Our solar system is rife with geologic activity, from eruptive ice moons to mountainous dwarf planets . Still, Earth always held a special place in the hall of geologic fame. It was the only bonafide planet to exhibit tectonic and seismic activity—until now. Read more…
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We Just Found Out That Mercury Is Geologically Active
In recent months, there’s been growing evidence that Pluto is hiding a liquid water ocean beneath its frozen surface. New models by researchers at Brown University support this hypothesis, and take it one mind-boggling step further: Pluto’s ocean may be more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) deep. Read more…
Some may call excessive, unreasonable, exhibitionist. What kind of masochist wants to stare at a billion pinpricks of light all at once, anyway? Why, the scientifically inclined one, of course. The astronomer who’s hellbent on picking apart the universe and reducing your life to a clump of dust needs absurdly detailed star charts in order to do so. Read more…
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The Largest 3D Map of the Galaxy Contains Over a Billion Stars
Rumors are flying that astronomers at the European Southern Observatory have discovered an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighboring star. If confirmed, this is undeniably one of the biggest astronomical discoveries of the century. Read more…
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There May Be an Earth-Like Exoplanet Less Than Five Light Years Away
Most of the photos taken of Saturn these days are in drab black and white . But this infrared view of Saturn from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is a stunning reminder of this ringed planet’s spectral vibrance. Read more…
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Saturn’s Oil Drop Surface Looks Incredible Through an Infrared Lens
Using an unprecedented technique of matching stars to the locations of temples on Earth, a 15-year-old Canadian student says he’s discovered a forgotten Maya city in Central America. Images from space suggest he may actually be onto something. Read more…
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Teen Discovers Lost Maya City Using Ancient Star Maps
At this point, it’s safe to say that we’re going to be receiving a new ‘highest resolution image ever’ of Pluto on a close to 24 hour basis. Yesterday, we got our first peek at geologic features on the dwarf planet’s surface. And today, New Horizons beamed back the best image to date of four mysterious dark splotches near Pluto’s south pole. Read more…
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Pluto’s Mysterious Dark Splotches Come Into Focus
Image: Nicholas Buer , via APOD . A particularly psychedelic Astronomy Picture of the Day : There is a road that connects the Northern to the Southern Cross but you have to be at the right place and time to see it. The road, as pictured above, is actually the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy; the right place, in this case, is dark Laguna Cejar in Salar de Atacama of Northern Chile ; and the right time was in early October, just after sunset. You can follow APOD on Twitter , too.
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From the Northern to the Southern Cross (astronomy photo by Nicholas Buer)
After 10 years of painstaking development, the Gemini Planet Imager has returned its first image of a distant exoplanet. Behold Beta Pictoris b, a massive planet several times larger than Jupiter — and over 63 light-years from Earth. Read more…
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Powerful new planet finder snaps a direct image of an exoplanet
If archaeology was once about digging through dirt, it is increasingly—like almost every other profession—about programming computers. Bernie Frischer, an Indiana University “archaeo-informaticist, ” has came up with a new theory about two Roman monuments. His finding are based on 3D reconstructions of the monuments using video game technology and calculations of the sun’s position 2, 000 years ago. Read more…
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Archaeologist Uses 2,000-Year-Old Sky to Study Roman Ruins