Hacker News
- Astronomers solve the missing baryon problem https://astronomy.com/news/2020/06/half-the-matter-in-the-cosmos-was-missing-but-astronomers-found-it 43 comments
- Jim Kaler, one of the world’s leading experts on stars and a passionate science communicator, dies at age 83. https://astronomy.com/news/2022/12/jim-kaler-world-renowned-expert-on-stars-dies-at-age-83 11 comments space
- Space scholars say China is unlikely to lay claim to the Moon anytime soon, despite a comment by NASA administrator Bill Nelson, which recently sparked a strong public response from the Chinese government. https://astronomy.com/news/2022/07/why-china-is-unlikely-to-claim-the-moon-anytime-soon 8 comments space
- Cosmic dust imaged by the airborne SOFIA observatory reveals a white dwarf eclipsing a variable star in a binary system. https://astronomy.com/news/2022/06/sofia-tracks-eclipse-of-binary-stars 2 comments space
- Uranus and Neptune are slightly different shades of blue because, although both condense methane in their upper atmospheres into falling snow, Neptune’s more active atmosphere means the methane snow falls more efficiently than it does on Uranus, giving Neptune a bolder blue color. https://astronomy.com/news/2022/06/uranus-and-neptune-colors 143 comments space
- First evidence of cell membrane molecules in space https://astronomy.com/news/2021/05/first-evidence-of-cell-membrane-molecules-in-space 19 comments aliens
- Neil Armstrong's bootprint, the Apollo landers, and other lunar artifacts are now protected by U.S. law, which will help preserve human heritage in outer space. https://astronomy.com/news/2021/01/neil-armstrongs-bootprint-and-other-lunar-artifacts-are-now-protected-by-us-law 25 comments space
- Astronomers find a far-flung exoplanet circling two stars, and it seems to have an orbit similar to the solar system's hypothetical Planet Nine. https://astronomy.com/news/2021/01/far-flung-exoplanet-resembles-long-sought-planet-nine 8 comments space
- Astronomers find a pair of free-range brown dwarfs zipping through space without a star. https://astronomy.com/news/2021/01/lonely-space-dwarfs 10 comments space
- Sun-like star identified as the potential source of the Wow! Signal https://astronomy.com/news/2020/11/sun-like-star-identified-as-the-potential-source-of-the-wow-signal 185 comments space
- Total solar eclipse 2020: The Moon's shadow will race across Chile and Argentina on December 14. https://astronomy.com/magazine/news/2020/12/total-solar-eclipse-2020-a-shadow-crosses-south-america 7 comments worldnews
- Powerful eruptions on the Sun might trigger earthquakes https://astronomy.com/news/2020/07/powerful-eruptions-on-the-sun-might-trigger-earthquakes 3 comments science
- Is the Big Bang In crisis? According to Fermilab cosmologist Dan Hooper, stubborn problems with dark matter, dark energy, and cosmic expansion have some astronomers rethinking what we know about the early universe. https://astronomy.com/magazine/news/2020/05/is-the-big-bang-in-crisis 12 comments space
- A close encounter with another star may have torn the cigar-shaped interstellar object ‘Oumuamua from its parent body, flinging it toward our solar system. https://astronomy.com/news/2020/04/interstellar-visitor-oumuamua-maybe-a-chunk-of-a-shredded-alien-world 74 comments space
- India is preparing to launch its first crewed mission to space late next year. But first, two uncrewed flights will carry Vyommitra, a humanoid robot programmed to respond to its environment, mimic crew activities, and test life-support operations. https://astronomy.com/news/2020/03/india-prepares-to-launch-its-first-crewed-mission-to-space-in-2021 3 comments worldnews
- A Mars colony could grow enough food to feed 1 million people within 100 years of arriving, finds new study. Though we'd have to import a lot of food to start, the researchers say we could eventually shift to a sustainable, Martian-grown diet rich in bugs, algae, and staples like beans and potatoes. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/09/we-could-feed-one-million-people-living-in-colonies-on-mars 27 comments worldnews
- LIGO spots second gravitational wave event in just the past two days. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/ligo-makes-two-gravitational-wave-detections-in-just-two-days 4 comments space
- Auroras act as "speed bumps" that drag satellites closer to Earth, new research shows. The auroras heat air pockets, causing them to drift upward, like bubbles in a lava lamp. Satellites then experience drag within the air pockets, which slows them down and causes them to fall closer to Earth. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/speed-bumps-from-auroras-can-slow-down-satellites 8 comments science
- Massive flare erupts from tiny, ultra-cool star, boosting its brightness by 10,000-fold. Located 250 light-years away, the small star is barely larger than a brown dwarf, yet the flare was 10 times more powerful than the Sun's strongest known flare. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/tiny-star-flares-10-times-brighter-than-the-sun 436 comments space
- Astronomers spot two neutron stars smash together in a galaxy 6 billion light-years away, forming a rapidly spinning and highly magnetic star called a "magnetar" http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/a-new-neutron-star-merger-is-caught-on-x-ray-camera 9 comments worldnews
