If the solution to a problem does not reveal itself straight away then why not let your initial guesswork evolve? That’s the approach we’ve taken in trying to determine the mass of our galaxy by mapping…
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Articles on Astronomy
Displaying 681 - 700 of 813 articles
The moon formed 4.47 billion years ago, nearly 100 million years after the start of the solar system, according to a new…
There is excitement in astronomy and planetary science departments worldwide as the new Gemini Planet Imager, housed in the Gemini South Telescope in the Chilean Andes, turns its razor-sharp gaze to the…
There have been 10 astronomers royal for Scotland since the honour was created in 1834, only three of whom were Scots. I believe Aberdonian Sir David Gill (1843-1914), who never held the honour, trumps…
The Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy completes a rotation every 250 million years, astronomers have found. Using NASA’s Hubble…
The speed at which spiral galaxies spin determine whether they are fat and bulging or whether they are shaped like flat discs…
A black hole with extremely powerful jets has been found in the nearby galaxy Messier 83 (M83) by a team of Australian and American researchers, as we report in the journal Science today. Black holes are…
A suspected gas cloud, in its earliest stage of formation, has been found using a telescope installed at the driest place…
There is a myth that goldfish have a three-second memory, and I sometimes wonder if the same is true about the part of the human mind that deals with science in the news. This week, the international media…
The discovery of an ancient star formed approximately 13.6-billion years ago just after the Big Bang is telling us much about the early universe. The star – designated SMSS J031300.36-670839.3 – lies within…
Russia’s Vostok station in Antarctica must be one of the scariest places on Earth. Temperatures regularly drop below -80C, and there is no way in or out for nine months of the year. The inhabitants become…
If you live in the southern hemisphere, you now can safely view the aftermath of a nuclear explosion from the comfort of your own backyard. Just last week a new “star”, Nova Centauri 2013, was discovered…
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. If we look up at the sky at night, we see millions of tiny diamond-like stars. These are actually balls of plasma (very hot gas) consisting of…
Galaxies may look pretty and delicate, with their swirls of stars of many colours - but don’t be fooled. At the heart of every galaxy lies a supermassive black hole, including in our own Milky Way. Black…
How will future alien scientists know whether life existed in our solar system? One method may be to sift through the planetary debris left when our sun becomes a white dwarf. Astronomers are doing just…
Cloud formation on Mars requires a much higher humidity than cloud formation on Earth. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute…
Earlier this year, NASA spacecraft Voyager 1 left our solar system after a 35-year journey, carrying with it a golden record containing sounds, images and music from Earth. Its sister craft, Voyager 2…
Astronomers have found a small star (a pulsar called PSR J1824-2452I) undergoing a radical transformations. The pulsar’s…
A supermassive black hole, situated at the heart of our galaxy, erupted in an immensely powerful explosion two million years…
Science isn’t just for scientists. It’s not just a training for careers. Today’s young people – all of them – will live in a world, ever more dependent on technology, and ever more vulnerable to its failures…
Top contributors
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Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland
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Senior Curator (Astronomy), Museums Victoria and Honorary Fellow at University of Melbourne, Museums Victoria Research Institute
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Associate Professor in Astronomy, Monash University
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University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
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Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Astrophysics, University of Sydney
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Professor, University of Sydney
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Professor, School of Science, Western Sydney University
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John Curtin Distinguished Professor (Radio Astronomy), Curtin University
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Pro Vice-Chancellor Flagship Initiatives, Swinburne University of Technology
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Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University
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Lecturer in Astronomy, Nottingham Trent University
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Dean of Science, University of California, Santa Cruz
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Associate professor, The University of Western Australia
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Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology
