Govert Schilling
Govert Schilling is an astronomy author and a science journalist. The asteroid 10986 Govert is named after him.
Recent articles by Govert Schilling
If the Universe is infinite, has it always been infinite? Here's what the science says
Whether tiny, hot nugget or unimaginably huge cosmos, space goes on forever.
James Webb Space Telescope | See the latest images
See the latest full colour images to be released by the JWST.
What makes a planet habitable? 7 key conditions for a planet to be suitable for life as we know it
What makes Earth habitable? What can our home planet teach us about what an exoplanet needs to support life? Here are 7 ingredients for planet habitability.
Who really invented the telescope? And no, it wasn't Galileo. This is the true story of astronomy's beginnings
Why galaxies look redder the further away they are. Hint: it's to do with the expansion of the Universe
Why are galaxies redshifted? In this guide, we examine why it is that galaxies look redder the further away they are.
1,000s of times a day, a burst of radio waves is generated somewhere in the Universe. What are they?
The source of mysterious bursts of radio waves has been confounding scientists for a decade. Now we’re finally making some progress.
Metal-rich asteroids could be mined for their resources, but should humanity just leave well alone?
Could the days of cosmic collieries be rapidly approaching?
Euclid's quick data release, March 2025
What if there were no gravity?
Habitable Worlds Observatory
James Webb Space Telescope | How will JWST observe the Universe?
What will NASA's James Webb Space Telescope do, and how does it compare to the Hubble Space Telescope?
Who came up with dark matter? Seven scientists who pioneered our understanding of the dark universe
The term ‘dark matter’ was coined over a century ago. Here are 7 scientists who shed light on astronomy’s biggest mystery.
What came before the Big Bang? These are the best theories we have about the origin of the cosmos
We explore the theories about one of the most mind-boggling questions about the Universe.
Supersymmetry explained
A theory that could explain many of our Universe’s mysteries… but only if it’s true
Antimatter explained
Why is there more matter than antimatter in the Universe?
All you need to know about NASA's Psyche mission to study an asteroid up-close
A guide to NASA's Psyche mission, which will study a metal-rich asteroid up-close.
Cosmic rays explained
A primer on cosmic rays, the high-energy particles that bombard Earth from space.
The Euclid mission will study the mysteries of the dark Universe by mapping 2 billion galaxies
The new European space telescope will tackle the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime caused by cosmic collisions, and provide a new way of observing the Universe
What are gravitational waves, and what can they tell us about the Universe?
Confused about particle physics? Get the basics in our beginners' guide to studying the minuscule
What particle physics is, and what it tells us about the Universe.
The biggest questions about the Universe yet to be answered by science
Humanity has learned a lot, but many cosmological questions remain
How astronomers can observe the afterglow of the Big Bang
Can we really still see the light from the creation of the Universe? How does it help us understand the cosmos as we see it today?
Does the Universe have an edge?
What is outside the Universe? Does such a question even make sense?
NASA is about to put a radio telescope on the Moon
Could a new era of telescopes and observatories on the Moon be about to begin?