View at EarthSky Community Photos. | C. Gentile from Florham Park, New Jersey, captured this image of a July 4th celebration and wrote: “The sky was really this color!” Thank you! And happy 4th of July to all who celebrate it. Read what creates the beautiful colors in fireworks below.
The U.S. has a big holiday tomorrow. It’s the 250th Independence Day, aka the 4th of July. And that means it’s fireworks season!
If you watch your local fireworks display, you’ll see the reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues and purples exploding in the skies. You’ll hear lots of “oohs” and “ahs!”
But what creates the colors of fireworks?
How to sound really smart to your friends on the 4th of July: Know what minerals create the colors in fireworks. ? ? #knowbeforepic.twitter.com/vqnr9617TO
The colors in fireworks come from a simple source. They’re created by the use of metal salts. These chemical salts are different from table salt, referring instead to any compound that contains metal and non-metal atoms. And some of these compounds produce intense colors when they burn, which makes them ideal for fireworks.
Others, like potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal are useful to help the fireworks burn. Nitrates, chlorates and perchlorates provide oxygen for the combustion of the fuel. Dextrin, often used as a starch, holds the mixture together. In addition, the use of chlorine-carrying chemicals strengthens some colors.
Metal salts commonly used in firework displays include: strontium carbonate (red fireworks), calcium chloride (orange fireworks), sodium nitrate (yellow fireworks), barium chloride (green fireworks) and copper chloride (blue fireworks). Purple fireworks are typically a mixture of strontium (red) and copper (blue) compounds.
Then they pack these metal salts into small pea- to plum-sized pellets called “stars” or pyrotechnic stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ken Chan captured this image at the 4th of July celebration in San Francisco, California, in 2023. He wrote: “July 4th as celebratory fireworks erupted throughout the city.” Thank you, Ken!
What happens after fireworks ignite?
After a firework ignites, a lift charge propels it into the sky. That’s just explosive black powder in a confined space that, when lit, causes a fast increase of heat and gas that can send a firework as high as 1,000 feet (300 meters) into the air.
Meanwhile, a time-delay fuse burns slowly into the interior of the firework shell. Then, after about five seconds, as the shell is soaring overhead, the fuse kindles a charge that reaches the core of the firework, explodes and ignites the stars that contain the metal salts.
Voilà! A beautiful and colorful fireworks display.
Word of caution
By the way, the people who create fireworks are precise, expert craftsmen. If even one thing is off – too much black powder, stars that aren’t aligned correctly or a trigger that fires too soon or too late – everything can go kaboom. After all, fireworks are explosives, and working with them is best left to the professionals.
Bottom line: The red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple colors exploding in the night sky during a fireworks festival are created by the use of metal salts.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | C. Gentile from Florham Park, New Jersey, captured this image of a July 4th celebration and wrote: “The sky was really this color!” Thank you! And happy 4th of July to all who celebrate it. Read what creates the beautiful colors in fireworks below.
The U.S. has a big holiday tomorrow. It’s the 250th Independence Day, aka the 4th of July. And that means it’s fireworks season!
If you watch your local fireworks display, you’ll see the reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues and purples exploding in the skies. You’ll hear lots of “oohs” and “ahs!”
But what creates the colors of fireworks?
How to sound really smart to your friends on the 4th of July: Know what minerals create the colors in fireworks. ? ? #knowbeforepic.twitter.com/vqnr9617TO
The colors in fireworks come from a simple source. They’re created by the use of metal salts. These chemical salts are different from table salt, referring instead to any compound that contains metal and non-metal atoms. And some of these compounds produce intense colors when they burn, which makes them ideal for fireworks.
Others, like potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal are useful to help the fireworks burn. Nitrates, chlorates and perchlorates provide oxygen for the combustion of the fuel. Dextrin, often used as a starch, holds the mixture together. In addition, the use of chlorine-carrying chemicals strengthens some colors.
Metal salts commonly used in firework displays include: strontium carbonate (red fireworks), calcium chloride (orange fireworks), sodium nitrate (yellow fireworks), barium chloride (green fireworks) and copper chloride (blue fireworks). Purple fireworks are typically a mixture of strontium (red) and copper (blue) compounds.
Then they pack these metal salts into small pea- to plum-sized pellets called “stars” or pyrotechnic stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ken Chan captured this image at the 4th of July celebration in San Francisco, California, in 2023. He wrote: “July 4th as celebratory fireworks erupted throughout the city.” Thank you, Ken!
What happens after fireworks ignite?
After a firework ignites, a lift charge propels it into the sky. That’s just explosive black powder in a confined space that, when lit, causes a fast increase of heat and gas that can send a firework as high as 1,000 feet (300 meters) into the air.
Meanwhile, a time-delay fuse burns slowly into the interior of the firework shell. Then, after about five seconds, as the shell is soaring overhead, the fuse kindles a charge that reaches the core of the firework, explodes and ignites the stars that contain the metal salts.
Voilà! A beautiful and colorful fireworks display.
Word of caution
By the way, the people who create fireworks are precise, expert craftsmen. If even one thing is off – too much black powder, stars that aren’t aligned correctly or a trigger that fires too soon or too late – everything can go kaboom. After all, fireworks are explosives, and working with them is best left to the professionals.
Bottom line: The red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple colors exploding in the night sky during a fireworks festival are created by the use of metal salts.
1. Every star you see in the night sky is bigger and brighter than our sun
Of the 5,000 or so stars bright enough to see with the unaided eye (brighter than magnitude 6) only a handful of very faint stars are near the same size and brightness of our sun. All the rest are all bigger and brighter.
Of the 500 or so that are brighter than 4th magnitude – which includes essentially every star visible to the unaided eye from an urban location – all are bigger and brighter than our sun, many by a large percentage.
Of the brightest 50 stars visible to the human eye from Earth, the least intrinsically bright star is Alpha Centauri. This star still appears very bright to us, because it’s the closest star system to Earth at 4.2 light-years away. And Alpha Centauri is still more than 1.5 times more luminous than our sun.
2. You can’t see millions of stars on a dark night
Despite what you may hear in poems, songs and commercials, you cannot see a million stars … anywhere. There simply are not enough stars close enough and bright enough to equal a million.
