A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): Dazzling Spiral with an Active Heart ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured a magnificent face-on view of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 77. The image does justice to the galaxy’s beauty, showcasing its […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Archive for Astronomy
NASA JPL highlights sights to see in the night sky for the coming month: Prepare for the August total solar eclipse by observing the moon phases this month. Plus, two meteor showers peak at the end of July. For astronomy […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A total solar eclipse will pass over North America on August 21st. Below are some videos and web resources for the event. [ Update: Astro Maven Rick Boozer points me to an eclipse viewing event that he will be hosting in South […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A new report from the ESO (European Southern Observatory): VST Captures Three-In-One Two of the sky’s more famous residents share the stage with a lesser-known neighbour in this enormous new three gigapixel image from ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST). On […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here is a NASA article about how artists create imagery of planets around other stars realistically despite the fact no one has ever seen such an exoplanet up close: The Art of Exoplanets The moon hanging in the night sky sent […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A new discovery by the ESO (European Southern Observatory): ALMA Finds Ingredient of Life Around Infant Sun-like Stars ALMA has observed stars like the Sun at a very early stage in their formation and found traces of methyl isocyanate — a chemical building […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Tips on what to watch for in the night sky this month from NASA JPL: Another night sky highlights report from the Hubble Telescope institute: ====
Tabby’s Star is currently one of the oddest objects observed in our galaxy. Citizen scientists working in the Planet Hunters program were the first to notice that the light output of the star, which is 1300 light years from earth, was fluctuating […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here is the latest Space to Ground report from NASA about activities related to the International Space Station: This video gives an update on the James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in 2018 on an Ariane V […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A new report from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope: The final frontier of the Frontier Fields The NASA/ESA Hubble Telescope has peered across six billion light years of space to resolve extremely faint features of the galaxy cluster Abell 370 that […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The latest report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): VISTA Peeks Through the Small Magellanic Cloud’s Dusty Veil The Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy is a striking feature of the southern sky even to the unaided eye. But visible-light telescopes cannot get a really […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here is NASA JPL’s report on what to look for in the sky in the coming month: The Hubble Space Telescope organization provides another preview of the May night sky: ====
A galaxy or other massive object can bend light. Light from a star far beyond and behind such an object from our point of view can be bent just like light going through a lens. This lens effect can result […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The latest report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): Newly Discovered Exoplanet May be Best Candidate in Search for Signs of Life An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth may be the new holder of the title “best place […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The Australian TV program ABC Stargazing Live with Brian Cox recently challenged its viewers to become citizen exoplanet finders. They succeeded within a couple of days in finding four “Super Earth” planets each about twice the size of earth. Exoplanet discovery by an amateur […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
An announcement from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy: Atmosphere around low-mass Super-Earth detected Astronomers have detected an atmosphere around the super-Earth GJ 1132b. This marks the first detection of an atmosphere around a low-mass Super-Earth, in terms of radius and […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): ALMA Captures Dramatic Stellar Fireworks Stellar explosions are most often associated with supernovae, the spectacular deaths of stars. But new ALMA observations provide insights into explosions at the other end of the stellar life […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here is a preview of the April night sky from NASA JPL: Here is another preview from HubbleSite.org: And this video highlights the opportunity to see Mercury in early April:
The latest report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): Stars Born in Winds from Supermassive Black Holes Observations using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have revealed stars forming within powerful outflows of material blasted out from supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies. […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Dr. Christian Marois of the University of Victoria gave a talk about the observation of an earth-sized planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest known star to earth: A Journey to Alpha Centauri | SETI Institute The Alpha Centauri star system is ideal to […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…