It is common knowledge that the Sun is the center of the Solar System. Around him, planets orbit, along with a thick asteroid belt, a few meteor fields, and a handful of far distant comets. But that is not the whole story. “Instead, everything orbits around the center of mass …
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Scientists have captured the first direct image of a solar system that closely resembles ours. The new image is a kind of family portrait, showing two giant exoplanets orbiting a young, sun-like star some 300 light-years away. The image was taken using the European Southern Observatory Very large telescope, located …
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The answers to many questions in astronomy are hidden behind the veil of deep time. One of those questions is about the role that supernovae played in the early Universe. The job of the first supernovae was to forge the heaviest elements that were not forged in the Big Bang. …
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ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) – TO UPDATE The Twitter account for Dr. Marco Langbroek reports that the fireball that was seen over West Texas early Saturday morning was actually caused by a Russian rocket that ruptured upon re-entry into the atmosphere. Dr. Langbroek says the Kosmos 2542 rocket was launched in …
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Black holes don’t shine; in fact, they are famous for doing the opposite. But if they are actively devouring material from the space around them, that material can burn like a trillion X-ray suns. And for the first time, astronomers have now seen that mysteriously extinguished fire, before gradually returning …
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