Phil Plait, Scientific American Journalist Profile

Articles

Why Do We Launch Space Telescopes?

1 week ago | scientificamerican.com | Phil Plait

On April 24, 1990, NASA and the European Space Agency launched an astronomical revolution. When the Space Shuttle Discovery roared into the sky on that day, it carried the Hubble Space Telescope in its payload bay, and the astronauts aboard deployed it into low-Earth orbit soon thereafter.
Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Nearby Supermassive Black Hole

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Phil Plait

An astonishing fact only known for the past few decades is that every big galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole at its heart. This was suspected in the 1980s, and observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, which has peered deep into the cores of galaxies all across the sky, confirmed it. The “normal” kinds of black holes made when stars explode range from five to about 100 times the mass of the sun, more or less.
Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Just outside the Milky Way

2 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Phil Plait

An astonishing fact only known for the past few decades is that every big galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole at its heart. This was suspected in the 1980s, and observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, which has peered deep into the cores of galaxies all across the sky, confirmed it. The “normal” kinds of black holes made when stars explode range from five to about 100 times the mass of the sun, more or less.
The Scintillating Science of Twinkling Stars, Explained

3 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Phil Plait

Ah, it’s a lovely night for enjoying the outdoors. You go outside in the warm summer air to listen to the crickets and breathe in the scents of verdant life and then turn your head to the heavens. You see hundreds of stars in the sky, and the brightest are conspicuously twinkling and gleaming. Some are even shifting their colors across the rainbow, delighting your eyes and mind—unless you’re out there to do some observing with a telescope.
Lluvia de meteoros Eta Acuáridas: cuándo es y cómo atraer abundancia

3 weeks ago | glamour.mx | Phil Plait |Alejandra Rodríguez

¿Estás listo para la Lluvia de meteoros Eta Acuáridas? Si todavía no sabes cuándo observar este fenómeno astronómico ni tienes idea de qué se trate, ¡has llegado a la nota correcta! Aquí te contamos TODO lo que debes saber y sobre todo, cómo aprovechar al máximo su energía para abrirte los caminos del éxito y la abundancia. Aunque cada año son visibles desde la Tierra unas 30 lluvias de estrellas, las Eta Acuáridas son quizás las más famosas de todas: El cometa Halley.
What Is a Galaxy?

4 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Phil Plait

If you’ve been reading this column lately, you might have noticed a recent trend where I try to answer some deceptively simple questions: What is a planet? What is a moon? What is a star? A recurring theme here is that it’s hard to define such terms because definitions are, well, definite, while nature is seldom so. In keeping with both trend and theme, it’s time to take a step outward—a big step. What’s a galaxy?
Could the Sun Unleash Dangerous Superflares?

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Phil Plait

In our daily lives, the sun seems constant and quiet, sedately shining at a steady pace. But looks can be deceiving: our star can also blast out powerful solar storms, huge explosions of energy and subatomic particles. If these are directed toward us, they can trigger auroras and disrupt our power grids, as well as play havoc with Earth-orbiting satellites. These storms are magnetic in nature. A fundamental rule in physics is that charged particles create magnetic fields around them as they move.
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower will light up the night sky this week

1 month ago | cntravellerme.com | Phil Plait

In early May 2025 the annually recurring Eta Aquariid meteor shower will grace the night sky. The meter shower peaks on May 5 and May 6, but the best time to watch it is actually the week prior to avoid interference from the waxing moon. Depending on your location, you can expect to see anywhere from 10 to as many as 50 shooting stars per hour.
The Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Will Light Up the Night Sky This Week

1 month ago | cntraveler.com | Phil Plait

In early May 2025 the annually recurring Eta Aquariid meteor shower will grace the night sky. The meter shower peaks on May 5 and May 6, but the best time to watch it is actually the week prior to avoid interference from the waxing moon. Depending on your location, you can expect to see anywhere from 10 to as many as 50 shooting stars per hour.
Space Isn’t as Silent as You Might Think

1 month ago | scientificamerican.com | Phil Plait

“In space no one can hear you scream.”That now classic tagline (from Alien, one of the greatest science-fiction horror movies ever made) hinges on a big assumption that most of us broadly make: space is empty. And it is—mostly. But there is stuff out there between the stars, and in some cases there’s enough of it to make a little noise over. So maybe we should amend that line. In space no one can hear you scream—unless, that is, you scream loudly enough and in the right place.