GF

5 Reasons Why the James Webb Space Telescope Is Such a Big Deal Many scientists believe there's another planet like Earth somewhere in the universe, and the search to find it is underway. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is be more powerful than its predecessors and will be able to see further into space to discover distant planets in far-off galaxies. It will even give us the tools to search for indications of an atmosphere that could sustain life. Its current mission launched into space on December 25, 2021. There are certainly larger Earth-bound telescopes, but as its name implies, the JWST will roam above the atmosphere, providing more powerful unobstructed views of the heavens than even the historic Hubble Space Telescope could offer. Funded by NASA in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the infrared Webb telescope weighs 6 metric tons and will orbit 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. It boasts many new technological advan

Black Holes Power Some of the Brightest Objects in the Universe, So Why Is Ours So Calm? Despite their reputation as all-consuming voids of darkness, it might come as a surprise to learn that black holes are responsible for the brightest known phenomena in the universe. This remarkable contrast is possible because of the violent forces that black holes generate, ripping apart all matter that approaches and turning gas clouds into searing beacons of light. Sometimes, as shown in the animation below from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, these light shows can be on an order of magnitude that's difficult to comprehend. On July 31, 2019, NASA's Spitzer telescope captured an orbital clash between two black holes that generated an explosion of light brighter than that of a trillion stars or more than twice the brightness of our own Milky Way galaxy! A hungry cosmic furnace Black holes are capable of generating these light shows due to the way they wreak havoc on everything that d