Dec 14 - Top Stories This Week

December 14 Top Stories This Week by:

This is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby satellite galaxy to our Milky Way. It’s about 14,000 light-years in diameter. The central region of the galaxy Holmberg 15A – where the new record-holding black hole resides – is nearly as large as this entire Magellanic Cloud. This beautiful image comes from astrophotographer Justin Ng of Singapore.

Hefty black hole holds new record for high mass Astronomers have set a new record for finding the most massive black hole in the nearby universe - at the center of supergiant elliptical galaxy Holmberg 15A, some 700 million light-years from Earth. In contrast to our Milky Way’s central black hole of about 4 million solar masses, the new record-holding central black hole is 40 billion times more massive than our sun. Read more.  Geminid meteors peaking this weekend Saturday was probably the peak morning, but Sunday morning might be good, too. We're hearing from meteor-watchers that some bright meteors are showing up, even in bright moonlight. Read more. Why White Island erupted and why there was no warning White Island is one of several volcanoes in New Zealand that can produce sudden explosive eruptions at any time. An Earth scientist explains why. More top stories Hubble spots galaxy's dramatic details New Zealand White Volcano is on the Pacific Ring of Fire Explained! Enceladus' enigmatic tiger stripes Researchers describe 71 new species in 2019 Why is Mars sometimes bright and sometimes faint? Mysterious rock-comet 3200 Phaethon is parent object of Geminid meteors

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Cold Moon over Nubble lighthouse in Maine View at EarthSky Community Photos. | On Thursday night, Manish Mamtani captured the full over Maine’s classic Nubble Lighthouse, now adorned with lights for the holiday season. We in the Northern Hemisphere call this month's full moon the Cold Moon or Moon Before Yule.

… And over a block of flats in Singapore View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Meanwhile, in Singapore, Kannan A captured Thursday night's full Cold Moon behind a block of flats in his neighborhood. See more marvelous images of this week’s full moon at EarthSky Community Photos.  Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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