- Astronomers spot two neutron stars smash together in a galaxy 6 billion light-years away, forming a rapidly spinning and highly magnetic star called a "magnetar" http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/a-new-neutron-star-merger-is-caught-on-x-ray-camera 97 comments science
- Astronomers spot two neutron stars smash together in a galaxy 6 billion light-years away, forming a rapidly spinning and highly magnetic star called a "magnetar" http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/a-new-neutron-star-merger-is-caught-on-x-ray-camera 585 comments space
- Meteors slamming into the Moon blast roughly 200 tons of water into space each year, suggesting a global layer of water exists just inches below the lunar surface. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/meteor-showers-on-the-moon-reveal-underground-water 64 comments worldnews
- PepsiCo partnered with a Russian start-up on a high altitude experiment to test technology for orbiting billboards. Facing backlash, the company now says it's abandoning the idea of outer space advertising. http://astronomy.com/news/2019/04/pepsi-partners-with-russian-start-up-to-test-orbiting-billboards 524 comments space
- NASA's Twins Study confirms spaceflight can: damage DNA; change how thousands of genes are expressed; increase the length of telomeres (the caps that protect chromosomes); thicken carotid artery walls; and increase inflammation. However, over 90% of the changes returned to normal post-flight. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/twins-study-shows-spaceflight-changes-the-human-body 8 comments worldnews
- Israel's Beresheet lander crashes into the Moon, still receives $1 million Moonshot Award from XPRIZE. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/israels-beresheet-lander-crashes-into-moon 19 comments space
- SpaceX's Falcon Heavy will launch its first-ever commercial spaceflight tomorrow morning as early as 6:35am EDT (10:35am UTC). Its payload is a 13,000-pound Saudi Arabian communications satellite, and all three main boosters will again attempt to land upright. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/spacexs-falcon-heavy-prepares-for-first-commercial-liftoff-wednesday 4 comments space
- Astronomers find the most distant known object in the solar system. "Farfarout" is a 250-mile-wide (400 km) dwarf planet located about 140 times farther from the Sun than Earth (3.5 times farther than Pluto), and it soon may help serve as evidence for a massive, far-flung world called Planet 9. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/03/a-map-to-planet-nine-charting-the-solar-systems-most-distant-worlds 12 comments space
- The International Space Station’s new 3-D printer recycles old plastic into custom tools http://astronomy.com/news/2019/02/the-international-space-stations-new-3-d-printer-recycles-old-plastic-into-custom-tools 4 comments space
- Despite boiling temperatures, Mercury manages to maintain stable glaciers. According to new research, the glaciers, which are up to 160 feet (50 m) thick and 50 million years old, formed when free-floating water ice from comet and asteroid impacts settled in deep craters on the planet's night side. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/01/exploring-glaciers-on-mercury-a-planet-plagued-by-boiling-temperatures 9 comments science
- Scientists develop a possible means of looking inside stars using sound waves. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/11/how-to-look-inside-a-star-with-artificial-intelligence-and-sound-waves 5 comments artificial
- Astronomers finally confirm a 4-million-solar-mass black hole is lurking in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/10/scientists-confirm-the-milky-way-has-a-supermassive-black-hole 283 comments worldnews
- A distant galaxy 5 billion light-years away may have two actively feeding supermassive black holes lurking in its core, a new study based on 10 years of observations suggests. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/10/in-a-first-astronomers-find-a-blazar-that-cycles-every-two-years 4 comments space
- Mars is currently brighter and closer than it has been in 15 years. Tonight, the Red Planet rises around 9:30 p.m. local daylight time and climbs nearly 30° high in the south by 2 a.m. http://www.astronomy.com/observing/sky-this-week/2018/07/the-sky-this-week-for-july-13-to-22 7 comments space
- Rare breed of black hole seen ripping apart a star. The new observations offer some of the most compelling evidence yet for the existence of "intermediate-mass black holes," which are black holes between 100 and 100,000 solar masses. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/06/rare-intermediate-mass-black-hole-found-tearing-apart-star 41 comments space
- Astronomers find the first companion star to survive a supernova explosion. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/04/first-image-of-a-surviving-supernova-companion 3 comments space
- Asteroids and comets provide Mars with 30% of its organic material. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/03/comets-and-asteroids-shower-mars-with-organics 5 comments worldnews
- Worms can survive and reproduce in simulated martian and lunar soil http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/12/worms-on-mars 4 comments science
- Black holes mysteriously align | Astronomy.com http://www.astronomy.com/news/2016/04/black-holes-mysteriously-align 8 comments space
- Tonight will be the Largest and Brightest Full Moon of 2010 http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9022 25 comments science