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
![A handsome young man looks up at the sun through solar eclipse glasses on April 8, 2024](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/w6Yprs4xmX2TcLRcpmNqr3-320-80.jpg)
Why I watched the solar eclipse with my kids, a goose and 2,000 trees
By Brandon Specktor published
The total solar eclipse on April 8 plunged Syracuse, New York's Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology into darkness for 90 seconds, creating a wondrous and memorable totality.
![a map of galaxies in deep space, with lines tracing a shape among them](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jwj2peecGGEcTaWPV3tUmQ-320-80.jpg)
James Webb Space Telescope discovers 'Cosmic Vine' of 20 connected galaxies in the early universe
By Brandon Specktor published
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a massive chain of 20 galaxies in the early universe, raising questions about the formation of the largest structures in the cosmos.
![an asteroid falls to Earth above a city skyline](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hqx9buoVqe7WZ8yuGG8vL6-320-80.jpg)
'Planet killer' asteroids are hiding in the sun's glare. Can we stop them in time?
By Brandon Specktor published
In the glare of the sun, an unknown number of near-Earth asteroids move on unseen orbits. A new generation of space telescopes could be our best defense against potential disaster.
![Illustration of an outburst on an ultramagnetic neutron star, also called a magnetar.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/abBsxuMpuYHxKt8DFhvbDY-320-80.jpg)
Ultra-powerful plasma 'blades' could slice entire stars in half, new paper suggests
By Brandon Specktor published
Stars could be sliced in half by "relativistic blades," or ultra-powerful outflows of plasma shaped by extremely strong magnetic fields, an unpublished paper claims.
![NASA's Parker Solar Probe is currently the fastest spacecraft ever launched.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uHo6oES2T6nxjgNwJek8vV-320-80.jpg)
NASA's Parker Solar Probe smashes record for fastest human-made object
By Tia Ghose, Brandon Specktor published
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has reached a record-breaking speed as it gets a gravitational assist from Venus to fall closer to the sun's scorching surface.
![A gold-tinted disco ball reflecting light onto a gold ceiling](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KdtWFpEhCQP2oUNgVbP7Kj-320-80.jpg)
Astronomers want you to watch the Oct. 14 'ring of fire' eclipse with a disco ball. No, seriously.
By Brandon Specktor published
You can't stare at the sun, so how do you watch an eclipse? By reflecting it off of a disco ball, a team of astronomers suggests.
![An illustration of DART approaching its target asteroid system.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XzQBU292wooYCV2aFKkHMC-320-80.jpg)
Asteroid hit by NASA's DART spacecraft is behaving unexpectedly, high school class discovers
By Brandon Specktor published
Asteroid Dimorphos, which NASA intentionally hit with a rocket during its DART mission in September 2022, is behaving in unpredicted ways.
![red bolts of lightning above a large storm cloud](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pKRrMc9ikUKgTWnvxfrN33-320-80.jpg)
Photographer captures rare 'gigantic jets' of upside-down lightning blasting out of Atlantic hurricane
By Brandon Specktor published
Gigantic jets, which are 50 times more powerful than typical lightning bolts and can reach the edge of space, were seen erupting out of Hurricane Franklin near Puerto Rico.
![A distant red star erupting with a fiery flare that extends far off the star's surface](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/LBj3gmw7iG8BZ8E3noNEDo-320-80.jpg)
Gargantuan 'superflare' from distant star may have launched one of the strongest solar storms ever seen
By Brandon Specktor published
Scientists studying a star system in Orion witnessed one of the most powerful stellar eruptions ever seen — and it could be devastating to nearby planets.
![An illustration of a large rocky asteroid moving through space as the blue Earth sits in the distance](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KSS2te28e4yLCXzGAPanek-320-80.jpg)
'Potentially hazardous' skyscraper-size asteroid will zip past Earth on April 6
By Brandon Specktor published
The potentially hazardous asteroid 2023 FM is larger than a 40-story building and will zoom within 7.5 lunar distances from Earth on Thursday, April 6, according to NASA.
![The newly discovered asteroid 2023 DW flies close by Earth on Feb. 14, 2046.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/g4pqkRhNuPLBAyn7BDio5L-320-80.jpg)
Newly discovered asteroid the size of a swimming pool has a 1-in-600 chance of colliding with Earth, NASA says
By Brandon Specktor published
The newly discovered asteroid 2023 DW could collide with Earth in February 2046, although the odds of an impact are low.
