Oct 6 - Andromeda's Violent History

October 6 Andromeda's Violent History by:

Artist's concept of Earth's night sky in 3.75 billion years. The Andromeda galaxy (left) will fill our field of view then, astronomers say, as it heads toward a collision, or merger, with our Milky Way galaxy. Image via NASA; ESA; Z. Levay and R. van der Marel, STScI; T. Hallas; and A. Mellinger.

The violent history of Andromeda, the big galaxy next door "The Milky Way is on a collision course with Andromeda in about 4 billion years. So knowing what kind of a monster our galaxy is up against is useful in finding out the Milky Way's ultimate fate." Read more. Cosmic web fuels stars and supermassive black holes Astronomers probed the cosmic web, a large-scale structure composed of massive filaments of galaxies separated by giant voids. They found the filaments also contained significant amounts of gas, believed to help fuel the galaxies' growth. Read more. Today in science: 1st planet orbiting sunlike star On October 6, 1995, astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the momentous discovery of the 1st planet in orbit around a distant sunlike star. 51 Pegasi b has about half the mass of Jupiter. It orbits a star not unlike our sun. Read more. What we're reading From the Washington Post … Radical warming in Siberia leaves millions on unstable ground A Washington Post analysis found that the region near the town of Zyryanka, in an enormous wedge of eastern Siberia called Yakutia, has warmed by more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.5 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times - roughly triple the global average. The permafrost that once sustained farming - and upon which villages and cities are built - is in the midst of a great thaw. “The warming got in the way of our good life,” said Alexander Fedorov, deputy director of the Melnikov Permafrost Institute in the regional capital of Yakutsk. “With every year, things are getting worse and worse." Read more.

EarthSky lunar calendars are back in stock We're guaranteed to sell out, get one while you can! Your support means the world to us and allows us to keep going. Purchase here.

Saturn nearly at east quadrature East quadrature is a hallmark in the ever-shifting 3D relationship between Earth and another world. As seen from Earth, a planet at east quadrature is 90 degrees east of the sun. Saturn will reach that point tomorrow. The moon is at east quadrature when it reaches 1st quarter, which it was yesterday. So Saturn is still near the moon, and you can depend on the moon's lit side to point out Saturn tonight and tomorrow. Read more.

Red rainbow over Fire Island, New York View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Trish Minogue Collins of Shirley, New York, caught this red rainbow on September 26. She wrote: "A red rainbow as the sun peeked out at the horizon between raindrops at Fire Island National Seashore." Red rainbows have a surreal beauty, but their explanation is fairly ordinary. They’re created via the same physics that makes a sunset or sunrise look red. Here's what makes a red rainbow.  Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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