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Celebration of Space - June 19, 2026

Celebration of Space - June 19, 2026

Reported by Scott MacNeill's Columns

On Sunday, June 21, 2026 at 4:25 am ET, Earth will arrive at the point in its orbit where the Northern Hemisphere is at maximum tilt (23.4°) towards the Sun. This is the Summer Solstice and marks the first day of the summer season in the Northern Hemisphe...
  • By: Scott MacNeill
  • On: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:30:27 EDT

The Rise of Space AI Might Explain the Fermi Paradox

Reported by Universe Today

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is continuing to have a disruptive impact on ever more parts of humanity. But what does it mean in the long run? A new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv from Austrian researcher Sergey Ivliev, extrapolates what the wide sc...
  • By: Andy Tomaswick (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/andy-tomaswick)
  • On: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:51 +0000

The Black Holes That Burp Years After They Eat

Reported by Universe Today

When a star strays too close to a supermassive black hole, it is torn apart in a brief, brilliant flare, and astronomers long assumed that was the end of the story. It isn't. Using the Very Large Array to follow dozens of these stellar killings, a team has...
  • By: Mark Thompson (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/mark)
  • On: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:48 +0000

An Island of Calm at the Violent Heart of the Galaxy

Reported by Universe Today

The centre of the Milky Way is one of the most violent places in the Galaxy, a churning storm of gas moving faster than sound, and about the last spot you would expect a star to be born. Yet astronomers mapping that chaos with the ALMA telescope have stumb...
  • By: Mark Thompson (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/mark)
  • On: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:38 +0000

Two Planets Lighter Than Candy Floss

Reported by Universe Today

Astronomers have found two of the lightest worlds ever discovered, a pair of giant planets so wispy that, gram for gram, they are less dense than candy floss. Each is roughly the size of Jupiter yet holds almost nothing inside and the two circle the same d...
  • By: Mark Thompson (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/mark)
  • On: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:26 +0000

Feedback from Young Stars Influences Galaxy Evolution

Reported by Universe Today

Star formation is a major driver in galaxy evolution, right up there with the collisions and mergers that shape all galaxies. Researchers led by Ohio State University graduate student Debosmita Pathak, studied 18,000 star-forming regions in nearby spiral g...
  • By: Carolyn Collins Petersen (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/cc-petersen)
  • On: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 02:19 +0000