Cygnus X is a star forming region in the constellation Cygnus in the night sky. It looks rather pretty in visible light, as shown at the beginning of the video below. But in radio, infrared and gamma ray wavelengths, Cygnus X really comes to life. Recent Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) observations have shown that [...]

At a lecture I went to some years ago, astrophysicist Trevor Weekes compared garden-variety elementary particles to mosquitoes. They are plentiful and easy to find—indeed, they find you. But ultra-high-energy gamma rays, he said, are like elephants. They are fairly rare, but among the greatest of creatures. They often roam in spectacular habitats. Their sheer [...]

The cosmos is full of surprises—not a week goes by without some group of astronomers announcing a perplexing new discovery that upends theory or expectation. But equally important is the difficult and time-consuming research required to firmly pin down what astronomers think they already know. Take, for instance, a new study on the origins of [...]

Story 5 NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down on Mars early Monday morning, setting off a worldwide celebration. Links: NASA’s Curiosity Rover Lands Safely on Mars Video: NASA Lands Car-Sized Rover Near Martian Mountain Curiosity Targets Gale Crater Mars Party of the Decade Reaches Fever Pitch Story 4 Black holes have the size and mass to [...]