LateHotMezz @gloriousknightslimepeanut - Tumblr Blog

Pacman and the moon

Cup of Coffee and Cigarette ,1950

Our radio signals reached to a tiny neighborhood of our Milky way. Any possible civilizations lying outside of this circle may unaware of Humanity’s radio broadcasts. © Adam Grossman/Nick Risinger/Planetary Society

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space-pics

A Partial Solar Eclipse Sequence Reflected

space-pics

This ultraviolet Hubble movie shows the ring aurora on Jupiter and the silhouette and shadow of its moon Europa. You can also see the magnetic footprint of Io, just ahead of the aurora.

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Janis Joplin in London, April 1969, by Malcolm McNeill. Not many things look happier than Happy Janis.

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startswithabang

Sorry Science Fans, Discovering A 70-Solar-Mass Black Hole Is Routine, Not Impossible

“Astronomers aren’t perplexed by this object (or similar ones to it) at all, but rather are fascinated with uncovering the details of how they formed and how common they truly are. The mystery isn’t why these objects exist at all, but rather how the Universe makes them in the abundances we observe. We don’t falsely generate excitement by spreading misinformation that diminishes our knowledge and ideas prior to this discovery.

In science, the ultimate rush comes from discovering something that furthers our understanding of the Universe within the context of everything else we know. May we never be tempted to pretend anything else is the case.”

Did you hear about this “impossible” black hole that “perplexes” astronomers and “defies” theory? If you followed the news cycle last week, that’s probably what you’ve heard. But the truth is far more interesting, and includes facts like:

-this is the fourth black hole we’ve found like it, not the first, -there are two other ways to make black holes that would explain this object in addition to the one way that can’t, -and that we’ve seen each and every one of the steps necessary to make a black hole like this, -but that finding this black hole with this particular method really is revolutionary?

As always, the real science is far more interesting than the mangled hype you’ve seen before. This black hole doesn’t defy theory, but sure does teach us a lot. Come get the real story today.