Berkeley astrophysicist Gibor Basri interprets the stars
In the eyes of astrophysicist Gibor Basri, one doesn’t need a spaceship to travel to the stars. All you have to do is look. “Starlight comes to me, and I …
astronomy
Hubble Shows a Peaceful, Aged Galaxy and a Spiraled Supernova Remnant
NGC 3384 (left) and IC 438 (right) Not to be outdone by the James Webb Space Telescope and its beautiful new nebula image, the Hubble Space Telescope delivered a pair …
Webb’s Newest Nebula Image Looks Like a Colorful Painting
At the longer wavelengths of light captured by Webb’s MIRI, it’s possible to see behind the curtain of clouds and dust. Shorter wavelengths of light are absorbed or scattered, obscuring …
How to Convince Your Flat-Earth Friends the Earth Is Round
Illustration: Rhett Allain You can see that we have a right triangle with the hypotenuse equal to the distance from the observer’s eyes to the center of the Earth (R …
Look up to see January’s full ‘wolf moon’ brighten the night sky
By Ashley Strickland | CNN The first full moon of the new year, known as the wolf moon, will shine in the night sky Thursday. January’s full moon reached peak …
Famed astronomer Natalie Batalha searches for more than life on other planets
As Natalie Batalha searches for life outside our solar system, the celebrated astrophysicist and her colleagues often gather around the whiteboard in her UC Santa Cruz office. It’s reminiscent of …
An unexpected superhero inspired a remarkable Bay Area astronomer’s passion for teaching
For Andrew Fraknoi, it all began with comic books. The astronomer was 8 years old when he first thumbed through their pages, soaking up illustrations of star-studded galaxies — and …
Amateur astronomers share the secrets to star spotting
On a cold overcast night at the edge of the California Delta, members of the Mount Diablo Astronomical Society tilted their faces toward the darkening sky, willing the growing cloud …
What’s that bright object in the night sky? Here’s a guide
Long and sparkly, the winter night sky is a spectacle — inviting us to wrap up, go outside and gaze up at planets, stars, airplanes, a sudden meteor and the …
Unraveling cosmic mysteries from an otherworldly ‘little town’
Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton has telescopes pointed toward other worlds, but it’s pretty otherworldly itself. And despite lasers that can rob the unwary of eyesight, rattlesnakes, mountain lions, wildfires, …