The Galactic Inquirer

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Multi-Spectral Imagery of the Multi-phase ISM in M33

We investigate star formation in the Sc(s) II-III galaxy M33 by analyzing eight prominent HII regions using multi-wavelength data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and optical imagery. Results indicate that dust emission is a compact tracer of high-mass star formation, while PAH and H-alpha emissions decline more slowly with galactocentric radius.

We’re All Healthier Under a Starry Sky

Blue wavelengths of light are damaging to many forms of life, and glare from unshielded light compromises road safety and infiltrates bedrooms, suppressing melatonin production, undermining sleep quality and duration, and exacerbating susceptibility to many kinds of illness...

Sticking Close to Home: Observing our Local Solar System

An astronomical year for me ….When I was in the third grade I suddenly became very interested in everything astronomical – especially the planets of our local solar system.  That same year we studied the Solar System in public school, and that only added to my excitement over the topic.  I began badgering my parents to buy me a telescope...

Statistical Properties of Fast Radio Bursts from the CHIME/FRB Catalog 1: The Case for Magnetar Wind Nebulae as Likely Sources

Fast Radio Bursts are flashes of radio emission lasting for several milliseconds. The time of arrival of signals depends on the radio frequency, called the dispersion measure (DM), which depends on the environment through which the signals travel, specifically the number of free electrons in their path. Very few FRBs have matches with sources observed at other wavelengths (Wikipedia - Fast Radio Burst).

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Using the Earth & Space Reports Video Series as an Educational Resource for Teachers and their Students

Each episode consists of an online presentation by a research scientist, educator, or communicator on some topic in the Earth & space sciences.

Why We Don’t Need to Save the Planet – It’s our Biosphere that Needs Help

By now, you have probably read or heard that our polluting ways have reached a critical point, where Earth is rapidly approaching total failure as a planet.  Perhaps you have wondered how we humans could have managed to do so much damage in so little time. 

Governance in Outer Space: Future Challenges and Authoritarian Prospects [1]

Permanent settlements in space will require forms of localized government that are likely to differ from contemporary models of political order. This article thus asks a provocative question associated with the empirical record of human colonization and settlement in prior eras: What sort of authoritarian governance is most likely to form in human space settlements during the medium term?

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Book Review: Alan Lightman’s The Accidental Universe, The World You Thought You Knew

There has always been a lot of conflict and contention between religion and science, arguably since the beginning of human abstract thought. Everyone has an opinion on how the two interact, intermingle, or completely repel against each other. The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew is simply one man’s opinion written into a book.

Our Elusive Milky Way

For most of human history, the night sky demanded...

How to Talk to Aliens

If we ever make contact with an alien civilization,...