Brandon Specktor
Brandon has been a senior writer at Live Science since 2017, and was formerly a staff writer and editor at Reader's Digest magazine. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, CBS.com, the Richard Dawkins Foundation website and other outlets. He holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona, with minors in journalism and media arts. He enjoys writing most about space, geoscience and the mysteries of the universe.
Latest articles by Brandon Specktor
![The spiral galaxy NGC 4535 is better known as the 'Lost Galaxy' for its famously hazy appearance.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zMpmFT9rGbvHRj4bwCapd6-320-80.jpg)
NASA finds 'Lost Galaxy' shining out of Virgo's bosom
By Brandon Specktor last updated
This hazy spiral galaxy is one of the largest in the Virgo cluster — a collection of more than 2,000 galaxies.
![This NASA illustration depicts an O'Neill Cylinder: a floating human habitat orbiting an alien planet. A new paper proposes building a mega-colony of them around the dwarf planet, Ceres.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xMnYeJyZBB58Kzz7N8qYei-320-80.jpg)
Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says
By Brandon Specktor published
A new paper proposes building a 'megasatellite' of human habitats around the dwarf planet Ceres.
![Charred trees are seen along Pallet Creek Road during the Bobcat Fire in Valyermo, California, September 18, 2020. Climate change is poised to exacerbate the frequency and intensity of annual wildfires.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NVrjiFYQdYJuGKjTkMjNhV-320-80.jpg)
The planet is dying faster than we thought
By Brandon Specktor published
Humanity is barreling toward a "ghastly future" of mass extinctions, health crises and constant climate-induced disruptions to society.
![U.S. Navy videos of alleged UFO sightings were previously available but had not been officially declassified.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zMLLEUU9rsGVGHh5KhmaRA-320-80.jpg)
CIA releases entire collection of UFO-related documents to truth-seeking website
By Brandon Specktor last updated
The CIA just turned over 2,700 pages of UFO-related material to The Black Vault, a free repository of UFO records online.
![Mars and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BeneoUqku7iBswkQo7hMz3-320-80.jpg)
A mysterious 'wobble' is moving Mars' poles around
By Brandon Specktor published
Like a teetering top, Mars refuses to rotate on a straight axis.
![The rings of Saturn glide above Jupiter as the two planets pass near Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dH8jLbdE4C6y5PFvBhTbaE-320-80.jpg)
How to watch the rare 'triple conjunction' of Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn tonight
By Brandon Specktor published
Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn will form a tight triangle in the sky this Sunday during a rare 'triple conjunction' event.
![A close-up photo of part of Mars' Valles Marineris, the single largest canyon in the solar system.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3f2jFHJSpCevv8VoUBVuLk-320-80.jpg)
Largest canyon in the solar system revealed in stunning new images
By Brandon Specktor published
Mars' Valles Marineris is nearly 10 times as long as the Grand Canyon and three times as deep, but nobody knows how it formed.
![The Crab Nebula sounds oddly beautiful.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hCHuhD5WGUsBvuZKUSXdKL-320-80.jpg)
This is what a supernova sounds like, according to NASA
By Brandon Specktor published
NASA's new data sonification project turns the universe's most extreme phenomena into sounds.
![The rings of Saturn glide above Jupiter as the two planets pass near Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dH8jLbdE4C6y5PFvBhTbaE-320-80.jpg)
Jupiter and Saturn descend on world's tallest building in epic 'Great Conjunction' video
By Brandon Specktor published
A photographer filmed the "Great Conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn as the heavenly bodies passed by Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
![An artist's illustration of the evolution of the interstellar object 'Oumuamua, whose weird, elongated shape may have come from tidal forces.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zgSZKKvVtpBRYub6YdWTpU-320-80.jpg)
Here's what we learned about aliens in 2020
By Brandon Specktor published
From the best places to find them to what they might breathe, here are the newest clues we discovered about alien life.
![This false-color map shows the newfound X-ray bubbles (yellow and red) towering over the galactic center.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/84NrF7baNVqBUQAtemUpvg-320-80.jpg)
Two strange blobs of X-ray energy are swirling out of the galaxy's center
By Brandon Specktor published
The eROSITA X-ray telescope just revealed two strange bubbles of X-ray energy, sitting smack-dab inside the Fermi Bubbles.
