This was the most popular post at EarthSky this week, and no wonder. It's exciting! Scientists expect the 1st-ever direct image of a black hole's event horizon, soon.
A short film about an expedition to Tibet's Guliya Glacier, where scientists drilled a Stone Age ice core going back 600,000 years. Plus a report on what the ice core reveals.
"Because Alpha Centauri is so close, it's our first stop outside our solar system. There are almost certain to be small, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri A and B."
"These professional astronomers are claiming the exclusive right to give 'approved' names to the stars. But the stars - and the sky - belong to all of us."
The 2017 Geminid meteor shower was thought to have a better-than-average chance of producing a rich display, since the Geminids' parent body - a strange rock-comet called 3200 Phaethon - is nearby. And so it was! Photos here.
Meltwater from the glaciers supplies water to 800 million people, so that loss would mean serious consequences for water management, food security, energy production.
The intense wildfires in southern California are triggering air quality alerts. What do health experts know about how inhaling smoke affects human health?