Black Panther arrives at a moment of possibility. Its popularity demonstrates that people are crying out for chances to see themselves and their communities portrayed with dignity—as heroes.
Small asteroids can be hard to spot. But what kind of threat do they pose to the Earth?
The 2017 Geminids as seen from Ecuador, against the backdrop of the splendid Milky Way (centre) and the Large Magellanic Cloud (right).
Flickr/David Meyer
In five or seven billion years time, the Sun’s life will come to an end. And it will be really spectacular - if you’re watching from far enough away.
Patience can be rewarded as with this composite of the 2016 Geminids meteor shower, seen over Mt Teide volcano on the Canary Islands, off Spain.
Flickr/StarryEarth
Large asteroid hits on Earth have the potential to wipe out humanity so knowing how to detect and deflect them is vital. But we know very little about the interior make up of many asteroids.
It’s no easy task to find a meteorite that’s just been seen flashing across the sky. But it helps if you have an automatic network of “eyes” on the night sky.
A brilliant fireball lights up the sky above the Southern Ocean at the 12 Apostles National Park on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia.
Alex Cherney
The Barringer meteor crater is an iconic Arizona landmark, more than 1km wide and 170 metres deep, left behind by a massive 300,000 tonne meteorite that hit Earth 50,000 years ago with a force equivalent…
The early solar system was once a turbulent place.
Flickr/Philippe Put
The early solar system was a busy place with plenty of meteorite impacts on the new planets and moons. But finding evidence of such impacts on Earth can be tricky.
Hurricane Arthur photographed by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst.
ESA/NASA
From a meteor shower to 67P’s closest approach to the sun: prepare to be amazed by comets.
Aboriginal stories dating back many thousands of years talk of a fire from the sky in an area now home to the Henbury meteorite craters, in the Northern Territory.
Flickr/Boobook
We can learn much about meteor strikes in ancient Australia by examining the oral traditions of indigenous people.
A bright fireball over the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA, in Chile, marks the fiery death of a small grain of space debris, high in the atmosphere.
ESO/C. Malin
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland; Donna Burton, University of Southern Queensland, and Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute
Meteors have been seen since people first looked at the night sky. They are comprised of small pieces of debris, typically no larger than a grain of dust or sand, which continually crash into the Earth’s…