Why Pulsar Starquakes Are the Most Violent Events
A millimeter crack on a dead star releases more energy than the Sun emits in 100,000 years. Here is...
Astrophysics
Stars, black holes, neutron stars, and the physics of the cosmos.
Why a Gamma-Ray Burst Gives No Warning
The most dangerous thing in the universe isn't nuclear war or asteroid impacts. It's something that...
Why Betelgeuse Will Disappear From Our Sky
A star that has been above every human head since before recorded history is going to vanish. Here i...
How Massive Is Sagittarius A* and How Does It Affect Us
There is a four-million-solar-mass object at the center of your galaxy. It has already touched this...
Why JWST's Ice Cloud Find Breaks Exoplanet Models
A Jupiter-like world just revealed clouds no one expected. What does that mean for everything we tho...
Why a Supernova Is Not Actually an Explosion
We call supernovae the biggest explosions in the universe. The word is wrong — and what actually hap...
Why the Wow! Signal Has Never Been Explained
In 1977, a radio telescope in Ohio caught something it was never supposed to find. Nearly five decad...
Why the Moon Is Slowly Leaving Earth
The Moon moves 3.8cm farther from Earth every year. The reason involves your oceans, your day, and f...
Why Gold Cannot Form Inside a Star
Every star in the universe tries to make gold and fails. The reason involves a boundary in nuclear p...