On a really exceptional night, with no moon and far from any source of lights, a person with very good eyesight may be able to see 2,000-2,500 stars at any one time. So the next time you hear someone claim to have seen a million stars in the sky, just attribute it to wonder-inspired exaggeration.
3. Red hot, blue cool? No!
We are accustomed to referring to things that are red as hot and those that are blue as cool. This is not entirely unreasonable, since a red, glowing fireplace poker is hot; and ice, especially in glaciers and polar regions, can have a bluish cast. But we say that only because our everyday experience is limited.
In fact, heated objects change color as their temperature changes. And red represents the lowest temperature at which a heated object can glow in visible light. As it gets hotter, the color changes to white and ultimately to blue. So the red stars you see in the sky are the “coolest” (least hot), and the blue stars are the hottest!
4. Stars are black bodies
A black body is an object that absorbs 100% of all electromagnetic radiation (light, radio waves and so on) that falls on it. A common image here is that of a brick oven with the interior painted black and the only opening a small window. All light that shines through the window is absorbed by the interior of the oven and none is reflected outside the oven. It is a perfect absorber.
As it turns out, this definition of being a perfect absorber suits stars very well! But this just says that a black body absorbs all the radiant energy that hits it. And it does not forbid the black body from re-emitting the energy. In the case of a star, it absorbs all radiation that falls on it, but it also radiates back into space much more than it absorbs. Thus a star is a black body that glows with great brilliance!
An even more perfect black body is a black hole. But, unlike stars, a black hole appears truly black, and radiates no light.
5. There are no green stars
There are scattered claims for stars that appear green, including Beta Librae (Zubeneschamali). But most observers do not see green in any stars except as an optical effect from their telescopes, or else a quirk of personal vision and contrast.
Stars emit a spectrum (“rainbow”) of colors, including green. But the human eye-brain connection mixes the colors together in a manner that rarely, if ever, comes out green. One color can dominate the radiation, but within the range of wavelengths and intensities found in stars, greens get mixed with other colors. And in that case the star appears white. For stars, the general colors are, from lower to higher temperatures, red, orange, yellow, white and blue. So as far as the human eye can tell, there are no green stars.
The sun in extreme ultraviolet, converted to the false color green. The human eye cannot see ultraviolet at all. Keep reading for more cool things about stars! Image via NASA/ ESA/ SOHO.
6. Our sun is a green star
This might seem contradictory after the last fact … But our sun is a “green” star, or more specifically, a green-blue star. That is, its peak wavelength lies clearly in the transition area on the spectrum between blue and green.
This isn’t just an idle fact, but is important because the temperature of a star is related to the color of its main emission wavelength. In the sun’s case, the surface temperature is about 5,800 kelvin (about 9,900 Fahrenheit or 5,500 Celsius), or 500 nanometers, which is a green-blue. However, as we said above, when the human eye factors in the other colors around it, the sun’s apparent color comes out as yellowish white.
7. Our sun is a dwarf star
We are accustomed to think of the sun as a “normal” star. And in many respects, it is. But did you know that it is a dwarf star? Technically, as far as normal stars go, there are only dwarf stars, giant stars and supergiant stars.
The giants and supergiants represent the terminal (old age) stages of stars. But the vast majority of stars – those in the long, mature stage of evolution called the main sequence by astronomers – are all called “dwarfs.”
There is quite a bit of range in size here, but they are all much smaller than the giants and supergiants. So technically, the sun is a dwarf star … And is sometimes called a “yellow dwarf”, in contradiction to the entry above!
8. Stars don’t twinkle
Stars often appear to twinkle (“scintillate”), especially when they are near the horizon. The brightest star, Sirius, twinkles, sparkles and flashes so much sometimes that people actually report it as a UFO.
Is twinkling a property of the stars then? No. It’s a property of Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. As the light from a star passes through the atmosphere, especially when the star appears near the horizon, it must pass through many layers of often rapidly differing density. This has the effect of deflecting the light slightly like a ball in a pinball machine. The light eventually gets to your eyes, but every deflection causes it to change slightly in color and intensity. The result is “twinkling.” Above the Earth’s atmosphere, stars do not twinkle.
9. You can see 20 quadrillion miles, at least
On a good night, you can see about 19,000,000,000,000,000 miles, easily. That’s 19 quadrillion miles, the approximate distance to the bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan.
Cygnus is prominent in the evening skies of summer, fall and winter. And Deneb is bright enough to be seen virtually anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere and, in fact, from almost anywhere in the inhabited world.
There is another star, Eta Carinae, that is a little more than twice as far away, or about 44 quadrillion miles. But Eta Carinae is faint, and not well placed for observers in most of the Northern Hemisphere.
Of course, we’re limiting this to just stars. Both the Andromeda galaxy and the Triangulum galaxy are also visible under certain conditions, and are roughly 15 and 18 quintillion miles away! (One quintillion is 10 raised to the power of 18.)
10. Black holes don’t suck
Many writers frequently describe black holes as “sucking in” everything around them. And it is a common worry among the ill-informed that the so-far-hypothetical “mini” black holes that may be produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) would suck in everything around them in an ever-increasing vortex that would consume the Earth! In the case of the LHC, it isn’t true for a number of reasons, but black holes in general do not “suck.”
This is not just a semantic distinction, but one of process and consequence as well. The word “suck” via suction, as in the way vacuum cleaners work, is not how black holes attract matter. In a vacuum cleaner, the fan produces a partial vacuum (really, just a slightly lower pressure) at the floor end of the vacuum, and regular air pressure outside, being greater, pushes the air into it, carrying along loose dirt and dust.
In the case of black holes, there is no suction involved. Instead, matter is pulled into the black hole by a very strong gravitational attraction. In one way of visualizing it, it really is a bit like falling into a hole, but not like being hoovered into it. Gravity is a fundamental force of nature, and all matter has it. When something is pulled into a black hole, the process is more like a fish being reeled in by an angler, rather than being pushed along like a rafter inexorably being dragged over a waterfall.
