An international team of geoscientists journeyed to northeastern Oregon, where massive volcanism has been linked with climate warming 16 million years ago. For their study, the scientists zeroed in the Wallowa Mountains, which are laced with enormous sheets of flat magmatic dikes, created when molten rock flowed into cracks and solidified. Credit: Benjamin Black/Rutgers University Volcanoes have played a role in mass extinctions at multiple times in our planet’s geologic history. Exactly how they kill off everything is dependent on the rapidity with which they erupt. If the eruptions...
Vibrant Auroras shine on Mars
The purple color in this video shows auroras on Mars’ nightside as detected by the ultraviolet instrument aboard NASA’s MAVEN orbiter between May 14 and 20, 2024. The brighter the purple, the more auroras that were present. Credit: NASA/University of...
Ep. 2.24: JWST Reveals Star Formation Details
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including Mars Perseverance Rover fords an ancient river, black holes sometimes form like baby stars, and this week's tales from the launch pad. We also look in detail at how JWST images...
Closer Look: Sometimes Dust is Beautiful
Gaia galaxy map, image credit: ESA The interstellar medium is not my favorite topic in astronomy. Fundamentally, it is the study of interstellar dust bunnies - those clumps of gas and dust that clog up our skies and block our ability to see more distant stars and...
Black Hole & Baby Star Formation – It’s the Same Science
One of the great rules of astronomy is that the same rules of physics we see here, in our corner of the universe are the same rules of physics that control all of space and time. Mostly… some forces only work on tiny scales, so at the atomic level it feels like things...
Mars Rover Finds Way To Ford Ancient River
a map of Percy's path The Perseverance rover has been making its way along the coast line of a long dried up river that once allowed water to drain from Jezero Crater. Today, the Neretva Vallis river channel isn’t just dry, it’s filled with sand dunes… And Sand Dunes...
Closer Look: Humanity’s Return to the Moon
I am a post-Apollo baby. Throughout my entire career, I’ve listened to the stories from senior researchers about how they watched men walk on the moon and thus became astronomers or planetary scientists. Me… I watched science fiction and decided if I wasn’t going to...
Remembering Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders and Voyager Scientist Ed Stone
We’d like to take a moment to celebrate the lives of to space science greats who have passed away. On June 7, Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders died when his Beechcraft T-34 Mentor crashed into the water near Jonas Island. He was age 90. While Anders never walked on the...
Calculating Pluto’s Oceans
While amazing data is the start of amazing research, it takes a lot of calculations and models to truly understand what the data mean. Nine years after the New Horizons mission flew past Pluto and discovered it has mountains of ice, and a strangely cracked landscape,...
Lucy’s Discovered Dinkinesh Throws Rocks
We often find ourselves saying that science moves at that rate of technology. With new telescopes and spacecraft we can get new views on the universe. And some of them are weirdly unexpected. Back in November 2023, the Lucy mission flew past the asteroid Dinkinesh on...
Large Binocular Telescope images Jupiter’s moon IoOld Telescope Shows Off New Skills
Meanwhile on Earth, the Large Binocular Telescope has installed a new high-contrast optical imaging instrument, dubbed SHARK-VIS. Using adaptive optics, the system can compensate for the earth’s atmosphere, and with a pair of 9m mirrors, it has resolutions and light...