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Keyword: astronomy

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  • Fireball sightings are surging across the US — here's what's really going on

    03/29/2026 12:11:58 PM PDT · by BenLurkin · 47 replies
    space,com ^ | 03/27/2026 | Jamie Carter p
    A series of fireballs — very bright meteors — were spotted across North America from March 17-23, 2026. People in Ohio reported one on March 17. The next sightings were in California on March 19, Michigan and Georgia on March 20, and Texas on March 21, where a fragment crashed through a house roof. It's happening beyond the U.S. Vancouver saw a fireball on March 3. France and Germany reported sightings on March 8 and 11. Many fireballs lasted a long time and were seen across wide areas. Some caused pressure waves and sonic booms. ... The emerging picture is...
  • NASA astronaut Mike Fincke who prompted first ISS evacuation reveals he couldn’t speak in space — as issue remains a mystery

    03/29/2026 7:58:43 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 46 replies
    /nypost.com ^ | March 28, 2026, 11:02 p.m. PT
    The astronaut who prompted NASA’s first medical evacuation earlier this year said Friday that doctors still don’t know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station. Four-time space flier Mike Fincke said he was eating dinner on Jan. 7 after prepping for a spacewalk the next day when it happened. He couldn’t talk and remembers no pain, but his anxious crewmates jumped into action after seeing him in distress and requested help from flight surgeons on the ground. ... Fincke, 59, a retired Air Force colonel, said the episode lasted roughly 20 minutes and he felt fine afterward....
  • NASA Might Be Able to Reboost the Hubble Space Telescope After All... [10:37]

    03/28/2026 8:52:15 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 16 replies
    YouTube ^ | March 25, 2026 | Ellie in Space
    NASA Might Be Able to Reboost the Hubble Space Telescope After All... | 10:37> Ellie in Space | 222K subscribers | 34,141 views | March 25, 2026 [link to the report from Ars Technica]
  • Aurora alert! Powerful geomagnetic storm could spark northern lights as far south as Illinois tonight

    03/18/2026 9:47:01 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 10 replies
    space.com ^ | 03/18/2026 | Daisy Dobrijevic l
    The possible arrival time for the incoming solar storms is still evolving, and depends on which of the multiple CMEs strike Earth and what effect they have. According to NOAA's latest forecast, the first impacts could begin as early as 11 p.m. EDT March 18 (0300 GMT March 19), with moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm conditions most likely between 2:00 a.m. and 8 a.m. EDT (0600-1200 GMT). However, other models, including those cited by the U.K. Met Office, suggest the main CME could arrive later on March 19 or even early March 20, prolonging auroral activity through the weekend. Because multiple...
  • NASA: Massive 'boom' heard from Ohio to Kentucky caused by exploding meteor [1:56]

    03/17/2026 11:17:55 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 50 replies
    YouTube ^ | March 17, 2026 | ABC News
    A meteor nearly 6ft in diameter weighing roughly 7 tons broke apart above Ohio and was seen across 10 states. NASA: Massive 'boom' heard from Ohio to Kentucky caused by exploding meteor | 1:56 ABC News | 19.5M subscribers | 137,427 views | March 17, 2026
  • Trump’s UFO release could include videos, photos of non-human craft proving we aren’t alone: source

    03/15/2026 8:57:58 AM PDT · by RoosterRedux · 227 replies
    NY Post ^ | Shane Galvin
    The federal government holds shocking evidence of UFOs which proves we are not alone — including satellite imagery of out-of-this world craft that look like nothing “we have built,” an expert with knowledge of the documents told The Post. The government’s trove of UFO docs is massive and includes stunning photos and videos, according to Christopher Mellon, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense intelligence during the Clinton and Bush administrations. Publicly disclosing the information would take UFO discourse “to another level,” he added. While the announcement spurred federal agencies, including the White House and the Pentagon, to scramble, there...
  • 1,300-Pound NASA Research Satellite Will Come Crashing Down to Earth in the Next Few Hours