The difference may seem trivial, but from a physical standpoint it is fundamental. So black holes don’t suck, but they are very cool. Actually, they are cold. Very, very cold. But that’s a story for another time.
Bottom line: Here’s a collection of 10 cool things about stars that you probably didn’t know. Big stars, green stars, black holes, stars by the millions, and more!
1. Every star you see in the night sky is bigger and brighter than our sun
Of the 5,000 or so stars bright enough to see with the unaided eye (brighter than magnitude 6) only a handful of very faint stars are near the same size and brightness of our sun. All the rest are all bigger and brighter.
Of the 500 or so that are brighter than 4th magnitude – which includes essentially every star visible to the unaided eye from an urban location – all are bigger and brighter than our sun, many by a large percentage.
Of the brightest 50 stars visible to the human eye from Earth, the least intrinsically bright star is Alpha Centauri. This star still appears very bright to us, because it’s the closest star system to Earth at 4.2 light-years away. And Alpha Centauri is still more than 1.5 times more luminous than our sun.
2. You can’t see millions of stars on a dark night
Despite what you may hear in poems, songs and commercials, you cannot see a million stars … anywhere. There simply are not enough stars close enough and bright enough to equal a million.
On a really exceptional night, with no moon and far from any source of lights, a person with very good eyesight may be able to see 2,000-2,500 stars at any one time. So the next time you hear someone claim to have seen a million stars in the sky, just attribute it to wonder-inspired exaggeration.
3. Red hot, blue cool? No!
We are accustomed to referring to things that are red as hot and those that are blue as cool. This is not entirely unreasonable, since a red, glowing fireplace poker is hot; and ice, especially in glaciers and polar regions, can have a bluish cast. But we say that only because our everyday experience is limited.
In fact, heated objects change color as their temperature changes. And red represents the lowest temperature at which a heated object can glow in visible light. As it gets hotter, the color changes to white and ultimately to blue. So the red stars you see in the sky are the “coolest” (least hot), and the blue stars are the hottest!
4. Stars are black bodies
A black body is an object that absorbs 100% of all electromagnetic radiation (light, radio waves and so on) that falls on it. A common image here is that of a brick oven with the interior painted black and the only opening a small window. All light that shines through the window is absorbed by the interior of the oven and none is reflected outside the oven. It is a perfect absorber.
As it turns out, this definition of being a perfect absorber suits stars very well! But this just says that a black body absorbs all the radiant energy that hits it. And it does not forbid the black body from re-emitting the energy. In the case of a star, it absorbs all radiation that falls on it, but it also radiates back into space much more than it absorbs. Thus a star is a black body that glows with great brilliance!
An even more perfect black body is a black hole. But, unlike stars, a black hole appears truly black, and radiates no light.
5. There are no green stars
There are scattered claims for stars that appear green, including Beta Librae (Zubeneschamali). But most observers do not see green in any stars except as an optical effect from their telescopes, or else a quirk of personal vision and contrast.
Stars emit a spectrum (“rainbow”) of colors, including green. But the human eye-brain connection mixes the colors together in a manner that rarely, if ever, comes out green. One color can dominate the radiation, but within the range of wavelengths and intensities found in stars, greens get mixed with other colors. And in that case the star appears white. For stars, the general colors are, from lower to higher temperatures, red, orange, yellow, white and blue. So as far as the human eye can tell, there are no green stars.
The sun in extreme ultraviolet, converted to the false color green. The human eye cannot see ultraviolet at all. Keep reading for more cool things about stars! Image via NASA/ ESA/ SOHO.
6. Our sun is a green star
This might seem contradictory after the last fact … But our sun is a “green” star, or more specifically, a green-blue star. That is, its peak wavelength lies clearly in the transition area on the spectrum between blue and green.
This isn’t just an idle fact, but is important because the temperature of a star is related to the color of its main emission wavelength. In the sun’s case, the surface temperature is about 5,800 kelvin (about 9,900 Fahrenheit or 5,500 Celsius), or 500 nanometers, which is a green-blue. However, as we said above, when the human eye factors in the other colors around it, the sun’s apparent color comes out as yellowish white.
7. Our sun is a dwarf star
We are accustomed to think of the sun as a “normal” star. And in many respects, it is. But did you know that it is a dwarf star? Technically, as far as normal stars go, there are only dwarf stars, giant stars and supergiant stars.
The giants and supergiants represent the terminal (old age) stages of stars. But the vast majority of stars – those in the long, mature stage of evolution called the main sequence by astronomers – are all called “dwarfs.”
There is quite a bit of range in size here, but they are all much smaller than the giants and supergiants. So technically, the sun is a dwarf star … And is sometimes called a “yellow dwarf”, in contradiction to the entry above!
8. Stars don’t twinkle
Stars often appear to twinkle (“scintillate”), especially when they are near the horizon. The brightest star, Sirius, twinkles, sparkles and flashes so much sometimes that people actually report it as a UFO.
Is twinkling a property of the stars then? No. It’s a property of Earth’s turbulent atmosphere. As the light from a star passes through the atmosphere, especially when the star appears near the horizon, it must pass through many layers of often rapidly differing density. This has the effect of deflecting the light slightly like a ball in a pinball machine. The light eventually gets to your eyes, but every deflection causes it to change slightly in color and intensity. The result is “twinkling.” Above the Earth’s atmosphere, stars do not twinkle.
9. You can see 20 quadrillion miles, at least
On a good night, you can see about 19,000,000,000,000,000 miles, easily. That’s 19 quadrillion miles, the approximate distance to the bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan.
Cygnus is prominent in the evening skies of summer, fall and winter. And Deneb is bright enough to be seen virtually anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere and, in fact, from almost anywhere in the inhabited world.
There is another star, Eta Carinae, that is a little more than twice as far away, or about 44 quadrillion miles. But Eta Carinae is faint, and not well placed for observers in most of the Northern Hemisphere.
Of course, we’re limiting this to just stars. Both the Andromeda galaxy and the Triangulum galaxy are also visible under certain conditions, and are roughly 15 and 18 quintillion miles away! (One quintillion is 10 raised to the power of 18.)
