While examining a nearby supernova with NASA’s Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, an effort to discover how these stellar explosions ignite charged particles called cosmic rays, scientists have uncovered a bigger mystery. The team found that the supernova, named SN 2023ixf, completely lacks the gamma-ray emissions that should be present when cosmic ray particles are accelerated … Read more
Getty Images Claim: Dangerous cosmic rays will pass by Earth tonight, causing harm to those who leave nearby personal devices turned on. Judgement: Rating: false As the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 approached, Snopes’ inbox began to fill with the familiar claim that “tonight” cosmic rays would pass close to Earth, endangering those … Read more
Scientists have discovered that a potentially habitable planet is being stripped of its atmosphere, a process that could ultimately make the world, Trappist-1e, inhospitable to life. The stripping appears to be caused by electrical currents created as the planet races around its red dwarf host star. It is an important discovery because the Trappist-1 system, … Read more
Astronomers have discovered an unexpected and unexplained phenomenon outside our Milky Way Galaxy that emits high-energy light called gamma rays. The team behind the discovery, including NASA and cosmologist Alexander Kashlinsky of the University of Maryland, found the gamma-ray signal while sifting through 13 years of data from NASA’s Fermi telescope. “It is a completely … Read more
The Northern Lights recently appeared over the Castlerigg stone circle in the Lake District – Gregg Wolstenholme/Bav Media This winter will be a historic one for seeing the Northern Lights, with scientists predicting the best Northern Lights sightings in two decades. Earlier this month, Aurora hunters were treated to displays on Bonfire Night in Scotland … Read more