Science

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found strong evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the stellar system closest to our own Sun. At just 4 light-years away from Earth, the Alpha Centauri triple star system has long been a compelling target in the search for worlds beyond our solar system. Alpha Centauri, located in the …

Space weather experts warn that a moderate-strength geomagnetic storm could hit Earth Friday or Saturday (Aug. 8 or 9) — possibly bringing auroras to northern U.S. skies. On Wednesday (Aug. 6), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a geomagnetic storm watch and suggested that the storm is likely associated with a recent solar flare that erupted from an …

Earth will complete a rotation 1.33 milliseconds earlier than usual on Tuesday, August 5. That makes it one of the shortest days of 2025 at 86,399.99867 seconds long. How that happens, and how we can even measure it with such precision, might make your head spin faster too. On average, Earth physically rotates in 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds …

On a clear night, the sky looks like a blanket of stars, but there is no blanket — just depth. You can see the bright stars and constellations with your naked eyes, and get a close-up of planets and nebulas with a telescope. In between, there exists a spectacular layer of objects that only binoculars can get you the best …

August’s full ‘Sturgeon Moon’ rises this weekend, putting on a spectacular lunar light show as it leaps above the southeastern horizon at sunset on Aug. 9. A full moon occurs when the moon is directly opposite the sun in Earth’s sky, at which point the entirety of its surface appears lit from our perspective. This month’s full moon will officially …

If you’re in a few lucky states tonight, look up at the sky for a colorful show. The aurora borealis, a natural phenomenon that fills like the sky with undulating colorful lights, should be visible on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 in 18 states, weather and dark skies permitting. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), geomagnetic storm …

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You wanted more quizzes, and we’ve delivered! Now you can test your wits every day of the week. Each weekday, your host, Ray Hamel, concocts a challenging set of unique questions on a specific topic. At the end of the quiz, you’ll be able to compare your score with that of the average contestant, and Slate Plus members can see …

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found strong evidence for a new exoplanet — one orbiting Alpha Centauri A, the nearest sun-like star to Earth. It’s located just four light-years away from us, in the Alpha Centauri triple-star system. Using JWST‘s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the team imaged Alpha Centauri with a coronagraphic mask to remove the glare …

The ancient behemoth was present just 500 million years after the Big Bang. An international team of astronomers has identified the earliest black hole ever confirmed, an ancient behemoth that existed just 500 million years after the Big Bang. The discovery could offer new clues to a mysterious class of ancient galaxies that confounded prevailing theories of cosmology. In a …