10. Black holes don’t suck
Many writers frequently describe black holes as “sucking in” everything around them. And it is a common worry among the ill-informed that the so-far-hypothetical “mini” black holes that may be produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) would suck in everything around them in an ever-increasing vortex that would consume the Earth! In the case of the LHC, it isn’t true for a number of reasons, but black holes in general do not “suck.”
This is not just a semantic distinction, but one of process and consequence as well. The word “suck” via suction, as in the way vacuum cleaners work, is not how black holes attract matter. In a vacuum cleaner, the fan produces a partial vacuum (really, just a slightly lower pressure) at the floor end of the vacuum, and regular air pressure outside, being greater, pushes the air into it, carrying along loose dirt and dust.
In the case of black holes, there is no suction involved. Instead, matter is pulled into the black hole by a very strong gravitational attraction. In one way of visualizing it, it really is a bit like falling into a hole, but not like being hoovered into it. Gravity is a fundamental force of nature, and all matter has it. When something is pulled into a black hole, the process is more like a fish being reeled in by an angler, rather than being pushed along like a rafter inexorably being dragged over a waterfall.
The difference may seem trivial, but from a physical standpoint it is fundamental. So black holes don’t suck, but they are very cool. Actually, they are cold. Very, very cold. But that’s a story for another time.
Bottom line: Here’s a collection of 10 cool things about stars that you probably didn’t know. Big stars, green stars, black holes, stars by the millions, and more!
The dog days of summer refer to the hottest days of the year that we experience in July and August. They’re named after the Dog Star, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It’s in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog. The Belt of Orion can point you to dazzling Sirius in the morning sky.
What are the dog days of summer?
You might have heard the hottest days of summer referred to as the dog days of summer … but where did this term come from? According to the National Weather Service:
The “dog days of summer” is a phrase used to describe the hot and humid days of summer. It can be traced back thousands of years to the days of the Roman Empire. It refers to the dates from July 3 through August 11, which is 20 days prior and 20 days after the star Sirius rises and falls in conjunction [sharing the same spot in our sky] with the sun. Sirius was known as the “Dog Star,” because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog).
So, you can see the term dog days isn’t new. And its origin is based on objects in the sky.
What does Sirius have to do with the hottest days of summer?
The name Sirius comes from an ancient Greek word for “scorching” or “glowing.” It’s the brightest star visible from Earth, and skywatchers in both hemispheres can see it.
Sirius is a beacon in Northern Hemisphere winter skies. During northern summer, it lies behind the sun from Earth’s perspective. And in late summer it appears in the east before sunrise, near the sun in our sky.
Ancient Egyptians noted that Sirius rose just before the sun each year immediately prior to the annual flooding of the Nile River. Although the floods could bring destruction, they also brought new soil and new life.
Ancient Romans noticed the reappearance of Sirius in the morning sky as well. And they blamed it for the heat in July and August. That’s because Sirius rose each day before sunrise. And then, it traveled across the sky with the sun all day. Thus, early stargazers might have imagined a double-whammy from Sirius and the sun caused the hot weather.
Sirius in conjunction with the sun
Since Sirius is in conjunction with the sun on July 23, the dog days of summer center around then. The dog days of summer fall between July 3 to August 11, and that’s when we have many of our warmest days in the Northern Hemisphere.
So even though we know why this is the hottest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the legend of the dog days has survived.
Bottom line: The dog days of summer are named for the Dog Star, Sirius – the brightest star in the sky – in the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog.
The dog days of summer refer to the hottest days of the year that we experience in July and August. They’re named after the Dog Star, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It’s in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog. The Belt of Orion can point you to dazzling Sirius in the morning sky.
What are the dog days of summer?
You might have heard the hottest days of summer referred to as the dog days of summer … but where did this term come from? According to the National Weather Service:
The “dog days of summer” is a phrase used to describe the hot and humid days of summer. It can be traced back thousands of years to the days of the Roman Empire. It refers to the dates from July 3 through August 11, which is 20 days prior and 20 days after the star Sirius rises and falls in conjunction [sharing the same spot in our sky] with the sun. Sirius was known as the “Dog Star,” because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog).
So, you can see the term dog days isn’t new. And its origin is based on objects in the sky.
What does Sirius have to do with the hottest days of summer?
The name Sirius comes from an ancient Greek word for “scorching” or “glowing.” It’s the brightest star visible from Earth, and skywatchers in both hemispheres can see it.
Sirius is a beacon in Northern Hemisphere winter skies. During northern summer, it lies behind the sun from Earth’s perspective. And in late summer it appears in the east before sunrise, near the sun in our sky.
Ancient Egyptians noted that Sirius rose just before the sun each year immediately prior to the annual flooding of the Nile River. Although the floods could bring destruction, they also brought new soil and new life.
Ancient Romans noticed the reappearance of Sirius in the morning sky as well. And they blamed it for the heat in July and August. That’s because Sirius rose each day before sunrise. And then, it traveled across the sky with the sun all day. Thus, early stargazers might have imagined a double-whammy from Sirius and the sun caused the hot weather.
Sirius in conjunction with the sun
Since Sirius is in conjunction with the sun on July 23, the dog days of summer center around then. The dog days of summer fall between July 3 to August 11, and that’s when we have many of our warmest days in the Northern Hemisphere.
So even though we know why this is the hottest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the legend of the dog days has survived.
Bottom line: The dog days of summer are named for the Dog Star, Sirius – the brightest star in the sky – in the constellation Canis Major the Greater Dog.
View larger. | This Mars Express spacecraft view shows Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest volcano in the solar system. A new study has revealed that Mars’ volcanoes – now dormant – were once not as disconnected as 1st thought. Instead, they were intertwined by vast magma systems below the surface. These magma systems on Mars spanned throughout the northern hemisphere’s crust. Image via ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin/ J. Cowart.
Mars has many volcanoes, just like Earth. Scientists have long thought that these volcanoes, back when they were still active, were relatively simple and disconnected from each other.
But a new study of data from the InSight lander mission shows that there were vast, interconnected magma systems below the Martian surface.
That would mean Mars’ volcanic systems were more earthlike than previously thought, despite the planet not having plate tectonics.
