• Space Quote: Complex Artemis III Plans for 2027

    “Every piece of this mission in Earth orbit is designed to reduce risk before we put astronauts back on the Moon…We’re launching three spacecraft on three different rockets and testing how they operate together — something NASA has never attempted. Every lesson we learn here gets us closer to landing on the Moon in 2028.”…

  • Pic of the Week: The Starry Night Story

    This week’s image is from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. It shows Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting The Starry Night. Created during his time at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy, it is believed Van Gogh painted the piece in June 1989. But is it a true recreation of the night…

  • Strange Sightings in the Cornfield

    US farmers have it tough enough these days without the added fear of space junk falling on their heads, yet that is what appears to be the case in a Minnesota cornfield. The farmer bumped into the debris, about 11 feet in diameter, while harvesting his crop. So where did it come from? One astrophysicist…

  • The Search for Black Holes

    Do you need something to do tonight? How about spending some time searching for a black hole or two in our Milky Way? If you don’t believe me, then check out the website for Black Hole Hunters. You will be searching data obtained from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Within this data are an…

  • Space Stories: Japanese Spacecraft Leaves for Mars, Extreme Exoplanet Weather, and Ghostly Green Stars

    Here are some recent space-related stories of interest. —Sky & Telescope: “Japan Launches the Martian Moons Exploration Mission“ A two-stage, H3-24L rocket lit up the predawn skies over Tanegashima Space Center on the southern tip of Japan early on Tuesday, October 20th (3:41 p.m. EDT on October 19th), carrying a mission headed for the Red…

  • Study Findings: Two Families of Multi-planet Systems With Distinct Architectures and Stellar Hosts

    Nature Astronomy abstract of study findings: The rapidly growing census of exoplanets now includes over a thousand multi-planet systems, revealing architectures that span more than four orders of magnitude in mass and five in orbital scale. Explaining the origin of this striking diversity remains a central challenge for planet formation theory, compounded by observational biases that…

  • Video/Podcast: The Future of Mankind and AI

    Cool Worlds Lab has some great video on YouTube worth watching. One of latest related to artificial intelligence (AI), titled “AI Has Poisoned Everything?” As with most of the videos on the site, it poses a number of questions. In this case, the questions are very troubling. I am used to the videos asking questions…

  • Space Quote: No One Knows Anything While Ukraine Burns

    “Well, I don’t know if it was anybody, because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon, and from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.” –Statement by President Trump after being asked about interference with the Starlink system used by the Ukrainians to defend their country against Russian attacks.…

  • Pic of the Week: Nebula Pa 30 – Space Fireworks

    This week’s image is from the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii. The spectacular explosion you see here is not the end of the Death Star, but rather Nebula Pa 30. Here is what NASA’s Astronomy Photo of the Day website has to say about this image: It is likely the remnant of an old supernova…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Final Home for Space Shuttle Endeavour

    On this day in 2012, NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at the California Space Center after a 12-mile journey from the Los Angeles International Airport. Officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), the Endeavor was one of four fully-capable space shuttles operated by NASA (Space Shuttle Enterprise, the fifth space shuttle, was a prototype). The…