I write about all things space -- exploration, astronomy and more. For those of us wishing our office had an orbiting view on Earth, now we can simulate that experience with a quilting pattern.

Astronomers have detected a rare pattern in the X-ray bursts coming from a neutron-star system no more than 16,300 light-years away. That star system, MAXI J1621−501, first turned up on Oct. 9 ...