astronomy Archives • Skeptical Science

Does Life really exist on a planet orbiting a ‘white dwarf’?

February 23, 2022 by Dave

Artist's impression of a planet orbiting a white dwarf star. Could it sustain life?

BBC hails a discovery of a planet around a white dwarf in the habitable zone and suggests there may be life there. That suggestion has flaws.

Increasingly Brighter Sky at Night – Light Pollution

April 7, 2021 by Dave

“As space gets more crowded, the magnitude of this effect will only be more, not less,” says the director of public policy at the International Dark-Sky Association

Royal Observatory’s Astronomy Photo Winners

January 20, 2018September 12, 2011 by Dave

On Sept. 8, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian, announced winners from the third annual contest, which drew more than 700 entries. Prizes went to participants from four main categories — Deep Space, Our Solar System, Earth and Space, and Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year — as … Read more

A galactic rose

June 30, 2019April 20, 2011 by Dave

NASA Press release …

April 20, 2011: To celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s deployment into space, astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., pointed Hubble’s eye at an especially photogenic pair of interacting galaxies called Arp 273. The larger of the spiral galaxies, known as UGC 1810, has a disk that is distorted into a rose-like shape by the gravitational tidal pull of the companion galaxy below it, known as UGC 1813. This image is a composite of Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 data taken on December 17, 2010, with three separate filters that allow a broad range of wavelengths covering the ultraviolet, blue, and red portions of the spectrum.

Does Gliese 581g exist?

November 25, 2019January 19, 2011 by Dave

Does Gliese 581g (the Earth likeish planet that was discovered last year) really exist? There appears to be some doubt and also some interesting debate taking place … its not game-over yet. The Bad Astronomer (Phil Plate), has a good writeup on it all … …there’s just one small, really eensy-teensy problem: the planet may … Read more

In a galaxy far far away … for real …

July 6, 2021August 22, 2010 by Dave

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope photographed this amazing, spectacular and stunning image of spiral galaxy NGC 4911. If planning to visit, then take into account the fact that it lies over 320 million ligh-years away in the Coma cluster. If you want to see a larger image, just click the picture. NGC 4911, contains rich lanes … Read more