Kirsten Banks - Latest News and Information
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EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
Astrophysicist and prolific astronomy explainer distinguishing astronomy/astrophysics/cosmology with engaging visuals.
Some stars leave nothing behind. Pair-instability supernovae predict that the most massive stars explode so completely that no black hole remains. For years, we didn’t have evidence. Now, gravitational wave data shows a gap in black hole masses — exactly where those explosions say there should be none. Sometimes the missing pieces are the clue.
That’s not a filter. It’s a “glory” — a rainbow-like ring that forms around a shadow when sunlight interacts with cloud droplets. I went down a rabbit hole and learned they inspired the cloud chamber (which helped discover particles like the positron),...
This is the Crab Nebula. It's a supernova remnant — the leftover debris from a star that exploded. But not all nebulae are the same. Some form stars, some mark the death of Sun-like stars, and some block light completely.
Not all water is the same. H₂O tells you the ingredients — but not the “version” of those atoms. Elements come in different isotopes, and that changes water’s chemical fingerprint. That’s how scientists discovered comet water doesn’t quite match Earth’s… but asteroid water...
What a nightmare… Who would have thought it would take over 24 hours to fly from Auckland to Melbourne 😅 Share your story in the comments so we can whinge together haha
You can see a black hole, or at least where one might be. It’s hiding in Omega Centauri. Here's how to spot it!