Like Earth, Mars has numerous volcanoes dotting its surface. As far as we know, those volcanoes are now extinct. And scientists have long thought the planet’s volcanic system overall was simpler than Earth’s, since Mars lacks plate tectonics. But now there’s evidence that isn’t quite true.
Scientists at the University of Oxford in the U.K. said on June 26, 2026, they’ve found evidence that Mars once had enormous, Earth-like magma systems – interconnected zones of molten rock – deep beneath its surface.
Scientists have long categorized Mars as a stagnant lid planet. That means it has one large solid surface, or “lid,” instead of the surface being broken into smaller tectonic plates like on Earth. On Earth, plate tectonics drives volcanism, recycling and continent–building.
But this new study points to huge, interconnected magma systems. They show that Mars’ volcanoes weren’t just simple isolated formations as previously assumed. And they force us to ask … How did this occur without plate tectonics?
We’ve traditionally assumed that volcanism on Mars was relatively simple compared to that on Earth. But this discovery suggests the planet could sustain massive, long-lived magmatic systems capable of evolving and reprocessing molten rock throughout the crust. Because these systems are known to generate large metal deposits, Mars may hold significantly more near-surface mineral wealth than previously recognised, boosting its potential for future mining, crewed missions and eventually, permanent settlements.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in Nature Astronomy on June 26, 2026.
NEW: Mars may have been far more Earth-like beneath its surface than scientists once thought ??Oxford researchers have uncovered evidence of vast hidden magma systems that could reshape our understanding of how rocky planets evolve ??https://bit.ly/4wwd4jx
The researchers made the discovery when analyzing data from NASA’s InSight lander. InSight ended its mission in 2022, but there is still a ton of data to study. The lander recorded seismic waves from marsquakes and meteorite impacts.
The researchers used the data to investigate an unusual boundary about 15 miles (24 km) below the surface. Scientists knew about the boundary before, but didn’t know what it was. One possibility is that it marked a transition between two different types of rock. To test this, the researchers compared hundreds of different rock compositions with the seismic data.
The results showed that there was indeed a boundary between two types of rock. Below the boundary, the rocks were ultramafic, meaning rich in iron and magnesium. But interestingly, the rocks above the boundary were quite different. They were mafic rocks, rich in silica.
Why is the rock layer below the boundary so different from the layer above? The researchers say that molten rock likely pooled there. Then, it gradually separated into different materials over time. This left behind a residue of dense crystals at the base of the crust. Meanwhile, lighter molten rock moved upwards. This is similar to what happens on Earth beneath volcanic arcs. This is also linked to the formation of continents, although Mars never got to that stage.
View larger. | Illustration depicting NASA’s InSight lander on Mars, with a cutaway view of the subsurface. Image via PGP/ Nicolas Sarter/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory/ NASA.
Vast magma layer across the northern hemisphere
The researchers say this magma layer was vast, spanning hundreds of miles sideways beneath the surface. That means that instead of Mars’ volcanoes being isolated, they were actually interconnected by these sprawling magma systems. On Earth, this is known as transcrustal magmatism. Until now, scientists only knew of it occurring on one planet: Earth.
But if it happened on Mars too, that raises questions about how rocky planets form and if they can be habitable. Co-author Jon Wade at the University of Oxford said:
One of the big questions in planetary science is whether Earth is unique. If Mars could develop this kind of complex crust without plate tectonics, then maybe the conditions needed for habitability can emerge on more planets than we realised, including those previously dismissed based on size or their apparent lack of tectonic activity.
In 2024, scientists reported evidence for magma possibly still existing beneath Olympus Mons, the largest volcano on Mars. If so, it would mean that there is still some residual tectonic and volcanic activity below the surface today. Mars might still be alive, at least geologically!
Bottom line: Scientists have found evidence of enormous ancient magma systems on Mars. They show that Mars’ volcanic systems were once more complex than first thought.
View larger. | This Mars Express spacecraft view shows Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest volcano in the solar system. A new study has revealed that Mars’ volcanoes – now dormant – were once not as disconnected as 1st thought. Instead, they were intertwined by vast magma systems below the surface. These magma systems on Mars spanned throughout the northern hemisphere’s crust. Image via ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin/ J. Cowart.
Mars has many volcanoes, just like Earth. Scientists have long thought that these volcanoes, back when they were still active, were relatively simple and disconnected from each other.
But a new study of data from the InSight lander mission shows that there were vast, interconnected magma systems below the Martian surface.
That would mean Mars’ volcanic systems were more earthlike than previously thought, despite the planet not having plate tectonics.
Like Earth, Mars has numerous volcanoes dotting its surface. As far as we know, those volcanoes are now extinct. And scientists have long thought the planet’s volcanic system overall was simpler than Earth’s, since Mars lacks plate tectonics. But now there’s evidence that isn’t quite true.
Scientists at the University of Oxford in the U.K. said on June 26, 2026, they’ve found evidence that Mars once had enormous, Earth-like magma systems – interconnected zones of molten rock – deep beneath its surface.
Scientists have long categorized Mars as a stagnant lid planet. That means it has one large solid surface, or “lid,” instead of the surface being broken into smaller tectonic plates like on Earth. On Earth, plate tectonics drives volcanism, recycling and continent–building.
But this new study points to huge, interconnected magma systems. They show that Mars’ volcanoes weren’t just simple isolated formations as previously assumed. And they force us to ask … How did this occur without plate tectonics?
We’ve traditionally assumed that volcanism on Mars was relatively simple compared to that on Earth. But this discovery suggests the planet could sustain massive, long-lived magmatic systems capable of evolving and reprocessing molten rock throughout the crust. Because these systems are known to generate large metal deposits, Mars may hold significantly more near-surface mineral wealth than previously recognised, boosting its potential for future mining, crewed missions and eventually, permanent settlements.
The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in Nature Astronomy on June 26, 2026.
NEW: Mars may have been far more Earth-like beneath its surface than scientists once thought ??Oxford researchers have uncovered evidence of vast hidden magma systems that could reshape our understanding of how rocky planets evolve ??https://bit.ly/4wwd4jx
The researchers made the discovery when analyzing data from NASA’s InSight lander. InSight ended its mission in 2022, but there is still a ton of data to study. The lander recorded seismic waves from marsquakes and meteorite impacts.
