Featured Image: A Shock Surrounding a Black Widow Pulsar
New images of a rare phenomenon may help astronomers understand pulsars that consume their stellar companions.
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First Image of the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
The planet-spanning Event Horizon Telescope has captured the first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Diving Deep into Bright Galaxies with SCUBA-2 COSMOS
A close look at bright galaxies in the first few billion years of the universe may help us understand why these early galaxies formed stars so vigorously.
How a Moon-Sized Deep Impact Affected Early Life on Earth
Astrobites reports on Earth’s early days, when massive asteroid impacts may have rendered our home planet somewhat less than hospitable.
Spotting Dots on the Sun
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft has snapped photos of tiny, bright dots on the Sun. What’s the deal with these dots?
Perspectives on Data Management, Stewardship, and Preserving Astronomical Artifacts
A new special collection of the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society encapsulates the work presented at LISA IX, a conference dedicated to stewardship of historical and modern astronomical data.
Could Binary Stars Help Trace the Milky Way’s Dark Matter?
What do binary stars have to do with dark matter? More than you might expect!
Which Habitable Zone Planets Are the Best Candidates for Detecting Life?
Astrobites reports on the “continuous habitable zone” — an important criterion for selecting exoplanets for future atmospheric characterization.
Featured Image: Deep Imaging of a Radio Relic
Nearby galaxy cluster Abell 2256 is home to some amazing radio structures, which new observations have revealed in greater detail than ever before.
A Possible Optical Counterpart to FRB 180916B?
What could the discovery of an optical transient counterpart to FRB 180916B tell us about the origin of fast radio busts?
Crustal Clues to Earth’s Formation
Earth’s crust contains heavy metals that are more commonly found in its core. Can models help us understand how these elements ended up there?
Turning On the Lights: Modeling the Sources of Cosmic Reionization
Astrobites reports on whether it really matters how stars and galaxies caused cosmic reionization or if it all comes out in the (simulated) wash.