A mysterious traveler from beyond our solar system, known as 3I/ATLAS, has just made its closest approach to the sun. This comet, which originated far away, is now on a path that will take it out of our cosmic neighborhood, but not before giving astronomers a few more months to study it. The comet, which is currently behind the sun from our perspective, will be visi...
Astronomers have been keeping a close eye on a peculiar object, 3I/ATLAS, as it zooms through our solar system. This is the third interstellar visitor we've spotted, after 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. What makes 3I/ATLAS stand out is its unusual tail, which has been acting strangely. Comets usually have tails that point away from the Sun. But 3I/ATLAS has an "anti-t...
A huge comet, Bernardinelli-Bernstein, is making waves in the solar system. It's not just its size that's impressive—it's also acting in ways that surprise scientists. This comet, one of the largest ever found, is releasing jets of carbon monoxide gas, and it's doing this while still very far from the Sun. Scientists used the ALMA radio telescope in Chile to spot th...
The universe is full of mysteries, and one of them is the missing matter that has puzzled scientists for years. This matter isn't the mysterious dark matter that doesn't interact with light. Instead, it's ordinary matter made up of atoms that form stars, planets, and even our bodies. For a long time, scientists have been searching for this missing matter, and now, th...
The universe is mostly made up of dark matter and dark energy. These components are invisible but shape the cosmos and speed up its expansion. The rest is ordinary matter, found in protons and neutrons. This ordinary matter is hard to spot because it's spread out like fog between galaxies. Scientists have been trying to find this missing matter for decades. It's like...
In the vast expanse of the universe, a dramatic scene unfolds between two galaxies. One galaxy is using a powerful beam of radiation to hinder the growth of its neighbor. This cosmic battle has been ongoing for billions of years, and scientists recently got a glimpse of this intense interplay. The galaxies are so far away that the light from this event took 11 bil...
Astronomers have recently found a massive molecular cloud lurking near Earth. The cloud, named Eos, is enormous, stretching about 40 moons across. It's roughly 3, 400 times heavier than the sun. Despite its size, it has remained hidden until now. Molecular clouds are crucial for star and planet formation. They are made up of gas and dust, which can clump togethe...
The James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered a surprising twist in the life of a distant star. The star, known as ZTF SLRN-2020, is about 12, 000 light-years away. Astronomers initially thought the star had grown into a red giant and swallowed a nearby planet. This is a common event in some star systems. However, the Webb Telescope's advanced infrared tools told a di...
Uranus has been keeping secrets. It turns out that the planet takes a bit longer to spin on its axis than we previously thought. This discovery came from a recent study that looked at data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope has been watching Uranus for over a decade. It showed that Uranus completes one full rotation in 17 hours, 14 minutes, and 52 seconds...
Saturn is a planet that has always been a source of fascination. Its most famous feature, the rings, are set to disappear from view for a brief period. This isn't a permanent loss, but a natural event that occurs due to the planet's tilt and orbit. The rings are made up of ice and rock particles that orbit Saturn. They are not solid but are composed of pieces ra...