The researchers used the data to investigate an unusual boundary about 15 miles (24 km) below the surface. Scientists knew about the boundary before, but didn’t know what it was. One possibility is that it marked a transition between two different types of rock. To test this, the researchers compared hundreds of different rock compositions with the seismic data.
The results showed that there was indeed a boundary between two types of rock. Below the boundary, the rocks were ultramafic, meaning rich in iron and magnesium. But interestingly, the rocks above the boundary were quite different. They were mafic rocks, rich in silica.
Why is the rock layer below the boundary so different from the layer above? The researchers say that molten rock likely pooled there. Then, it gradually separated into different materials over time. This left behind a residue of dense crystals at the base of the crust. Meanwhile, lighter molten rock moved upwards. This is similar to what happens on Earth beneath volcanic arcs. This is also linked to the formation of continents, although Mars never got to that stage.
View larger. | Illustration depicting NASA’s InSight lander on Mars, with a cutaway view of the subsurface. Image via PGP/ Nicolas Sarter/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory/ NASA.
Vast magma layer across the northern hemisphere
The researchers say this magma layer was vast, spanning hundreds of miles sideways beneath the surface. That means that instead of Mars’ volcanoes being isolated, they were actually interconnected by these sprawling magma systems. On Earth, this is known as transcrustal magmatism. Until now, scientists only knew of it occurring on one planet: Earth.
But if it happened on Mars too, that raises questions about how rocky planets form and if they can be habitable. Co-author Jon Wade at the University of Oxford said:
One of the big questions in planetary science is whether Earth is unique. If Mars could develop this kind of complex crust without plate tectonics, then maybe the conditions needed for habitability can emerge on more planets than we realised, including those previously dismissed based on size or their apparent lack of tectonic activity.
In 2024, scientists reported evidence for magma possibly still existing beneath Olympus Mons, the largest volcano on Mars. If so, it would mean that there is still some residual tectonic and volcanic activity below the surface today. Mars might still be alive, at least geologically!
Bottom line: Scientists have found evidence of enormous ancient magma systems on Mars. They show that Mars’ volcanic systems were once more complex than first thought.
Albireo, also known as Beta Cygni, is the 2nd-brightest star in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. At first glance, it doesn’t particularly stand out. But viewing this star through a small telescope can take your breath away. Indeed, it resolves into a striking pair of stars, one a lovely gold and the other a dimmer blue.
The two stars appear close in the sky from our perspective, but scientists aren’t sure that they’re gravitationally bound to each other. Regardless, the striking color contrast between the close pair makes Albireo one of the most beautiful double stars in our sky.
The bright star Deneb is part of the famous Summer Triangle asterism. Its constellation, Cygnus the Swan, flies across the July evening sky.
How to find Albireo
How can you spot Albireo in the night sky? It’s easy to find if you can locate Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is known for containing an easily recognizable cross shape, known as the Northern Cross. The brightest star in Cygnus, Deneb, marks the top of the Cross, or the Tail of the Swan. Albireo, meanwhile, marks the base of the Cross or the Head of Cygnus the Swan.
And how can you see Albireo as two stars? Unless you have exceedingly powerful binoculars mounted on a tripod, binoculars unfortunately won’t show you Albireo as two stars. But any small telescope will. It’s best to view them at 30X (“30 power” or a magnification of 30). And when you see Albireo as two stars, be sure to notice the striking color contrast between the two.
The brighter, golden star – Albireo A – is about 400 light-years away. Albireo B, the dimmer blue star, is around 400 light-years distant. And although this is not confirmed, Albireo A and B are thought to only be a pair from our perspective, rather than being a gravitationally bound binary system.
But on the other hand, Albireo A itself is a binary star, formed of two stars so close together that you can’t see them separately. These stars take 121.6 years to orbit one another. The brighter star of the two is responsible for the gold color you see through a telescope. It’s a red supergiant star, about 5 times the mass of the sun. It shines at magnitude 3.21. And it outshines its fainter companion, a hot main sequence star that’s 2.7 times the sun’s mass.
Furthermore, in a recent analysis of the Albireo A binary system, astronomers were surprised to find that there might be more stars in the system, possibly making Albireo A a triple or quadruple star system.
Albireo B, the fainter blue star of the pair when viewed through a small telescope, appears just 34 arc seconds away from gold-colored Albireo A. It’s a hot blue star with about 3.7 times the sun’s mass. It shines at magnitude 5.11. If it is a physical companion star to Albireo A, their orbital period would take about 100,000 years.
Bottom line: Albireo, in the constellation Cygnus, is a favorite for stargazers. Through a small telescope, it appears as a beautiful golden star with a dimmer blue companion.
Albireo, also known as Beta Cygni, is the 2nd-brightest star in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. At first glance, it doesn’t particularly stand out. But viewing this star through a small telescope can take your breath away. Indeed, it resolves into a striking pair of stars, one a lovely gold and the other a dimmer blue.
The two stars appear close in the sky from our perspective, but scientists aren’t sure that they’re gravitationally bound to each other. Regardless, the striking color contrast between the close pair makes Albireo one of the most beautiful double stars in our sky.
The bright star Deneb is part of the famous Summer Triangle asterism. Its constellation, Cygnus the Swan, flies across the July evening sky.
How to find Albireo
How can you spot Albireo in the night sky? It’s easy to find if you can locate Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is known for containing an easily recognizable cross shape, known as the Northern Cross. The brightest star in Cygnus, Deneb, marks the top of the Cross, or the Tail of the Swan. Albireo, meanwhile, marks the base of the Cross or the Head of Cygnus the Swan.
And how can you see Albireo as two stars? Unless you have exceedingly powerful binoculars mounted on a tripod, binoculars unfortunately won’t show you Albireo as two stars. But any small telescope will. It’s best to view them at 30X (“30 power” or a magnification of 30). And when you see Albireo as two stars, be sure to notice the striking color contrast between the two.
The brighter, golden star – Albireo A – is about 400 light-years away. Albireo B, the dimmer blue star, is around 400 light-years distant. And although this is not confirmed, Albireo A and B are thought to only be a pair from our perspective, rather than being a gravitationally bound binary system.
