Author: Sandy C.
Recent Articles
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CSIRO’s GINAN Receiver Finds Radio Sky Brighter Than Standard Models
A team led by CSIRO has measured the low-frequency radio sky as significantly brighter than the standard reference model used across radio astronomy. Observations taken at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia show that sky brightness between 60 and 350 megahertz (MHz) runs 20% to 50% higher than the 2016…
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Gran Telescopio Canarias Confirms And XXXVI as Andromeda’s Faintest Satellite
Astronomers have confirmed a new dwarf galaxy orbiting Andromeda (M31), built from as few as 46 detectable stars and estimated to be 12.5 billion years old. Designated Andromeda XXXVI, the object sits at a projected distance of roughly 119 kiloparsecs (about 388,000 light-years) from Andromeda’s center, making it one of the faintest satellite galaxies ever…
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A Lost Planet May Have Saved Jupiter and Uranus’s Moons
For decades, astronomers have suspected that our Solar System may not have always looked the way it does today. The giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—likely formed much closer together before gradually migrating to their current positions. Now, new research suggests that an additional giant planet may once have been part of the Solar System.…
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James Webb vs. Hubble: The “Pillars of Creation” Side-by-Side
Located 6,500 light-years from Earth within the Eagle Nebula (M16), these towering tendrils of interstellar gas and dust are arguably the most famous structures in the cosmos. When comparing the James Webb vs Hubble Pillars of Creation images, the staggering leap in optical technology becomes undeniable. For nearly three decades, our visual understanding of this…
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Artemis II Earth splashdown return
NASA’s Artemis II Earth splashdown return marks the closing phase of humanity’s first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years, as four astronauts aboard Orion prepare to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere after a successful journey around the Moon. The mission is a defining systems test for future lunar expeditions, validating deep-space crew operations, high-speed re-entry…
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Is the Universe Lopsided? How the Cosmic Dipole Anomaly Challenges Modern Cosmology
New theoretical and observational research suggests the universe may not be perfectly symmetric after all. A growing body of evidence points to a phenomenon known as the cosmic dipole anomaly, which implies that the large-scale universe may be slightly lopsided rather than uniform in all directions. This challenges a core assumption underlying modern cosmology and…
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2026: Artemis 2 and Humanity’s First Crewed Return to Lunar Space
In 2026, humanity will return to lunar space with NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed journey beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The ten-day flight will send four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on a free-return trajectory around the Moon, validating systems needed for sustained human exploration. This mission matters because…
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James Webb Cosmic Noon Black Hole: Found in a Well-Studied Region of Early Universe
The James Webb Space Telescope has identified a rapidly growing supermassive black hole dating back to an era known as cosmic noon, roughly four billion years after the Big Bang. Nicknamed BiRD (Big Red Dot), the object belongs to a newly recognized class of compact infrared sources revealed only by Webb’s sensitivity. The finding helps…
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Satellite Megaconstellations Are Becoming a Serious Threat to Space Telescopes, Study Finds
A Growing Problem for Astronomy: Bright Satellite Trails in Space-Based Images A new peer-reviewed study published in Nature warns that rapidly expanding satellite megaconstellations pose a major and escalating threat—not just to ground-based observatories, but to space telescopes in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Reflections from satellites already show up as bright streaks across astronomical exposures,…
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What’s Up: December 2025 Skywatching Tips
Overview: A Big Month for Skywatchers December 2025 brings three major celestial events: These events offer some of the best opportunities of the year for backyard observers and telescope users alike. Comet 3I/ATLAS Makes Its Closest Approach — Dec 19 Comet 3I/ATLAS—only the third confirmed interstellar object ever discovered in our solar system—reaches its closest…
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