| | July 3
Top Stories This Week | | | |
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 | | | A simulation of gas in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The galaxy is the bright vertical structure in the center. Notice the big bubbles to the left and right? The black hole causes them by blowing gas outward. Supermassive black holes like the one might help bring new stars - like our sun - into being. Image via TNG Collaboration/ Dylan Nelson/ MPG. Read more. | | |
| | Supermassive black holes help with star birth | | | Supermassive black holes are often described as devouring, monster, behemoth, lurking and so on. These words make it sound as if black holes are a harbinger of destruction. It's true a star that ventures too close might become spaghettified, utterly destroyed, by a black hole's strong gravity. Plus, a supermassive black hole often sends out massive beams of destruction (better known as jets). But maybe black holes can do more than lurk and destroy? Last month, astronomers said that supermassive black holes might also bring about new star birth! Do they? Wow. Read more. | | | An Antarctic lake suddenly disappears | | | Scientists saw an ice-covered lake atop the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica in April 2019. But by June of that year it had drained away, leaving behind a doline - a crater-like sinkhole with the fractured remains of the ice cover - where the lake had once been. The scientists believe the weight of accumulated meltwater created a large fissure beneath the lake, which drained in what they called a rare event. Read more. | | | | US intelligence report: 140 unexplained UFOs, no aliens | | | The U.S. intelligence community released a much-awaited report on June 25 on what the military calls unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs. That's military jargon for what most of us call UFOs. The report listed 144 such objects between 2004 and this year. Navy aviators sighted many of them. But the report presented no clear evidence for visitors from another planet (or any other sort of otherworldly cause). And it didn't rule out the possibility of alien visitors, either. Read more. | | | | | | | |
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|  | | This month … Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown | | In the evening in July, look for the constellation Corona Borealis, also known as the Northern Crown. You'll need a dark sky to see it. But, if you have one, the constellation is easy to pick out. That's because it makes the shape of the letter C. In the middle of the C is a white jewel of a star called Alphecca or Gemma. The photo above comes from Dr. Ski in 2019. Thank you, Dr. Ski! | | | | | |
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 | | | Blooming sunspots from Malaysia | | View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Michael Teoh in Heng Ee Observatory, Penang, Malaysia, captured this photo of sunspots on July 1. This active region has been making its way this week across the sun's visible surface. Michael wrote: "This is the best result I have ever got with the setup. The seeing condition was near perfect. Despite already expecting a good result from the live images, the end result really surprised me." Thank you, Michael. See more community images of AR2835 here, here and here. Thanks to all who are contributing photos! P.S. Does this closeup of sunspots remind you of a sunflower? Visit EarthSky Community Photos for a larger view, and share your own great shots. | | |
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