Museum of Science and Industry

What if I told you that researchers have found another star, in our galaxy, that was the same size as our sun? You would say “Big deal. We’ve found, like, ten billion of those.” But this star may be special! It’s called HP 56948, and a recent paper called it "the best solar twin known to date." HP 56948 has the same unusual chemical makeup as our...

A group of astronomers have released a new estimate of the number of Earth-sized planets in the life-bearing "Goldilocks Zone" surrounding each of our galaxy’s red dwarf stars: tens of billions. That’s right, there could be more than enough Earth-like planets in the Milky Way for every single human alive today to have their own. The already enormous estimate would only increase in size if you...

Over the next few weeks, if you go outside in Chicago shortly after sunset, it will be possible to see three (and maybe four) planets up in the night sky. Even with our city's light pollution, Venus and Jupiter should be visible on the eastern horizon between approximately 6 and 10 p.m. Venus is closer to the...