A guest blog from Lynne Hillenbrand, Caltech’s executive officer of astronomy The Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics on the campus of the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California, is home to many of the world's pioneers in astronomical discovery, experiment, and theory. Our new building, opened in January, was designed to incorporate groups from across the campus into a single space and to foster their interactions...

In my newest video, I give you an overview of dark matter , that mysterious stuff that makes up some 90 percent of the universe’s mass. During the last few decades, astronomers have gained convincing evidence that stars, gas, and dust aren’t all there is to the universe. Most of it is “dark” — both dark matter and dark energy. This video focuses on dark matter, and it’s the second video in a series called “Cosmology 101.” Also check out the video...

Perplexed by planets? Confused by cosmology? Baffled by black holes? Then send in your questions to Astronomy magazine at askastro@astronomy.com . If you have an astronomy question about observing, the planets, stars, cosmology, or astronomy history, send it in! Five are selected each month for publication in the Ask Astro section of Astronomy magazine. If your question is selected, we will forward it to an expert for his or her response. Then, the...

In my newest video, I give you an overview of the Big Bang Theory (the cosmology theory, not the television show), and help clear up a few common misconceptions. Hopefully the crazy world of cosmology will make a bit more sense after you’ve watched the production. This clip is the first in a series called Cosmology 101. Over the next few months, you’re invited to tune in to watch me discuss additional cosmology topics. Watch the video, Cosmology 101...

It’s great how some people communicate science ideas. A few months ago we heard about the science writer at the Large Hadron Collider who filmed a rap video about the LHC and posted it on YouTube. So what does this have to do with Astronomy ? Well, Rob Wheeldon, a reader and fellow astronomy enthusiast from the U.K., recently sent us a letter that included his own rap. This one, however, doesn’t concern the LHC, but instead a very complex subject...

Are you good with statistics and interested in cosmology? Well, astronomers have issued a challenge to aid in the understanding of dark matter and dark energy — the mysterious stuff that makes up roughly 95 percent of our universe. Thirty-eight astronomers from 19 international institutions are issuing this challenge, called the GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 2008 ( GREAT08 ). Neither dark matter nor dark energy is directly visible — both...

Yesterday I spent a bit of time reading through the scientific paper regarding the flow of galaxy clusters pulled by possible dark matter beyond the universe’s horizon. I don’t know what it is about cosmology, but I find it fascinating. It’s weird stuff, completely crazy ideas, and very difficult to understand, but something about it just gets me. Maybe it’s the knowledge that we (well, scientists) are learning so much about our universe. Not just...

For those of you physics and cosmology enthusiasts who are into learning through alternative methods (or you’re just someone who likes some clever music and lyrics), you’ve got to check out the Large Hadron Rap video on YouTube. Of course, that’s if you aren’t one of the more than 1.5 million people who’ve viewed it already. The nearly 5-minute scientific rap goes to the credit of Kate MacAlpine, a 23-year-old American trainee at CERN. She wrote lyrics...

Best known to astronomical trivia buffs as the man who coined the term “black hole,” University of Texas physicist John A. Wheeler died this morning at the age of 96. Wheeler “was legendary for his way with words, coining such terms as wormholes, quantum foam, black holes, and the wave function of the universe,” writes Wheeler’s former student and current University of Chicago physicist Daniel Holz over at Cosmic Variance . Wheeler’s scientific resume...

Yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a nice summary of efforts by the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee to detect gravitational waves. The article focuses on NEMO , the $1.8 million, 1,560 CPU, Beowulf-class computing cluster built and operated by the school’s gravitational-wave group. (Ah, I love that kind of talk.) NEMO was commissioned in 2006. Since then, it’s been chugging through data produced by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational...