• Pic of the Week: A Variety of Galaxies

    With all the excitement about the James Webb Space Telescope, let’s not forget about the ongoing great work being performed by the Hubble Space Telescope. This recently released Hubble image shows multiple galaxies as well as multiple types of galaxies. Here is a full description from the European Space Agency: This luminescent image features multiple galaxies,…

  • Podcast/Book Review: The Mission: A True Story

    A recent episode of the Astronomy Cast podcast recommended a number of books to read this summer, including David W. Brown’s book The Mission: A True Story. It highlights all the efforts to make the soon-to-be-launched Europa Clipper mission a reality. Below is the book blurb by Harper Collins: In the spirit of Tom Wolfe…

  • Podcast: Scientists Discuss the JWST

    It is worth checking out the BBC’s Sky at Night podcast if you want to follow the stars or just listen to astronomers discussing the night sky. Two recent episodes in particular, both related to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), should be on your podcast list. How James Webb Space Telescope Observes the Universe…

  • Space Quote: Why the Moon?

    “But why, some say the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why – 35 years ago – why fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon, we choose to go to the Moon in this decade and…

  • Artemis 1: Ready for Launch

    Even after thunderstorms threatened the Artemis I launchpad over the weekend, everything is still a go for tomorrow’s scheduled launch at 8:33 am EDT of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. This NASA video shows you the entire plan for the Artemis I unmanned mission around the Moon. A few mission facts from the NASA site…

  • KSC: 60 Years and Going Strong

    With the Artemis I mission ready to go on Monday, it is worth taking a moment to remember the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) 60th anniversary. As shown in the NASA graphic below, the KSC has been very busy over the years and has much more to do. This NASA site has more information and memories.…

  • Exoplanet WASP-39b Found to Have Carbon Dioxide in its Atmosphere

    Yesterday, the University of Maryland reported that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39b, a gas giant about 700 light-years away. This is the first time carbon dioxide has been detected on a planet outside of our solar system. Eliza Kempton, an associate professor of astronomy at the…

  • Pic of the Week: A New View of Jupiter

    This week’s image once again comes from the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but instead of peering outside of our solar system, it is looking around closer to home. The image above of Jupiter is an amazing shot that shows the planet in all its glory – violent storms, glowing auroras, delicate rings, and…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The End of Pluto as a Planet

    On this day in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a new definition of “planet” that excluded Pluto. The vote at the IAU approved the following definition of a planet: is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and has…

  • More on Black Holes

    The earlier article on a black hole binary system was pretty amazing, yet the video accompanying the story was created to demonstrate the phenomena. I found an even more amazing real video of stars orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center or the Milky Way galaxy. You can see the 20-year time-lapse video here…