Wandering Adventure Party

Zombie stars feed off their children. And it happens a *lot*. [This issue is for paid subscriptions only - sign up to get lots of articles by me on cool astronomy and other topics!]https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/white-dwarf-stars-are-dead-but-they-still-feed-on-planets-32242ec791c7d385

Need to take a short break from <everything going on around us> to remember the universe is jaw-droppingly beautiful, amazing, and inspiring?Then take a look at this incredible JWST image of the Cat's Paw Nebula and be amazed and inspired!https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-nebula-comes-on-little-cat-feet-508007284b7d3206

Did you know we're likley hit EVERY DAY by tiny meteors *from interstellar space*? The problem is detecting these wee alien rocks.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/interstellar-meteors-hit-earth-all-the-time-but-still-elude-astronomers/

@BillSaysThis That's not a typo. Massive stars don't live long.

@badastro I have to say that the implications of that sentence are amazingly amazing. "The coldest" means that JWST has directly imaged multiple exoplanets. A telescope we shot into space, where it assembled itself, has taken actual pictures of planets--tiny little hunks of gas and rock--many lightyears away. DIRECT images. Of PLANETS. How cool is that?

HUNDREDS of NASA employees sign a declaration protesting the brutal attacks by Trump and his regime. I signed it too, as should you.Plus: Incredible image of dusty spirals blasted out by a terrifying binary star.https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/nasa-declaration-against-trump-s-science-attacks-more-dusty-wr-star-spirals-dc20f3c8449ace7e

The Owl Galaxies collided 50 million years ago and now look like, well, an owl. The aftermath of the collision, however, has sparked a debate on what was left behind: either a huge blast of star formation, or, um, a supermassive black hole.https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-owl-galaxies-are-hiding-a-secret-in-plain-sight-but-what-is-it-60d0a422dd5615de

@badastro yes. Imo

Premium subscribers to my Bad Astronomy Newsletter can read today about how an asteroid impact 56,000 years ago may have triggered a landslide in the Grand Canyon and created a massive paleolake. Also, Arctic sea ice is at (another) record low.https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/did-an-asteroid-impact-dam-up-the-grand-canyon-56-000-years-ago-49c5e3a90f0dcc1e

In today's newsletter: Scientists can finally explore the Sun's south pole for the first time! Sadly, no shape-shifting aliens found there.Bonus: some actual good climate news. I know, right?https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-sun-s-south-pole-seen-for-the-first-time-a02a3f522642c668

@badastro I do not want to worry about this.

For years, planetary scientists studying Mars have wondered if streaks on crater walls and scarps might be from liquid water. A new study dries that claim up.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/water-on-mars-probably-doesnt-explain-these-weird-streaks/

@badastro I get real strong "The More You Know' vibes from this image.And it is stuff I like knowing more about.

Tunguska has healed! Not bad for the biggest cross-dimensional rip we've ever seen.Bonus: awesome volcano pic from space.https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/tunguska-is-healing-a-reflective-volcano-from-space-37b7b9a35036a435

My newsletter is FREE on Mondays, but paid subbies get issues on Tuesdays and Thursday too... and I've discounted the price by 20% until Wednesday! Sign up for a ton of astronomy, opinion, puns, and spectacular images and science.https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/subscribe

@badastro great article, you bring so many quantities in different scales to look approachable!

An alien visitor is whizzing through our solar system at VERY high speed! Called 3I/ATLAS, I have everything we know about this odd object so far.https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/another-alien-visitor-to-our-solar-system-e720

JWST has discovered an exoplanet via direct imaging!https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/jwst-spies-a-saturn-sized-planet-from-a-quadrillion-kilometers-away-1529

Happy Asteroid Day! And it's almost aphelion! And my 900th issue!To celebrate all this cosmic coolness I'm discounting subscriptions to my newsletter by 20% — it's now $4.80/month or $48/year! You can sign up here:https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-andromeda-galaxy-gets-psychedelic-b9f7

A star passing close enough to the solar system can do considerable damage, including *ejecting entire planets into interstellar space*. Weird thing is, one of the planets most vulnerable to this is NOT the one you'd think.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-the-solar-system-lose-a-planet-to-a-passing-star/