Posts by 

Theresa Wiegert

SKA telescope 1st light! Milky Way core and more

A prototype antenna for the new SKA telescope, to be located in South Africa and Australia, just made a big step forward with a 1st-light image!

Oddly shaped suns and moons on the horizon

When light from the sun or the moon travels through more atmosphere to your eyes, you see oddly shaped suns or moons in interesting and beautiful ways.

How do you measure the mass of a star?

Binary stars - a star system consisting of two stars - are extremely useful. They give all the information needed to measure mass of a star. Here is how.

Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies are merging

The Milky Way and Andromeda merger has already begun. The two spiral galaxies will form one giant elliptical galaxy in 5 billion years.

A storm on the sun, and a great week for auroras

Aurora alert in effect for the next few days: the sun sent out a halo coronal mass ejection on November 2, 2021, due to arrive at Earth on November 4.

Astronomy art: Voices of Apollo 11

Voices of Apollo 11 is an image of the moon, made of the words transmitted from the moon by Apollo 11 astronauts. Astronomy artist J-P Metsavainio created it.

Finally, an electron-capture supernova

"We started by asking ‘what’s this weirdo?’ the astronomers said. Now they recognize SN 2018zd as an electron-capture supernova.

Supermassive black holes help with star birth

Supermassive black holes help form stars, according to a new study. They do it by clearing the way in the outskirts of the galaxies where they reside.

Milky Way center: Threads of hot gas and magnetic fields

An astronomer combined 2 decades worth of X-ray data with radio observations, creating an extraordinary image of the Milky Way center.

The most ancient spiral galaxy yet

Astronomers have discovered a spiral galaxy surprisingly near the beginning of the universe, making it the most ancient spiral galaxy found so far.