![This map shows how the 40,000 stars closest to our solar system will move over the next 400,000 years.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F9A5R54nwwkTHFByZNrsvk-320-80.gif)
Epic time-lapse shows what the Milky Way will look like 400,000 years from now
By Brandon Specktor published
The Gaia space observatory just released its most detailed map of the universe yet, including the trajectories of hundreds of millions of stars.
![The ASKAP radio telescope array, located in the Australian outback, just mapped 3 million galaxies in less than a month.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ENcr4QGUAsac58TmkhifMZ-320-80.jpg)
Scientists just mapped 1 million new galaxies, in 300 hours
By Brandon Specktor published
Australian scientists tested all 36 receivers on the ASKAP radio telescope for the first time ever, mapping 85% of the sky in 300 hours.
![A globular cluster (yellow) shines in the Large Magellanic cloud, one of the Milky Way's smaller satellite galaxies.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/j3tbovarzPbT5mAxgswxtn-320-80.jpg)
Newfound 'Kraken merger' may have been the biggest collision in Milky Way's history
By Brandon Specktor published
Astronomers have discovered a previously unknown galactic collision between the Milky Way and the mysterious 'Kraken galaxy.'
![A 2017 STEVE event over New Zealand reveals the strange new feature that astronomers are calling "streaks."](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dSiyWPeG8QG5488EmhhLXX-320-80.jpg)
STEVE is smearing green 'streaks' across the sky, and nobody knows why
By Brandon Specktor published
Astronomers report a strange new feature of the aurora-like STEVE, which they are calling 'streaks.'
![Lasers fly through space toward the glowing Carina Nebula](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hxnrVrqguSMYznUgUSBML-320-80.jpg)
Earth is fighting a laser duel with the exploding Carina Nebula
By Brandon Specktor published
An epic photo shows the ESO's Very large Telescope firing four orange lasers at a distant star system.
![An eerie lenticular cloud forms over El Chalten mountain in Argentina](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gJUPSFwAKBLDgMoZsEmSmm-320-80.jpeg)
Ghostly 'UFO cloud' hovering over mountains wows judges in weather photo contest
By Brandon Specktor published
Lenticular clouds look like saucers and form when wind meets mountains. This photo is one of the Royal Meteorological Society's favorites of the year.
![A cold day in Greenland](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ryQjGXDhvLXhSWWz33ZxrQ-320-80.jpg)
Climate scientists uncover new record-low temperature in Greenland
By Brandon Specktor published
Climate archivists have found the coldest day ever in the Northern Hemisphere, set by Greenland in 1991
![Wildfire smoke from California charges across the country, meeting hurricanes along the way.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uKjHaN9kpDBbpEV3jJEcDP-320-80.jpg)
Climate fires and hurricanes collide in this shocking NASA satellite image
By Brandon Specktor published
An epic series of satellite images shows smokes from the California wildfires clashing with hurricanes in the Eastern United States and Gulf Coast.
![A climate map showing the last 66 million years of Earth's history](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7RSVUf8qwuGPEmshqE9UfD-320-80.png)
Earth barreling toward 'Hothouse' state not seen in 50 million years, epic new climate record shows
By Brandon Specktor published
Scientists used marine fossils and orbital data to recreate 66 million years of climate history. Its shows that climate change is anything but 'normal.'
![The Ellesmere ice caps are gone](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gYA4BeXmi9JcNrxRhiSk3c-320-80.png)
Two Canadian ice caps have completely vanished from the Arctic, NASA imagery shows
By Brandon Specktor published
New NASA imagery shows that the St. Patrick bay ice caps have vanished from Arctic Canada, two years sooner than scientists predicted
![Artist's impression of a magnetar launching a burst of X-ray and radio waves across the galaxy](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7x9gFJHWAsNhMtXCfabphg-320-80.jpg)
Mysterious 'fast radio burst' detected closer to Earth than ever before
By Brandon Specktor published
Scientists traced a fast radio burst (FRB) to a known star inside the Milky Way for the first time.
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