Latest Posts
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A Star Disappears: New Black Hole Insights from the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute
What if a massive star simply vanished? Not in a brilliant supernova explosion.Not in a cosmic blaze of glory.But quietly. Astronomers have just witnessed exactly that. A team led by Kishalay De at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute discovered that… Continue reading
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When the Lights Go Out: A Timeline to the End of the Universe
When we look up at the night sky, it feels eternal. The stars seem steady and permanent, as if they have always been there and always will be. But cosmology tells a very different story. Scientists have outlined a possible… Continue reading
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What If Alien Life Doesn’t Look Like Life?
When scientists search for life beyond Earth, they usually look for things that resemble life here. For example, oxygen in a planet’s atmosphere is exciting because plants on Earth produce oxygen. Liquid water is important because all known life depends… Continue reading
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Astronomy Night Out: Seeing the Universe Through My Own Lens
On February 10, I attended Astronomy Night Out at the Chabot Space and Science Center, an evening dedicated to exploring astronomy through astrophotography. After dinner, we experienced a planetarium presentation titled Our Place in the Universe, which illustrated Earth’s position… Continue reading
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Breakthroughs of 2025: Astrobiology: Searching for Life on Mars
Did NASA’s Perseverance Rover Discover Signs of Ancient Life on Mars? In 2025, one of the most exciting moments in astrobiology came from NASA’s Perseverance rover as it continued exploring Mars. While studying Jezero Crater, a region that once contained… Continue reading
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Breakthroughs of 2025: Astronomy: Strange Red Dots in Deep Space
JWST’s Little Red Dots and the Mystery of QSO1 One of the most exciting breakthroughs in astronomy in 2025 came from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and a mysterious population of objects known as Little Red Dots. At first… Continue reading
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Capturing the Orion Nebula (M42): A Stellar Nursery Close to Home
This Thanksgiving, I used my Celestron Origin Mark II home observatory system to photograph one of the most beautiful objects in the winter sky, the Orion Nebula. The image reveals the bright, glowing core of M42, a region filled with… Continue reading
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Astrophotography Workshop at Chabot Space & Science Center: Unveiling Our Place in the Universe
On November 18, 2025, I attended the Astrophotography Workshop: Unveiling Our Place in the Universe at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California. The event is now over, but it offered an inspiring introduction to amateur astronomy and… Continue reading
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Computer Game Review: THARSIS: A Strategy Game Set on the Volcanic Hearth of Mars
Tharsis is a tense, turn-based survival strategy game where you command the crew of a damaged spacecraft on a mission to Mars. The game is built around dice-based decision making, resource management, and constantly escalating crises. Every turn forces difficult… Continue reading
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First Light with My Celestron Origin Mark II: The Andromeda Galaxy
I’m beyond excited to share the very first image taken with my brand-new Celestron Origin Mark II telescope! ✨ Behold — the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), our nearest spiral galaxy neighbor, located about 2.5 million light-years away. It’s incredible to think… Continue reading
SCIENCE WITH LARA 