A Road Trip with Commander Chris

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Illinois and UChicago Physicists Develop a New Method for Measuring Cosmic Expansion March 5, 2026
A team of astrophysicists, cosmologists, and physicists has developed a novel way to compute the Hubble constant using gravitational waves. As our capability to observe gravitational waves improves in the future, this new method could be used to make even more accurate measurements of the Hubble constant, bringing scientists closer to resolving the Hubble tension.
What Goes On Inside A Massive Star Before It Explodes As A Supernova? March 4, 2026
When people think of supernova explosions, they're most-often thinking of Type II core-collapse supernovae, where a massive star becomes a red supergiant before collapsing on itself and exploding. New research uncovers what's going on inside the star before it explodes, and explains why SNe light curves can be different from one another.
NASA’s Eclipse Megamovie Project Releases Full Data on 2024 Solar Eclipse March 4, 2026
On April 8, 2024, volunteers participating in NASA’s Eclipse Megamovie citizen science project all around the United States hurried to photograph the solar eclipse with the latest, greatest equipment, capturing groundbreaking images of the Sun’s corona.
Introducing the 'Interplanetary Habitable Zone' March 4, 2026
Anyone familiar with the search for alien life will have heard of the “Goldilocks Zone” around a star. This is defined as the orbital band where the temperature is just right for liquid water to pool on a rocky planet’s surface - a good approximation for what we thought of as the early conditions for […]
Cosmic Collaboration: Euclid and Hubble Team Up to Capture the Cat's Eye Nebula March 4, 2026
It's hard to turn away from a picture of the Cat's Eye Nebula, even if you've seen it dozens of times. It may be the most visually compelling planetary nebula out there, with its billowing, layered shrouds and its intricate structure. NASA and the ESA have combined images of the Cat's Eye from the Euclid […]