Would You Be Interested In A Women In Stem-Focused Book Club?
We’re thinking about starting a Zoom book club this Fall or Winter focused on biographies and memoirs about Women in STEM–and we’d love to know if you’d be interested in joining!
Astronomy
Cosmic Conversations
Tuesday August 19, 2025 7:00 PM
The Search for Planet Nine
Astronomers have long studied the orbits of the planets and many years ago noticed that some were irregular, indicating the presence of some other object or objects pulling on them. This led to the discovery of Pluto that at the time was declared a planet.
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope marked its third year of scientific achievement by capturing detailed images of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a nearby star-forming region. The telescope’s advanced near-infrared capabilities allowed astronomers to peer beneath the nebula’s surface, revealing the dynamic processes of star formation.
Satellite Constellations Are Too Bright for Astronomy
Satellite constellations launched by industries and governments, including Starlink, BlueBird, Qianfan, Guowang, OneWeb, and Kuiper, are increasingly bright and interfere with both amateur and professional astronomy. The International Astronomical Union’s Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky has set brightness limits to keep satellites invisible to the naked eye, but research by Anthony Mallama and Richard Cole shows most satellites exceed these limits, with only OneWeb and Starlink Mini satellites at 485 km meeting the aesthetic or research brightness criteria.
Webb Takes a Fresh Look at a Classic Deep Field
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an unprecedentedly deep image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), revealing over 2,500 galaxies including hundreds of extremely red, dust-obscured or mature galaxies formed early in cosmic history. This nearly 100-hour observation provides detailed insights into galaxy formation and evolution by resolving structures and light distribution in distant galaxies across billions of years.
Laniakea, Our Home Supercluster, Is Already Being Torn Apart
Despite the relatively recent identification of Laniakea as the supercluster which contains the Milky Way and much more, it’s not a gravitationally bound structure and will not hold together as the Universe continues to expand. A large amount of the normal matter in the Universe can be found between the galaxies: in the intergalactic medium.
Hubble Spies Swirling Spiral
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3285B, located 137 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra, which is the largest and longest constellation in the sky. NGC 3285B is part of the Hydra I galaxy cluster, one of the largest nearby clusters, anchored by two giant elliptical galaxies larger than the Milky Way. Positioned on the cluster’s outskirts, NGC 3285B gained attention due to hosting a Type Ia supernova in 2023, visible as a bluish dot on its disk. Hubble’s observations of this galaxy are part of a program studying 100 Type Ia supernovae across multiple wavelengths to improve cosmic distance measurements by accounting for distance and dust effects.
Congress’s NASA and NSF Budgets Counter Trump, Fund Science
Congress’s initial 2026 budget drafts for NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) reflect a significant departure from the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts, aiming instead to maintain NASA science funding near current levels and substantially reduce the proposed NSF cuts. The Senate draft keeps NASA science funding around $7.3 billion, countering a requested 47% cut, while the House draft suggests a 19% reduction. For NSF, the Senate proposes $9 billion, avoiding major cuts, whereas the House suggests a 23% decrease. These budget plans, part of the larger Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, offer cautious optimism to the scientific community despite ongoing uncertainties and inflationary pressures.