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Jonathan O'Callaghan

Jonathan O'Callaghan

Contributing Writer

Latest Articles

astronomy

Exoplanets Could Help Us Learn How Planets Make Magnetism

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
August 7, 2023
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New observations of a faraway rocky world that might have its own magnetic field could help astronomers understand the seemingly haphazard magnetic fields swaddling our solar system’s planets.

gravitational waves

An Enormous Gravity ‘Hum’ Moves Through the Universe

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
June 28, 2023
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Astronomers have found a background din of exceptionally long-wavelength gravitational waves pervading the cosmos.

A graphical illustration showing a number of well-known stars in the present-day universe, along with the edge of a far bigger star.
astronomy

Astronomers Say They Have Spotted the Universe’s First Stars

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
January 30, 2023
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Theory has it that “Population III” stars brought light to the cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope may have just glimpsed them.

A bright purple splotch surrounded by concentric purple rings.
astrophysics

Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Reveals Hints of Dark Matter

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
October 26, 2022
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A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a high-energy particle that shouldn’t exist. For some, dark matter provides the explanation.

A yellow and orange blob of light appears against a purple grainy background.
astronomy

Webb Space Telescope Snaps Its First Photo of an Exoplanet

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
September 1, 2022
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The grainy image of a “super-Jupiter” is a sign of what’s to come as the telescope’s exoplanet observations ramp up.

Image of a spiral galaxy strewn with ribbons of pink light.]
astronomy

Two Weeks In, the Webb Space Telescope Is Reshaping Astronomy

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
July 25, 2022
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In the days after the mega-telescope started delivering data, astronomers reported new discoveries about galaxies, stars, exoplanets and even Jupiter.

astrophysics

Black Hole Image Reveals the Beast Inside the Milky Way’s Heart

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
May 12, 2022
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In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope released a historic image of a supermassive black hole in another galaxy. The follow-up — an image of Sagittarius A* — shows it shimmering at the center of our own.

planetary science

Secrets of the Moon’s Permanent Shadows Are Coming to Light

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
April 28, 2022
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Robots are about to venture into the sunless depths of lunar craters to investigate ancient water ice trapped there, while remote studies find hints about how water arrives on rocky worlds.

climate science

Solving the Faint-Sun Paradox

By Jonathan O'Callaghan
January 27, 2022
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We might have a past faint sun to owe for life’s existence. This has consequences for the possibility of life outside Earth.


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About the author

Jonathan O'Callaghan is a freelance space and science journalist based in London. He writes regularly for a number of publications including The New York Times, Scientific American, New Scientist, Forbes and Wired. You can read more of his work or get in contact at jonathanocallaghan.com, or find him on Twitter @Astro_Jonny.
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