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Editors of EarthSky

Newly discovered most luminous galaxy

Galaxy W2246-0526 shines with the intensity of more than 300 trillion suns. Its central black hole stirs up gas across the entire galaxy.

Why does the new year begin on January 1?

New Year's Day is a civil event. Its date isn't precisely fixed by any natural seasonal marker.

Ceres’ bright spots likely salt deposits

Mystery solved? Bright spots seen by Dawn spacecraft on dwarf planet Ceres are likely salt deposits, say researchers.

Satellite sensors for global fire coverage

A global fire alert from space, FireSat sensors would be able to detect a fire anywhere on Earth within 15 minutes of its start and notify area emergency responders.

Mars to lose a moon, gain a ring

Mars’ large moon Phobos is slowly falling toward the planet. In 20-40 million years, it'll shatter, and its pieces will form a Saturn-like ring around Mars.

Tiny, ultracool star is super stormy

"If we lived around a star like this one, we wouldn't have any satellite communications. In fact, it might be extremely difficult for life to evolve at all ..." said Harvard astrophysicist.

Most Earthlike exoplanet is uninhabitable

Kepler-438b - 470 light years from Earth - ranks highest on the Earth Similarity Index. But radiation from its violent parent star makes it uninhabitable.

Mars rover heads for active dunes

No Mars rover has yet visited a sand dune, as opposed to smaller sand ripples or drifts. Curiosity will visit actual Mars dunes in the next few days.

Video: Why your body is amazing

Some fun for a Friday, from the guys at AsapScience.

Children of the sun

They say we're all made of stardust ...