Supermassive black hole a feature of most galaxies

A large galaxy typically has a supermassive black hole at its heart. These black holes contains millions – to billions – of times our sun’s mass.

The post Supermassive black hole a feature of most galaxies first appeared on EarthSky.

Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown

The world’s biggest fossil fuel firms are quietly planning scores of “carbon bomb” oil and gas projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global impacts, a Guardian investigation shows. The exclusive data shows these…

TESS finds 30 exocomets for Beta Pictoris

An international team of astronomers has discovered 30 exocomets orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris, 64 light-years away from Earth.

The post TESS finds 30 exocomets for Beta Pictoris first appeared on EarthSky.

Retrograde motion can be real, or illusory

Retrograde motion of Jupiter or Mars or Saturn in our sky is an illusion, a trick of perspective. But there’s a real retrograde motion, too.

The post Retrograde motion can be real, or illusory first appeared on EarthSky.

Large asteroid 7335 to pass safely May 27

Large asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) will safely pass our planet on May 27, 2022, coming closer than it will again for the next 200 years.

The post Large asteroid 7335 to pass safely May 27 first appeared on EarthSky.

Granderson: GOP denial will add to climate change body count – Los Angeles Times

You know, in all the times I’ve seen “The Godfather” — and I’ve watched that 1972 classic quite a bit — it never occurred to me that one day the Luca Brasis of the world could no longer be sent…

8 Great Climate Change Books for Kids – EARTH.ORG

Climate change is the biggest existential threat we face today and a burden that future generations will have to carry. As younger generations are already experiencing increasingly worsening effects of global warming, with some reports projecting that children will experience…

Do Europa’s odd ridges indicate life?

Europa’s odd ridges may form similarly to those in Greenland. The ridges occur over subsurface pockets of potentially habitable water in the moon’s ice shell.

The post Do Europa’s odd ridges indicate life? first appeared on EarthSky.

Do Io’s enigmatic dunes form from lava and frost?

Researchers at Rutgers say they can finally explain how Io’s enigmatic dunes form, despite the moon’s extremely thin atmosphere and weak winds.

The post Do Io’s enigmatic dunes form from lava and frost? first appeared on EarthSky.

Mainstream economic policy must factor climate change into its growth calculus – Brookings Institution

The scientific community is at the forefront in raising the alarm over climate change and providing incontrovertible evidence on the link to human activity. Yet economic policies to decarbonize economies continue to lag behind the urgency of the warnings. Indeed,…