Tag: astronomy
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An astronomical saga of star births, pancakes, and Kylo Ren
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] And if I can be shameless: Forbes pays according to traffic, so the more of you who share and visit and read my stuff, the better they pay me.…
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Yerkes Observatory: 1897-2018
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] A few years ago, I visited Yerkes Observatory while driving across the country to gather material for a book that never came to fruition. It’s a marvelous relic of…
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Discovering new planets with artificial intelligence
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Thanks to Google AI, Astronomers Have Found New Planets They’re not habitable, but the dual discoveries change how we’re going to hunt for the next Earth. For The Daily…
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My new series on black holes!
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] I’ve just started a new series on black holes for Medium members. The first part is available now, with three more parts to come. And if enough of you…
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A white dwarf murder mystery
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] What killed the white dwarfs? (Aside from the giant explosion) Merger or extra matter? Two papers come to opposite conclusions For Ars Technica: Type Ia supernovae are explosions that…
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The Daily Beast’s latest astronomy columnist is…me!
Now it can be told: I will be writing a weekly post for The Daily Beast (making me The Weekly Beast?), on space, astronomy, and such things. My first column is about inflation, and why it’s a big deal: If you compare any two points on the night sky, their temperature as measured in microwave…
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Supernovas: mysterious and lumpy space explosions
Nearly every atom of your body was forged in a supernova explosion and dispersed into space. But how do massive stars explode? The details are complicated, pushing the limits of computer simulations and our ability to observe with telescopes. In the absence of very close-by events, the best data come from supernova remnants: the still-glowing…
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SUPERNOVA!
Pardon me, I’m a little excited. When I logged onto my computer this morning, I found that every astronomer and astronomy fan was talking about the same thing: a new observation of a probable white dwarf supernova in M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy. This is exciting because M82 is practically a neighbor in…
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Green Peas were all my joy, galaxies were my delight
Most galaxies are somewhat red or blue in appearance, depending on the populations of stars that comprise them. However, citizen scientists working with the GalaxyZoo project identified a previously unknown type of galaxy: Green Peas, so named because they are small and green. The color comes from ionized oxygen, a particular form of emission that…
Bowler Hat Science 