Features

Lurking in the Shadows

A mysterious shadow universe composed of a bizarre new type of matter could exist all around us – and yet never interact with our own.

Red Scare at Harvard

Harlow Shapley deduced the size of our galaxy and the sun’s place in it, but his penchant for social causes didn’t sit well with the FBI.

Caught in the Tarantula’s Web

A dense cluster of massive stars powers the Tarantula Nebula, the biggest and most energetic star-forming region in our corner of the universe.

Setting Sail for the Stars

Space scientists soon hope to take their first baby steps into the galaxy by launching a spacecraft that will use the sun’s radiation as a propulsive force.

The Making of an Aurora

In the early 1900s, Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland built elaborate experiments to show how the sun created the northern lights.

Celestial Portraits: Canis Major

Although Sirius dominates the constellation of the Big Dog, it’s the bright clusters and distant galaxies that will keep deep-sky observers happy.

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