Artist’s concept of a supermassive black hole shredding and devouring a star in what’s known as a tidal disruption event. Astronomers have spotted a star that suffered this fate but survived to battle the black hole again. Image via ESO/ M. Kornmesser.Star versus black hole| EarthSky
View larger. | Aomawa Shields, UC Irvine associate professor of physics and astronomy, led the new white dwarf study. Scientists have thought that planets around white dwarfs would be uninhabitable, but this new study shows how some some white dwarf planets might be able to support life. Image via Steve Zylius/ UC Irvine.| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Likness in Newport, Oregon, captured this telescopic view of the Andromeda galaxy on July 9, 2024. Jeremy wrote: “It’s a galaxy so near it could be interacting with our stars. It’s so big and bright that you can photograph it with an ordinary camera. The Andromeda galaxy, named for the constellation it hangs out in, is located just off the edge of the distinct ‘W’ of Cassiopeia. I used a hydrogen-alpha filter to find the red emissions hang...| EarthSky
A beautiful red aurora australis – or southern lights – on the horizon, captured on January 19, 2013 by EarthSky friend Colin Legg at Wilson’s Promontory in southernmost Australia. You can also see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds in this photo alongside the edgewise view into our Milky Way galaxy. The blue in the water is bioluminescence. Thank you, Colin!The Magellanic Clouds from the Southern Hemisphere| EarthSky