• Book Review: Starry Messenger Starring Neil deGrasse Tyson

    Neil deGrasse Tyson has put out quite a few popular astronomy books over the years, including: And while he often runs into the thick of current politics in his interviews, his books tended to stick to science. His latest book, Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, is one of the exceptions and at least one…

  • Pic of the Week: Juno and Europa

    This week’s image is from NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter and its moons. It is a beautiful image of Europa from the spacecraft’s Junocam. Europa is one of 80 known moons orbiting its host planet. Here is a little more from NASA about this image: JunoCam took its closest image at an altitude of 945…

  • Successful Start to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission

    Earlier today, SpaceX Crew-5 successfully departed from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). The four members on this flight are NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina. The population of the ISS will increase…

  • Space Stories: JWST, a Galaxy Catalog, and a Stellar Graveyard

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Nature.com: “‘Bit of Panic’: Astronomers Forced to Rethink Early Webb Telescope Findings“ Astronomers have been so keen to use the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that some have got a little ahead of themselves. Many started analysing Webb data right after the first batch was released, on 14…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Launch of Sputnik

    On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, humanity’s first artificial satellite, setting of a space race that continues to this day. The U.S. National Archives has a copy of minutes from an October 9 meeting between President Eisenhower and his advisors to discuss Sputnik I. The text accompanying the minutes demonstrates…

  • The New Space Force Anthem

    You may not have heard the news, but the U.S. Space Force now has its own anthem, similar to other military services. Here are the lyrics to the new song called “Semper Supra” (Latin for “Always Above”) first unveiled at the 2022 Air & Space Forces Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor,…

  • Where is This? October 2, 2022 Quiz

    Take a look at the image above. Can you determine where this image originated? Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the menu and selecting the “Where is This? The Answer Sheet” page.

  • A Day in Astronomy: New Space Agencies

    October 1 is a significant date for two of the world’s largest space agencies. On this day in 1958, NASA had its first day of operations after being created a few months earlier by President Eisenhower in the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. Here is more about the creation of the Agency as…

  • Hubble: SpaceX to the Rescue

    The Washington Post reports that NASA and SpaceX are looking into the idea of extending the life of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which has already been in service more than 30 years. The space telescope’s orbit has been deteriorating since 2009, when it was last visited for repairs. The current orbit should be okay…

  • A Day in Astronomy: Launch of the Orbiting Solar Observatory 7

    On this day in 1971, NASA launched the Orbiting Solar Observatory 7 satellite to study the Sun. It successfully completed its mission and remained in orbit through July 9, 1974. According to a December 31, 1972 report by Ball Brothers Research Corporation, the goal of the Orbiting Solar Observatory program was to make observations and measurements contributing…