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Alien-hunting AI discovers dozens of mysterious fast radio bursts
Astronomers with the Breakthrough Listen program used AI (artificial intelligence) to find 72 repeating, short, unpredictable radio bursts, from a mysterious source 3 billion light years away.
September 12, 2018
Landslides and avalanches keep comets active
Landslides and avalanches on comets might keep them active, when closest to the sun, much longer than expected. They might even bring some dormant comets back to life!
September 12, 2018
Best pics of the comet as it swept safely past
Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner came closer to Earth this week than it had in 72 years. Favorite photos here, from the EarthSky community. Plus info on comet Wirtanen, which might become visible to the eye alone later this year.
September 11, 2018
What is the Hypatia Catalog?
The Hypatia Catalog uses "big data" - extremely large data sets - hopefully to reveal patterns, trends, and associations that might lead to finding distant worlds harboring life.
September 11, 2018
What is a parsec?
Why do professional astronomers speak of distances in the universe not in terms of light-years, but in terms of parsecs, a distance of 3.26 light-years? Explanation here.
September 11, 2018
Stand on Mars, look around
Of course you can't really stand on Mars. But you can do the next best thing with this cool new 360-degree interactive panorama from NASA's Curiosity rover. Notice the settling dust!
September 9, 2018
How black holes bring white dwarfs back to life
White dwarfs are the dead remnants of larger, once-active stars like our sun. But black holes can reignite them.
September 8, 2018
Asteroid Itokawa gives up its secrets
Itokawa is the 1st asteroid from which samples were obtained and returned to Earth. From these samples, scientists have figured out Itokawa's true age and geologic history.
September 8, 2018
Watch online, as asteroid 2018 RC sweeps past
Asteroid 2018 RC will sweep past at about half the moon's distance during the night of September 8, according to clocks in the Americas. Learn how to see it online.
September 6, 2018
Hear the sounds of the sun
Listen to the vibration of the sun. "It has a warmth to it. It's just enough where I can almost feel the sound on my skin."
September 6, 2018
