This map shows the CMB’s polarization signal, as measured by the Planck satellite in 2015. The top and bottom insets show the difference between filtering the data on particular angular scales of 5 degrees and 1/3 of a degree, respectively....
In a traditional Schrodinger’s cat experiment, you do not know whether the outcome of a quantum decay has occurred, leading to the cat’s demise or not. Inside the box, the cat will be either alive or dead, depending on whether...
One of the more novel ways to cook a Thanksgiving turkey is in a deep fryer. However, this method comes along with a great risk of an uncontrolled fire, and following proper safety procedure is key to ensuring that your...
These three “red monster” galaxies, found just 1 billion years after the hot Big Bang, are dusty, massive objects with more than 100 billion solar masses worth of stars inside. Unlike more modern massive galaxies, where no more than 20%...
Today, the Universe has evolved into the complex, life-friendly place we know it to be because we were able to form neutral atoms early on in the Universe. Yet without just the right quantum properties, the formation of stable, neutral...
At left is the iconic view of the Pillars of Creation as seen by Hubble. Beginning in 2022, JWST (at right) has viewed the pillars as well, revealing details such as newly forming stars, faint protostars, and cool gas that...
This image of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant shows the aftermath of a type II, core-collapse supernova that occurred more than 350 years ago. The supernova remnant glows in a variety of electromagnetic wavelengths, including in various X-ray and infrared...
This animation of the double detonation scenario shows two white dwarfs in close orbit around one another. When material accumulates onto one member, it can cause a surface thermonuclear reaction, which can then propagate around the star until it triggers...
When people reject science in favor of whatever their preferred ideology is, they can come to absurd and destructive conclusions that harm us all. The fact that, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (and even afterward) people opposed wearing...
When a pulsar, a rapidly-rotating neutron star, finds itself in a tight orbit with another star, it will siphon mass from it, leading to electromagnetic emissions from the pulsar-star system. When the star is low in mass, forming an X-ray...
