New study suggests violent origin for Mars’ moons

It was thought Mars' 2 small moons - Phobos and Deimos - might be captured asteroids. But new work suggests a violent birth for the moons during a colossal impact.

TESS planet hunter on its way

"It’s the beginning of a new era of exoplanet research."

Exoplanets: Worlds orbiting distant stars

Humans have been speculating about their existence for thousands of years, but ours is the 1st generation to know, with certainty, that exoplanets are really out there.

See it! Moon sweeps past Venus

Wonderful photos from the EarthSky community of the moon's sweep this week past the brightest planet, Venus.

Green moon on April 20, 2018? Nah

For weeks, people have searched for this post more than any other at EarthSky. No, there won't be a green moon on April 20, 2018. It's a joke, y'all, with its roots (ahem) in cannabis culture. :-)

The search for the sun’s lost siblings

Our sun's sibling stars could be scattered across the sky. Astronomers are sifting through newly released data in the GALAH Survey - a galactic archaeology survey - hoping to find them.

Scientists seeking continuous gravitational waves

Scientists 1st observed gravitational waves from merging black holes. Now they're targeting a different gravitational wave signal: a long continuous waveform from a rapidly spinning neutron star.

Asteroid buzzed Earth this weekend

2018 GE3 swept by at half the moon's distance Sunday, just hours after being detected. Its size is 3 to 6 times that of the space rock that penetrated the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013.

Theorists describe black hole megamergers

"Binary black holes are basically like giant targets hanging out in a globular star cluster, and as you throw other black holes or stars at them, they undergo these crazy chaotic encounters."

Watch launch of TESS planet-hunting mission April 16

TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Lift-off is planned for no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT (10:32 p.m. UTC).

Matching Donation Campaign

Exciting news! EarthSky received a $50,000 gift, with a request that it be used to collect matching funds. Please help us meet this match by donating to EarthSky today!

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