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“India is on the Moon,” exclaimed S. Somanath, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after their lander/rover combo touched down on the Lunar South Pole on Wednesday, August 23. In doing so India became the fourth nation to operate on the Moon after the US, Russia, and China, while also beating Japan to our… Keep Reading
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The largest explosion ever seen has been captured by astronomers—more than 10 times brighter than any known supernova, and 3 times brighter than the most radiant tidal disruption event, where a star falls into a black hole. The explosion, known as AT2021lwx, was detected in 2020 in Hawai’i and California and has currently lasted over… Keep Reading
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May is a relatively quiet month for stargazing, but three events stand out as the best chance to connect with the cosmos, and we start with number 2. On the pre-dawn hours of May 7th, the Earth will pass through the Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower, when 40 meteors may be seen per hour, with those… Keep Reading
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Just before noon on April 8th, a fireball streaked across the sunlit sky and burned up near Calais, Maine. The rare event triggered a flurry of local news coverage, including that the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel is offering a $25,000 reward for the recovery of any pieces 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) or larger. It’s… Keep Reading
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As we are only a week of waxing away from the full moon of April, it’s worth taking a look at other celestial sightseeing opportunities in the springing month. Around midnight of Wednesday, April 5th, the Pink Moon will fully illuminate the sky. Also known as the Paschal Moon, it sets the date for Easter… Keep Reading
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If you don’t mind the nip of the cold, this month’s celestial phenomena are ones to watch, and include a Nutcracker ballet between the Moon and Mars, and the king of the meteor showers. Mars is at its brightest this December between the 7th and 8th, when an occultation occurs. This is the passing of… Keep Reading
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Just in time for Halloween, NASA released a photo of the sun “smiling”. Their Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the cheery image, sharing it in a Tweet in late October. The ‘smile’ we see here are made up of three coronal holes, solar fluctuations during which fast bursts of solar wind are released, NASA explained. “Seen… Keep Reading
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Astronomers have found a planet with the average density of a marshmallow. Along with being a big softie, scientists found that the Jupiter-sized exoplanet would also float if it were hypothetically put in a giant cosmic bathtub. Astronomers using the Kitt Peak National Observatory telescope in Arizona, observed an unusual planet in orbit around a… Keep Reading
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The James Webb Space Telescope recently made its debut with the “Deep Field” image, but as we are absorbed by the beautiful colors of near-infinity, scientists have used the data behind the shot to identify a very old and fascinating object in space. Named the “Sparkler,” it’s a “globular cluster” nine billion light years away.… Keep Reading
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A thin film of plastic was, for the first time ever, turned into tiny diamonds in the blink of an eye after being shot at with a laser beam. Synthetic diamonds are valuable for their hardness and are used to make high-quality cutting and polishing tools, but equally so for their thermal conductivity, and electrical… Keep Reading
