Astronomy

It's official. NASA's Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request (FY 2026) has been released, and the news is decidedly mixed. In a previous article, we examined the FY 2026 Budget Request (released on May 2nd) and its recommendations for the coming year. With the release of the FY 2026 Budget, what was previewed and the anxiety it caused for many have been confirmed. While the Budget bolsters funding for NASA's exploration programs for the Moon and Mars, it also contains deep cuts to many other programs and the cancellation of key elements in NASA's Moon to Mars architecture. In addition to reducing NASA's overall funding for the coming year, the Budget calls for the cancellation of the Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion spacecraft, and the Lunar Gateway. It also contains de...

To the stargazers out there, let’s take a journey nearly 7,000 light-years away from earth through our cosmic wonderland otherwise known as space, where towering pillars of gas and dust form the birth of stars.     In the northern celestial hemisphere of the night sky, in the constellation Serpens (The Serpent) we have the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16 or M16). In the very heart of the Eagle Nebula (M16), the famous ‘Pillars of Creation’ stand. They stretch around 4-5 light years while the eagle nebula spans 70 by 55 light years. Although they are relatively small in comparison to the nebula itself, they stand as extraordinary monuments in show of the raw creative power the universe holds.     The Eagle Nebula was first discovered by a Swiss astronomer named Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 17...

Saturn’s iconic rings are set to seemingly vanish from view this weekend as they align edge-on with Earth for the first time since 2009. This rare phenomenon, known as the “ring plane crossing”, will occur on Sunday, March 23, at 12:04 p.m. EDT (1604 GMT), as Earth passes directly through Saturn’s ring plane, according to In-the-Sky.org. Saturn passing through ‘ring plane crossing’. Why Do Saturn’s Rings Disappear? Every 13 to 15 years, Saturn’s rings align perfectly with our line of sight, making them appear nearly invisible from Earth. The planet’s rings are incredibly thin relative to their vast diameter — stretching 170,000 miles (273,600 kilometers) across but only about 30 feet (10 meters) thick. When they tilt edge-on to Earth, they reflect very little light, causing them to nearly...

The vast, magnificent universe of stars, galaxies, and time itself has an expiration date—and it may come far sooner than once thought. A team of Dutch researchers from Radboud University has proposed that the universe could decay in roughly 10⁷⁸ years, compared to the previously believed 10¹⁰⁰ years. Their conclusion stems from a bold reinterpretation of Hawking radiation. The vast Universe, stretching 13.8 billion light years in all directions Originally, Hawking radiation described black holes emitting faint energy due to quantum fluctuations, suggesting they could slowly evaporate. But physicists Heino Falcke, Michael Vendrell, and Walter van Suijlekom have expanded this idea. They suggest Hawking-like radiation applies not only to black holes but to any massive object with a gravitat...