Astronomy

A technician examines the mirror on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Scientists at two national laboratories are currently building the components for an enormous digital camera that will capture images from the telescope.

The Largest Digital Camera In The World Takes Shape

5:00am November 17, 2017

by Joe Palca

A two-story tall, digital camera is taking shape in California. It will ultimately go on a telescope in Chile where it will survey the sky, looking for things that appear suddenly or change over time.

Queue Listen Now

David Reitze of the California Institute of Technology and the executive director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on Oct. 16. He talks of one of the most violent events i

Science

A New Era For Astronomy Has Begun

3:02pm October 18, 2017

by Marcelo Gleiser

Astronomy is forever changed by the viewing of the collision of neutron stars; we can now watch these processes in many different ways as they run their course, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.

Until it was surpassed recently by a similar instrument in China, the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, completed in 1963, was the world's single largest.

Science

Puerto Rico's Arecibo Radio Telescope Suffers Hurricane Damage

7:28pm September 25, 2017

by Scott Neuman

Early reports that a secondary dish at the observatory was destroyed by Maria turn out not to be correct, according to a group that helps run the facility.

Eclipses aren't just natural marvels - they're still teaching us a lot about the universe.

How Eclipses Changed History

6:31am August 16, 2017

Newton and Einstein had big ideas, but needed an eclipse to prove them. And scientists are still pursuing secrets of the universe one eclipse at a time.

News
Science

What To Expect From The Solar Eclipse In The Triad

4:38pm August 15, 2017

by Eddie Garcia

The first total solar eclipse since 1918 is happening on Monday, August 21, and people across the country are gearing up to view the astronomical event.

Queue Listen Now

On Nov. 13, 2012, a narrow corridor in the southern hemisphere experienced a total solar eclipse. The corridor lay mostly over the ocean but also cut across the northern tip of Australia where both professional and amateur astronomers gathered to watch.

Why Future Earthlings Won't See Total Solar Eclipses

10:08am August 14, 2017

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The Earth won't enjoy total solar eclipses forever because the moon is moving farther away, so it looks smaller and smaller over time.

Johannes Hevelius (left) and an assistant observe a partial solar eclipse in 1673.

Scientists Prepare For 'The Most Beautiful Thing You Can See In The Sky'

4:31pm August 07, 2017

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

You'd think that after hundreds of years of watching total solar eclipses, scientists would know all they'd need to about that particular phenomenon. You'd be wrong.

Queue Listen Now

The possible surface of TRAPPIST-1f, one of the newly discovered planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system.

Science

Something Very Exciting About A Nearby Star

1:00pm March 03, 2017

by Shawn Fitzmaurice

Recently, seven rocky, Earth-like planets were discovered orbiting a nearby star adding to a catalog of 3,500 known extrasolar or exoplanets. Find out how we find planets like these, and what's so cool about them.

Queue Listen Now

False color image of Berchin's Galaxy, PGC 1000714 (left), false color image of Hoag's Object (right).

Science

Burcin's Galaxy, The Universe And Sort-Of Time Travel

9:55am January 13, 2017

by Shawn Fitzmaurice

Unusual galaxies can challenge our understanding of the universe. They're also, generally, pretty cool and exciting.

Queue Listen Now

Scientists used the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array near Socorro, N.M., to detect fast radio bursts.

Mystery Radio Waves Are Coming From A (Dwarf) Galaxy Far, Far Away, Scientists Say

3:40pm January 05, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The discovery provides our first "glimmer of understanding" about the unexplained, strong waves. Scientists don't think they're from aliens, but they're puzzled by what could be causing them.