Author: Brad E Tucker, Astrophysicist/Cosmologist, Australian National University

In the outer reaches of our Solar System, 5.7 billion kilometres from the Sun, lies the dwarf planet Pluto. Smaller than Australia, it is an icy world of mountains, glaciers and craters where the average temperature is –232°C. Five moons orbit Pluto – Styx, Nix, Kerberos, Hydra and Charon. Of these, Charon is the largest. Unlike most other planetary systems, it exists in a “binary system” with its parent body, meaning they both orbit a point in space between the two. Much mystery still surrounds Pluto and its moons. But in new research published in Nature Communications today, a team…

For the more than 100,000 years humans have been on Earth, we have looked up at night and seen the stars and our celestial home, the Milky Way galaxy. Cultures all around the world have stories and records incorporating this majestic, sublime sight. However, nearly 3 billion people can no longer see the Milky Way when they look skyward at night. In turn, their connection to the cosmos – and to the sense of deep time it represents – has also been lost. Light pollution is the culprit of this loss. But it is a relatively recent problem. In fact,…