-
GRB 101225A, a puzzling Christmas present
Ten years ago, on Christmas day, satellites detected a gamma-ray burst. The event was not like anything seen before. Was it even a gamma-ray burst? It took three years, several theories, and many observations before astronomers nailed down the event’s origin.
-
Peregrine falcon returns home: what secrets lie hidden in the Dragon Palace?
Six years after the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 left Earth, we anxiously anticipate its return. On December 6, a small capsule will detach from the spacecraft and come to Earth. It will deliver an especially precious cargo: a piece of an actual asteroid.
-
That one time when water bears traveled to the Moon
Last year, a private company sent a spacecraft to the Moon. The landing was all but smooth, and the spacecraft crashed on the surface. The event would be nothing but a footnote in the history of space exploration if it weren’t for its secret cargo.
-
10 Amazing Eyes We Have on the Sky
There is much more to the Universe than what it appears at first sight. It shines in all kinds of different lights ranging from radio waves to gamma rays. This very minute we are being bombarded by elusive neutrinos and inundated by gravitational waves.
-
So, life on Venus?
We have been dreaming of finding alien life on other planets. Perhaps we don’t have to go far. Scientists found a special type of gas on Venus. Its origin being unknown, the gas could point to the presence of microbes in Venus’s atmosphere.
-
Astronomers for Planet Earth
The September issue of Nature Astronomy is dedicated to the carbon footprint of professional astronomy. We are quite the polluters, but there is no reason why we couldn’t reduce the emissions by changing some of our working habits. I briefly summarize the main results of the studies and present the aspirations of the initiative Astronomers for Planet Earth. -
About citizen science. And penguins, voorwerpen, and old weather.
Science is not the property of educated professionals. With a little guidance, everyone can contribute to our collective knowledge. Chris Lintott, the Principle Investigator of Zooniverse, explains the concept and success of citizen science in the book “The Crowd and the Cosmos.”
-
EAS 2020: Mega-constellations and astronomy
The annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society EAS 2020 hosted a session on the impact of the upcoming commercial satellite constellations on professional astronomy. Astronomers, engineers, and representatives of companies discussed the future coexistence of astronomy and satellites. My takeaway from the meeting is: it never rains, but it pours.
-
Gamma-ray bursts: from dying stars to first galaxies
On 4 October 2017, the Swift satellite detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB), an echo of a dying star. The burst was followed by a long-lived emission, called afterglow, which was quickly observed with the Very Large Telescope in Chile. The results were delightful, as the burst offered a rare opportunity to contribute to the study of the Universe’s rise from the Dark age.