An elliptical galaxy has spiral arms within it. The spiral arms formed shortly after a collision with another galaxy several hundred million years ago.
In astronomy, X-rays look at interstellar gas heated to millions of degrees around extreme environments like black holes, neutron stars, and colliding galaxies.
Very Long Baseline Interferometry, or VLBI, links together widely separated radio telescopes to allow astronomers to see the universe in more detail than ever.
Sidereal time measures the rotation of our planet relative to the stars. It allows astronomers to keep time without worrying about the motion of Earth around the sun.
Findings from the Dawn spacecraft reveal enormous impact craters and diverse mineralogy on the asteroid Vesta, the second largest object in the asteroid belt.
HD 10180 might be nine planets solar system. Slightly larger and brighter than our sun, this star might comfort human visitors with its familiar yellow glow.
Chris Crockett got his Ph.D. in astronomy from UCLA in 2011 and worked at Lowell Observatory and the U.S. Naval Observatory. He then realized he enjoyed talking about astronomy a lot more than actually doing it. After being awarded a Mass Media Fellowship in 2013 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he spent a summer writing for Scientific American, then went on to become the staff astronomy writer at Science News from 2014 - 2017. These days, he freelances, focusing on stories about astronomy, planetary science, and physics. His work has appeared in Science News, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, Knowable, Sky & Telescope, and the American Physical Society's online magazine Physics.