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A modern-day photo of Ulugh Beg's partially rebuilt observatory. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Science, Space Exploration

The clever prince Ulugh Beg built — and used — an ingenious observatory in the 15th century

Cosmology, Exotic Objects, Galaxies, Milky Way, Solar System, Space Exploration, Stars

The largest digital camera ever made for astronomy is done

Scientists have found a large black hole that “hiccups,” giving off plumes of gas. Analysis revealed a tiny black hole was repeatedly punching through the larger black hole’s disk of gas, causing the plumes to release. Powerful magnetic fields, to the north and south of the black hole and represented by the orange cone, slingshot the plume up and out of the disk. Each time the smaller black hole punches through the disk, it would eject another plume, in a regular, periodic pattern. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT

Exotic Objects, Science

A galaxy’s bright flicker turned out to be two black holes dancing in the night

The Sun rises slowly spreading a golden glow over Earth in this image taken from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA.

Science

Why good science is needed more than ever, and so is good faith

Picture of the Day

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Salt lake pretty

Abhijit Patil, taken from Death Valley National Park, California

The Milky Way is reflected in the flooded salt flats of Death Valley’s Badwater Basin in this 21-panel panorama with an astro-modified Nikon Z 6ii and zoom lens at 20mm. Sky panels were exposures of 180 seconds taken at f/3.2 and ISO 800; foreground and reflection frames were 120-second exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 1600.