    03/11/2026 5:37:51 AM PDT · by V_TWIN · 65 replies
    thegatewaypundit.com ^ | Mar. 10, 2026 | by Paul Serran
    A 600-kilogram NASA satellite will enter Earth’s atmosphere tomorrow. The Van Allen Probe A research satellite, weighing approximately 600 kilograms and launched in 2011, is scheduled to enter Earth’s atmosphere on March 11. The Space Force’s estimated reentry time is just that — an estimate. It will be updated in the coming hours, as more and better data come in.”
  • Spectacular fireball over Europe sends meteorite crashing through roof of German home

    03/09/2026 2:56:02 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 32 replies
    Space dot com ^ | published 7 hours ago | Tereza Pultarova
    A meteorite has crashed through the roof of a house in the city of Koblenz in the west of Germany after a spectacular fireball lit up the night sky above western Europe on Sunday evening, March 8.More than 2,800 sightings of the fireball have been reported to the International Meteor Organization (IMO), with dozens of video recordings having been uploaded on social media. Witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions as the space rock disintegrated in the atmosphere, showering fragments across the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.According to available reports, multiple fragments of the meteorite have already been found in Koblenz's Güls...
  • The object at the core of the Milky Way might not be a black hole at all, scientists say

    03/07/2026 7:01:20 AM PST · by zeestephen · 46 replies
    MSN.com (via Futurism) ^ | 15 February 2026 | Frank Landymore
    The traditional understanding is that the center of our galaxy is dominated by a supermassive black hole...Instead of a black hole, there could be...a colossal clump of dark matter, the substance thought to account for 85 percent of all mass in the cosmos.
  • The Meteor Shower That Killed 10,000 People [19:18]

    02/28/2026 4:05:12 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 31 replies
    YouTube ^ | July 8, 2025 | Swegle Studios
    The year was 1490. The location, Qingyang, China. It was a spring evening in this central Chinese city when something strange began to occur in the sky above. For one, there was a recently discovered comet that was coming into view: Comet C-1490 Y1. But this comet pales in comparison to the really strange event that was about to occur. The Meteor Shower That Killed 10,000 People | 19:18 Swegle Studios | 459K subscribers | 709,238 views | July 8, 2025
  • Early Earth Was Purple, Study Suggests

    02/24/2026 5:48:41 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 35 replies
    Live Science ^ | October 14, 2022 | Ker Than
    ...Chlorophyll, the main photosynthetic pigment of plants, absorbs mainly blue and red wavelengths from the Sun and reflects green ones, and it is this reflected light that gives plants their leafy color. This fact puzzles some biologists because the sun transmits most of its energy in the green part of the visible spectrum...DasSarma thinks it is because chlorophyll appeared after another light-sensitive molecule called retinal was already present on early Earth. Retinal, today found in the plum-colored membrane of a photosynthetic microbe called halobacteria, absorbs green light and reflects back red and violet light, the combination of which appears purple.Primitive...
  • See Uranus like NEVER before! Scientists capture incredible 3D view of the planet – revealing details in the upper atmosphere for the first time

    02/22/2026 6:03:31 AM PST · by BenLurkin · 32 replies
    A new 3D map of Uranus is shedding light on one of the solar system's most mysterious planets. Using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scientists observed the ice giant for nearly a full rotation, revealing the inner workings of its upper atmosphere for the first time. The team, led by Paola Tiranti from Northumbria University, mapped out the temperature and density of ions in the electrically–charged layer that sits 3,100 miles (5,000km) above the cloud tops.
  • Private mission to save NASA space telescope will launch in 2026 on a rocket dropped from a plane

    02/19/2026 10:53:42 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 24 replies
    Space dot com ^ | November 19, 2025 | Mike Wall
    "It's the only launch vehicle that can meet the orbit, the schedule and the cost to achieve something unprecedented with emerging technology."A history-making robotic rescue mission scheduled to launch next year will fly on a rocket dropped from a plane.In September, NASA announced that it has chosen Arizona company Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the altitude of its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope whose orbit has gotten dangerously low since its November 2004 launch...The $500 million Swift observatory was built by Orbital Sciences, a company that in 2014 became Orbital ATK, which was then acquired by Northrop Grumman...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Tails of Comet Wierzchoś