But on the other hand, Albireo A itself is a binary star, formed of two stars so close together that you can’t see them separately. These stars take 121.6 years to orbit one another. The brighter star of the two is responsible for the gold color you see through a telescope. It’s a red supergiant star, about 5 times the mass of the sun. It shines at magnitude 3.21. And it outshines its fainter companion, a hot main sequence star that’s 2.7 times the sun’s mass.
Furthermore, in a recent analysis of the Albireo A binary system, astronomers were surprised to find that there might be more stars in the system, possibly making Albireo A a triple or quadruple star system.
Albireo B, the fainter blue star of the pair when viewed through a small telescope, appears just 34 arc seconds away from gold-colored Albireo A. It’s a hot blue star with about 3.7 times the sun’s mass. It shines at magnitude 5.11. If it is a physical companion star to Albireo A, their orbital period would take about 100,000 years.
Bottom line: Albireo, in the constellation Cygnus, is a favorite for stargazers. Through a small telescope, it appears as a beautiful golden star with a dimmer blue companion.
Along with its close relative, the sapphire, the ruby is a form of the mineral corundum. This mineral is normally drab and gray in color. So a red corundum gemstone is a ruby, and all other colored corundum gemstones – orange, yellow, brown, green, blue, purple, violet, black, and colorless – are sapphires.
And that makes the July birthstone – the ruby – rare and precious. It’s among the most highly prized of gemstones. Large rubies are more difficult to find than large diamonds. And at 9 on the Mohs scale, they’re harder than emerald, topaz, zircon and garnet.
As a result, rubies’ value increases with size more than any other gemstone.
The word ruby comes from the Latin “ruber,” meaning red. This name formerly meant any red stone, including red spinel, red tourmaline, and red garnet.
An oval faceted ruby gemstone. Image via Humanfeather/ Wikipedia.
Sources of the ruby
The Mogok valley of Upper Burma is famous as the source for the finest and rarest rubies of all, known as “pigeon’s blood” for the stones’ intense red color.
Another major source of rubies is Thailand, well-known for dark, brownish-red rubies. Both Thailand and Burma regard the ruby as their national stone.
Giant 11,000-Carat #Ruby Found in #Myanmar Could Be Worth a FortuneMore info and pics: https://ift.tt/geXiL5P…
In much of Asia, people once believed that rubies contained the spark of life – “a deep drop of the heart’s blood of Mother Earth,” according to ancient Eastern legends.
Plus, ancient Asian stories say the ruby is self-luminous. They called it “glowing stone” or “lamp stone.” One story is that an emperor of China used a large ruby to light his chamber, where it glowed as bright as day. Brahmins – Hindu priests of the highest caste – believed that the homes of the gods were lit by enormous emeralds and rubies.
Later, in Greek legends, the ruby symbolized the goddess Aphrodite’s ill-fated love affair with the mortal Adonis.
Raw Tanzanian rubies embedded in a rock matrix. Image via Jarno/ Wikipedia.
Ancient Hindus, Burmese, and Ceylonese regarded sapphires as unripe rubies. Thus, they believed if they buried the sapphire in the ground, it would mature to a rich red ruby.
In the Middle Ages, rubies were thought to bring good health, as well as guard against wicked thoughts, amorous desires, and disputes. Rubies, along with other types of red stones, were said to cure bleeding. And it was believed that the ruby held the power to warn its owner of coming misfortunes, illness, or death, by turning darker in color. It is said that Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, predicted her downfall when seeing the darkening of her ruby.
Famous rubies?
Because of their rarity, there are very few famous large rubies. In his 13th-century books of his travels, Marco Polo relates the tale of a magnificent gemstone – believed to be a ruby nine inches long and as thick as a man’s arm – belonging to the king of Ceylon. Kublai Khan, the emperor of China, offered an entire city in exchange for the enormous stone, to which the king of Ceylon replied that he would never part with his prize for all the treasures of the world.
Many famous rubies in history turned out not to be rubies after all. For example, the famed Timur ruby – given to Queen Victoria in 1851 – was later found to be ruby spinel.
A round faceted ruby. Image via Decym92/ Wikimedia.
Along with its close relative, the sapphire, the ruby is a form of the mineral corundum. This mineral is normally drab and gray in color. So a red corundum gemstone is a ruby, and all other colored corundum gemstones – orange, yellow, brown, green, blue, purple, violet, black, and colorless – are sapphires.
And that makes the July birthstone – the ruby – rare and precious. It’s among the most highly prized of gemstones. Large rubies are more difficult to find than large diamonds. And at 9 on the Mohs scale, they’re harder than emerald, topaz, zircon and garnet.
As a result, rubies’ value increases with size more than any other gemstone.
The word ruby comes from the Latin “ruber,” meaning red. This name formerly meant any red stone, including red spinel, red tourmaline, and red garnet.
An oval faceted ruby gemstone. Image via Humanfeather/ Wikipedia.
Sources of the ruby
The Mogok valley of Upper Burma is famous as the source for the finest and rarest rubies of all, known as “pigeon’s blood” for the stones’ intense red color.
Another major source of rubies is Thailand, well-known for dark, brownish-red rubies. Both Thailand and Burma regard the ruby as their national stone.
Giant 11,000-Carat #Ruby Found in #Myanmar Could Be Worth a FortuneMore info and pics: https://ift.tt/geXiL5P…
In much of Asia, people once believed that rubies contained the spark of life – “a deep drop of the heart’s blood of Mother Earth,” according to ancient Eastern legends.
Plus, ancient Asian stories say the ruby is self-luminous. They called it “glowing stone” or “lamp stone.” One story is that an emperor of China used a large ruby to light his chamber, where it glowed as bright as day. Brahmins – Hindu priests of the highest caste – believed that the homes of the gods were lit by enormous emeralds and rubies.
Later, in Greek legends, the ruby symbolized the goddess Aphrodite’s ill-fated love affair with the mortal Adonis.
Raw Tanzanian rubies embedded in a rock matrix. Image via Jarno/ Wikipedia.
