gazing opportunity to close out the year.
I MAKE PHOTO 17/Shutterstock.com
More ripples in space-time have been detected from merging pairs of black holes, one of which was the most massive and distant gravitational-wave source ever observed.
An artist’s impression of `Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System.
ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESO, M. Kornmesser
We will never see ‘Oumuamua again, and we may never know exactly what it is. But with the right kind of media coverage it could inspire some kids to take up a career in science.
Artist’s impression of quasar W2246-0526.
NRAO/AUI/NSF; Dana Berry / SkyWorks; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland and Jake Clark, University of Southern Queensland
The new planet is believed to be orbiting Barnard’s Star, a red dwarf that’s not visible to the naked eye but one of the closest stars to our Solar System.
Artist impression of Abell 2597.
NRAO AUI NSF D Berry
The Gaia satellite has uncovered the remains of a galaxy buried deep in the Milky Way.
The good thing about space is that – even though it has lots of dangerous stuff floating in it, and lots of exploding stars – it’s so big and empty that it almost doesn’t matter.
NASA/CXC/U.Texas
Astronomers think they’ve identified which galaxy was the source of a blast radio energy, over in a fraction of a second. And it’s much closer to us than the others detected, so far.
The Sun is a star – but it’s not the only one.
NASA/GSFC/Solar Dynamics Observatory
Brad Carter, University of Southern Queensland and Jake Clark, University of Southern Queensland
There are lots of places where it’s much, much hotter than the Sun. And the amazing thing is that this heat also makes new atoms - tiny particles that have made their way long ago from stars to us.
From sun dials to atomic clocks, we still don’t have a perfect time measuring device.
Visible light image of the radio galaxy Hercules A obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope superposed with a radio image taken by the Very Large Array of radio telescopes in New Mexico, USA.
NASA
Merging supermassive black holes would emit gravitational waves, allowing scientists to detect them.
Pluto’s ghoulish cousin, 2015 TG387, lurks in the distant reaches of our own Solar System.
Illustration by Roberto Molar Candanosa and Scott Sheppard, courtesy of Carnegie Institution for Science.
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland and Jake Clark, University of Southern Queensland
Whether you call it Planet X or Planet Nine, talk of another planet lurking in our Solar system won’t go away. So what does the discovery of a new object – nicknamed “The Goblin” – add to the debate?
Enjoying the planets lined up in a row.
Derek Bruff/flickr