    02/17/2026 11:36:44 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 7 replies
    NASA ^ | 17 Feb, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: José J. Chambó; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
    Explanation: Some comets are regular guests of our solar neighborhood; others come by only once, never to return. We won’t have another chance to see Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś), which is currently making its way through the inner Solar System. The hyperbolic orbit of this comet indicates that it will likely become an interstellar traveler. Comet Wierzchoś is today near its closest approach to the Earth, passing roughly the same distance from the Earth as is the Sun. The featured 30-minute exposure was taken last week in Chile and shows a 5-degree long ion tail as well as three shorter...
  • When Quantum Physics Hit A Dead End, GPT-5.2 Found a Hidden Door

    02/17/2026 12:41:44 PM PST · by Twotone · 53 replies
    NDTV Profit ^ | February 16, 2026 | Yukta Baid
    OpenAI's GPT-5.2 has derived a new formula for gluon interactions, overturning assumptions of zero amplitude and advancing theoretical physics. For a long, long time physicists treated this interaction as a cosmic impossibility — a mathematical dead end so absolute it was taught almost with the certainty of Newton's laws and the elegance of Einstein's equations. Zero, in quantum physics, isn't a shrug; it's a verdict. And this particular verdict had stood unchallenged for decades. But every so often, science gets a jolt — a falling apple, a bending beam of starlight… or, in 2026, an AI model that refuses to...
  • Once in a lifetime! Scientists Track a Green Comet on a Permanent Escape Path [9:43]

    02/16/2026 7:42:29 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 15 replies
    YouTube ^ | February 16, 2026 | NASA Space News
    Once in a lifetime! Scientists Track a Green Comet on a Permanent Escape Path | 9:43 NASA Space News | 597K subscribers | 2,030 views | February 16, 2026
  • The Volcano That Could Wipe Out the Greek Islands | Volcano Documentary [44:43]

    02/15/2026 9:52:57 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 23 replies
    YouTube ^ | December 9, 2025 | Autentic Documentary (inauthentic spelling?)
    This active volcano still spews gas -- and a major eruption could trigger a deadly tsunami. Locals live in its shadow, knowing history could repeat itself. Nisyros is a small, volcanic island and municipality in the Dodecanese group of islands in the Aegean Sea, located between Kos and Tilos. The Volcano That Could Wipe Out the Greek Islands Volcano Documentary | 44:43 Autentic Documentary | 95.8K subscribers | 58,260 views | December 9, 2025
  • Einstein effect clears planets from tight double star systems

    02/05/2026 6:39:37 AM PST · by Salman · 10 replies
    Space Daily ^ | Feb 02, 2026 | Robert Sanders for Berkeley News
    Of the more than 4,500 stars known to have planets, one puzzling statistic stands out. Even though nearly all stars are expected to have planets and most stars form in pairs, planets that orbit both stars in a pair are rare. Of the more than 6,000 extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, confirmed to date - most of them found by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) - only 14 are observed to orbit binary stars. There should be hundreds. Where are all the planets with two suns, like Tatooine in Star Wars? ... ... Over time,...
  • Scientists spot 'unprecedented celestial event' around the 'Eye of Sauron' star just 25 light-years from Earth

    02/04/2026 10:28:40 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 25 replies
    Live Science ^ | December 20, 2025 | Ivan Farkas
    Scientists watching the nearby Fomalhaut star system have directly seen two protoplanets smash together for the first time. Then, they saw it happen again...The Fomalhaut system is no stranger to such crashes. It's famously known as the "Eye of Sauron" due to its resemblance to the fiery, all-seeing eye from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings franchise. The likeness comes from the spectacular dust belt that surrounds Fomalhaut at a distance of 133 astronomical units (AU), with one AU being equal to 93 million miles (150 million km) — the average distance between the sun and Earth.
  • 'Textbooks will need to be updated': Jupiter is smaller and flatter than we thought, Juno spacecraft reveals

    02/04/2026 10:03:49 AM PST · by Diana in Wisconsin · 52 replies
    Live Science ^ | February 4, 2026 | Skyler Ware
    Jupiter is slightly smaller and flatter than scientists thought for decades, a new study finds. Researchers used radio data from the Juno spacecraft to refine measurements of the solar system's largest planet. Although the differences between the current and previous measurements are small, they are improving models of Jupiter's interior and of other gas giants like it outside the solar system, the team reported Feb. 2 in the journal Nature Astronomy. "Textbooks will need to be updated," study co-author Yohai Kaspi, a planetary scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, said in a statement. "The size of Jupiter...