October has always been my favorite month for observing, as the month usually offers the best observing weather of the year. The longer, cooler nights also allow for almost an entire year’s worth of sky to be seen in one night—if you can stay awake!
Archive for the 'Astronomy' Category
Many apologies for being about a week late on this article. Hard to believe that a week of September has already passed us by…
Hilarious Photoshop contest over at Worth1000: “Promote and advertise the ninth planet.”
Funny stuff.
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**UPDATED**: A previous version of this post contained inaccurate information (thank you, BBC and NPR). What follows is straight from the horse’s mouth - the IAU.)
We have 12 planets now.
As I wrote a couple of months ago, the International Astronomical Union met this summer to finally define what a “planet” is. At issue is the [...]
Do methane lakes exist on Titan? The Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn has returned data and imagery indicating that it is a possibility.
I found myself imagining what a methane lake would look like from the shoreline… frigid, viscous liquid; hissing a drizzly mist as Titan’s strong winds rolled over it; with Titan’s yellow mist blurring the [...]
Ahhh… the dog days of summer have arrived. Ever wonder where the term “dog days” comes from?
Over the course of a year, the Sun makes one complete circuit against the background of constellations (from our vantage point on Earth). Imagine it this way: Say you place a lamp in the center of a room, [...]
Pre-space age art
Published July 27th, 2006 in Astronomy, Observations and Visual/Technical Communication. 0 CommentsIn this era of space telescopes, satellites, and Photoshop, it’s easy to forget that only a few decades ago, we had no idea of what space actually looked like. The task of communicating the wonders of space was left to the dreamers and artists, and we depended on them to stir our imaginations and passion [...]
