The Sky Tonight

August 14, 2014

All-You-Can-Eat at the End of the Universe
Rehovot, Israel (SPX) Aug 13, 2014
At the ends of the Universe there are black holes with masses equaling billions of our sun. These giant bodies - quasars - feed on interstellar gas, swallowing large quantities of it non-stop. Thus they reveal their existence: The light that is emitted by the gas as it is sucked in and crushed by the black hole's gravity travels for eons across the Universe until it reaches our telescopes. Looking at the edges of the Universe is therefore looking into the past. These far-off, ancient quasars ... read more

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Follow the radio waves to exomoons Scientists hunting for life beyond Earth have discovered more than 1,800 planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, in recent years, but so far, no one has been able to confirm an exomoon. Now ... more		Colliding Atmospheres: Mars vs Comet Siding Spring On October 19, 2014, Comet Siding Spring will pass by Mars only 132,000 km away--which would be like a comet passing about 1/3 of the distance between Earth and the Moon. The nucleus of the comet wo ... more		Cassini Tracks Clouds Developing Over a Titan Sea NASA's Cassini spacecraft recently captured images of clouds moving across the northern hydrocarbon seas of Saturn's moon Titan. This renewed weather activity, considered overdue by researchers, cou ... more
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