Ancient Hindus, Burmese, and Ceylonese regarded sapphires as unripe rubies. Thus, they believed if they buried the sapphire in the ground, it would mature to a rich red ruby.
In the Middle Ages, rubies were thought to bring good health, as well as guard against wicked thoughts, amorous desires, and disputes. Rubies, along with other types of red stones, were said to cure bleeding. And it was believed that the ruby held the power to warn its owner of coming misfortunes, illness, or death, by turning darker in color. It is said that Catherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII, predicted her downfall when seeing the darkening of her ruby.
Famous rubies?
Because of their rarity, there are very few famous large rubies. In his 13th-century books of his travels, Marco Polo relates the tale of a magnificent gemstone – believed to be a ruby nine inches long and as thick as a man’s arm – belonging to the king of Ceylon. Kublai Khan, the emperor of China, offered an entire city in exchange for the enormous stone, to which the king of Ceylon replied that he would never part with his prize for all the treasures of the world.
Many famous rubies in history turned out not to be rubies after all. For example, the famed Timur ruby – given to Queen Victoria in 1851 – was later found to be ruby spinel.
A round faceted ruby. Image via Decym92/ Wikimedia.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory took this 1.7-gigapixel image of a field of stars in the constellation Lupus the Wolf and Centaurus the Centaur. Rubin is unique in its ability to capture both a wide field of view and extremely faint objects. NOIRLab said on June 30, 2026, that the Rubin Observatory has officially begun its 10-year timelapse of the universe: the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Image via NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA.
Rubin Observatory begins 10-year timelapse of the universe
Last June, we got our first look at what the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could do. We were wowed by images of galaxies floating in deep space and a video of thousands of never-before-seen asteroids. And now, on June 30, 2026, the Rubin Observatory has officially begun its 10-year-long survey of the night sky: the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
Every night for the next decade, Rubin will rapidly scan the sky using the world’s largest digital camera to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition timelapse of our universe. The goal of the survey is:
to create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the universe in history.
Brian Stone, the National Science Foundation director, said:
Today, we begin filming the greatest cosmic movie ever made.
The image at top (Rubin’s Oceans of Stars Field) comes from this area of the sky in the Southern Hemisphere constellations of Lupus the Wolf and Centaurus the Centaur. Image via E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani.
A flood of data
The Rubin Observatory acquires about 10 terabytes of data per night. And every time it sees something change in the night sky – whether that be a supernova erupting or an asteroid sailing in front of the background stars – it sends an alert. How many alerts might it produce in one night? As many as 7 million, says NOIRLab.
After 10 years of the survey, astronomers expect a final dataset of billions of objects with trillions of measurements. It will open the gates to a flood of knowledge about the universe. And that information will be available to both scientists and the public.
Rubin Observatory will capture the dynamic nature of our cosmos and reveal unimagined insights into our universe’s biggest mysteries, from our own solar system to the very structure of the universe. By seeking to understand the enigmatic phenomena of dark energy and dark matter, we are not just observing the stars; we are striving to grasp the fundamental laws that govern our existence.
Watch: A week in the life of Rubin Observatory
The Rubin Observatory will build a multicolor map of the universe. This video shows how much of the sky Rubin can scan in a week with its various color filters.
Rubin Observatory by the numbers
Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time by the numbers. Image via NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA.Rubin’s repeated recordings of the universe will bring out a wealth of detail in the objects it sees. Combining many images allows astronomers to see more light and get a sharper, more detailed view of the universe. Image via NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA.
Bottom line: The Rubin Observatory has now begun its Legacy Survey of Space and Time. This 10-year survey will create a timelapse record of the universe, from asteroids cruising through our solar system to whirling deep-space galaxies.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory took this 1.7-gigapixel image of a field of stars in the constellation Lupus the Wolf and Centaurus the Centaur. Rubin is unique in its ability to capture both a wide field of view and extremely faint objects. NOIRLab said on June 30, 2026, that the Rubin Observatory has officially begun its 10-year timelapse of the universe: the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Image via NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA.
Rubin Observatory begins 10-year timelapse of the universe
Last June, we got our first look at what the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could do. We were wowed by images of galaxies floating in deep space and a video of thousands of never-before-seen asteroids. And now, on June 30, 2026, the Rubin Observatory has officially begun its 10-year-long survey of the night sky: the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
Every night for the next decade, Rubin will rapidly scan the sky using the world’s largest digital camera to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition timelapse of our universe. The goal of the survey is:
to create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the universe in history.
Brian Stone, the National Science Foundation director, said:
Today, we begin filming the greatest cosmic movie ever made.
The image at top (Rubin’s Oceans of Stars Field) comes from this area of the sky in the Southern Hemisphere constellations of Lupus the Wolf and Centaurus the Centaur. Image via E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani.
A flood of data
The Rubin Observatory acquires about 10 terabytes of data per night. And every time it sees something change in the night sky – whether that be a supernova erupting or an asteroid sailing in front of the background stars – it sends an alert. How many alerts might it produce in one night? As many as 7 million, says NOIRLab.
After 10 years of the survey, astronomers expect a final dataset of billions of objects with trillions of measurements. It will open the gates to a flood of knowledge about the universe. And that information will be available to both scientists and the public.
Rubin Observatory will capture the dynamic nature of our cosmos and reveal unimagined insights into our universe’s biggest mysteries, from our own solar system to the very structure of the universe. By seeking to understand the enigmatic phenomena of dark energy and dark matter, we are not just observing the stars; we are striving to grasp the fundamental laws that govern our existence.
Watch: A week in the life of Rubin Observatory
The Rubin Observatory will build a multicolor map of the universe. This video shows how much of the sky Rubin can scan in a week with its various color filters.
Rubin Observatory by the numbers
Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time by the numbers. Image via NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA.Rubin’s repeated recordings of the universe will bring out a wealth of detail in the objects it sees. Combining many images allows astronomers to see more light and get a sharper, more detailed view of the universe. Image via NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA.
Bottom line: The Rubin Observatory has now begun its Legacy Survey of Space and Time. This 10-year survey will create a timelapse record of the universe, from asteroids cruising through our solar system to whirling deep-space galaxies.
