astronomy and astrophysics

Astronomy and Astrophysics SciStarter Blog

Citizen Scientists Find Exoplanets with NASA’s TESS Spacecraft

July 9, 2021June 30, 2021 SciStarterspace, space exploration

The space agency is asking citizen scientists to help hunt exoplanets in the vast trove of images gathered by TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.

Astronomy and Astrophysics There Be Dragons Everywhere

Elements, Heavy Metal, and the Death of Stars

June 7, 2021June 6, 2021 Steven Spenceelements, stars

Part Three of Baking an Apple Pie from Scratch (figuratively) explains how stars create heavy elements with more Protons than Iron.

Astronomy and Astrophysics There Be Dragons Everywhere

Forged in the Hearts of Stars

May 28, 2021June 21, 2021 Steven Spenceearly universe, elements, stars

Steven Spence, Part Two of Baking an Apple Pie from Scratch (figuratively). Let’s contemplate the early universe and the elements forged in the hearts of stars.

The Quark Gluon Plasma Soup: Did a supernova explosion cause this mass extinction?

Astronomy and Astrophysics Physics There Be Dragons Everywhere

Neutrons, the Early Universe, and Apple Pie

May 27, 2021June 21, 2021 Steven Spenceearly universe, elements, origins of life, stars

Steven Spence contemplates neurons, the early universe, and the origins of the ingredients for the quark-gluon plasma soup, and apple pie.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Citizen Science SciStarter Blog

Citizen Scientists Have Found Dozens of Brown Dwarfs Near Earth

March 26, 2021April 3, 2021 SciStartercitizen science projects, stars

Volunteers scanning the night sky for elusive hints of Planet Nine are uncovering the secrets of a strange class of stars called brown dwarfs.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Book Reviews

What to Read: Asteroid Hunters

March 17, 2021May 2, 2021 Science Connectedasteroids, books, NASA, space

On any given day, about 90,000 kilograms of dust and small rocks hit the Earth. What happens when something larger is on a collision course with Earth?

Astrophysicist Dr. Melinda Soares-Furtado is a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has a BS in Physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and PhD in Astrophysical Science from Princeton University. She works on detecting and characterizing stars in open clusters that have anomalous characteristics brought about by the ingestion of close-orbiting substellar companions.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Get to Know a Scientist STEM Education

Get to Know a Scientist: Astrophysicist Dr. Melinda Soares-Furtado

March 16, 2021May 2, 2021 Science Connectedastronomy, STEM careers, women in science, Women in STEM

An astrophysicist studies stars, planets, and other things in space. Introducing Dr. Melinda Soares-Furtado, who tells us about her career.

human computers, history of women in astronomy

Astronomy and Astrophysics Citizen Science SciStarter Blog

Uncovering the History of Harvard’s ‘Human Computers’

March 5, 2021June 18, 2021 SciStarterhistory, women in science, Women in STEM

More than a century ago, women called “human computers” changed our understanding of the universe. Now volunteers are making discoveries in their old notebooks.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Citizen Science SciStarter Blog

Explore the Cosmos at Home

December 3, 2020June 6, 2021 SciStartercitizen science projects, space

From studying light pollution to growing tomato seeds that have flown in orbit, these citizen science projects can help you and your kids enjoy the cosmos at home.

A team of researchers led by professor Brian Fields hypothesizes that a supernova about 65 light-years away may have contributed to the ozone depletion and subsequent mass extinction of the late Devonian Period, 359 million years ago. Pictured is a simulation of a nearby supernova colliding with and compressing the solar wind. Earth's orbit, the blue dashed circle, and the Sun, red dot, are shown for scale. (Graphic courtesy Jesse Miller)

Astronomy and Astrophysics Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

Did exploding stars cause this mass extinction?

September 28, 2020April 7, 2021 Science Connectedsupernova

Researchers at the University of Illinois think supernova explosions triggered the end-Devonian mass extinction 359 million years ago.