![A cracked hillside on Mars looks just like the face of a teddy bear](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KtpYtMuPktQhtb84ALHKUL-320-80.jpg)
NASA spies Martian rocks that look just like a teddy bear
By Brandon Specktor published
A broken hill, an ancient crater and the human tendency to find faces everywhere may explain the teddy bear on Mars.
![A color rendition of NGC 6302, the Butterfly Nebula, created from black-and-white exposures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2019 and 2020.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VypBRGKUCsZ3rFnZXhJToB-320-80.jpg)
Spectacular Butterfly Nebula offers a glimpse of our sun's final fate
By Brandon Specktor published
New time-lapse images of the beautiful Butterfly Nebula come closer to explaining its spectacular strangeness.
![The Pentagon, home to the U.S. Department of Defense, is being flooded with UFO reports.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SVSDWoZHADcqGkZCfNuGQA-320-80.jpg)
US military reports 'several hundred' UFO sightings in 2022, Pentagon officials claim
By Brandon Specktor published
UFO reports from U.S. military personnel are flooding the government's new All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
![edge of space](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ERmDKo5vA9xM2wmUKeK5v7-320-80.jpg)
The Edge of Space Just Crept 12 Miles Closer to Earth
By Brandon Specktor last updated
Where does the sky end and space begin? According to a new study, the edge of space is a lot closer than you think.
![A composite image showing the 58 galaxies clustered together in the "zone of avoidance" behind the Milky Way.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hTzoQacDxxp2SLE57qsEc4-320-80.jpg)
Scientists discover massive 'extragalactic structure' behind the Milky Way
By Brandon Specktor published
An uncharted region of space known as the "zone of avoidance" lurks behind the Milky Way's center – and astronomers just found an enormous, multi-galaxy structure there.
![A government employee photographed a UFO that hovered for 15 minutes near Holloman Air Development Center in New Mexico, on Dec.16, 1957.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6QCaGWS3KQcLEwaJCMAmiK-320-80.jpg)
Most UFOs are 'Chinese surveillance' drones and 'airborne clutter,' Pentagon officials reveal
By Brandon Specktor published
The U.S. government has officially started to explain some of the most infamous UFO encounters of the last decade, with China and weather balloons as top offenders.
![The night sky over Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020. A recent report claims there may be UFOs lurking in the skies of Kyiv, but the country's national science agency thinks otherwise.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/48gzvqjeu9yWcRrPutwLrW-320-80.jpeg)
There aren't actually UFOs over Ukraine, experts say
By Brandon Specktor last updated
A recent report about pitch-black "phantom" UFOs in the skies over Ukraine has been discredited by Ukrainian scientists and by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb.
![A satellite view of the partial solar eclipse seen on Oct. 25, 2022.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7n3G8Cv65DxdoD9QAM2i7Z-320-80.jpeg)
Watch a 'ring of fire' eclipse play out from space in epic new Hinode satellite footage
By Brandon Specktor last updated
A partial solar eclipse on Oct. 25 looked like an epic ring of fire when viewed by the Hinode satellite, new footage reveals.
![An illustration of two black holes merging.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YVfGmNdKp6FKVPpxP5LhBU-320-80.jpg)
One of the most extreme black hole collisions in the universe just proved Einstein right
By Brandon Specktor published
A monster merger between two black holes sent ripples through time and space, and may prove Einstein right about a gravitational phenomenon called precession.
![debris flying from bright impact site](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/i9jEh4bBvgBYdeG8sVTLnU-320-80.jpg)
Could an asteroid destroy Earth?
By Brandon Specktor published
When large asteroids hit the Earth, they trigger mass extinctions and climate chaos. But could an asteroid destroy the planet entirely?
![orange meshlike material broken by a dark spot](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/g7ftwBFvfHWACUGZ4UQJUM-320-80.jpg)
Why are sunspots black?
By Brandon Specktor published
Why are sunspots black? According to astronomers, it may be a big, cosmic optical illusion.
![rippled swirl of stars against black background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RTwnvRzp5x2jLHqYTKsFx8-320-80.png)
The Milky Way is 'rippling' like a pond, and scientists may finally know why
By Brandon Specktor published
New research suggests that a strange 'ripple' is causing the Milky Way's stars to vibrate out of step, and an ancient collision with Sagittarius may be to blame.