• Iranian Astronomy Collaboration, Anyone?

    The Iranian National Observatory (INO) is now operational, with its first images now available (see sample below). After 20 years and $25 million, Iranian astronomers now have their own view of the heavens. Fine tuning of the telescope is underway, but it should soon be ready for its initial focus on the evolution of galaxies…

  • The National Air and Space Museum is Open for Business

    If you have been awaiting the refurbishing of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, then you will be happy to know that the museum reopened on October 14th. Only now you cannot simply stroll into the museum. Instead, you need to obtain a free timed-entry pass. Unfortunately, this seems to be the current system…

  • In Case You Missed It/Podcast: Retelling the Story of the Mission to the Moon

    If you are looking for a good story that you to listen to during your next car trip, you cannot do better than the Washington Post’s Moonrise podcast. It has a bit of everything, including science fiction stories, Nazi war machines, Russian persecution, American post-WWII politics, and a bit of astronomy as well. Here is…

  • Pic of the Week: The Pillars of Creation

    This week’s image is a redo of an earlier Hubble Space Telescope image (shown below), but this time we see the Pillars of Creation through the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The pillars is part of the Eagle Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years away. Here is more from NASA on the JWST…

  • Space Stories: Volcanic Exoplanets, Medieval Star Maps, and Near-Earth Asteroids

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Universe.com: “Scientists Discover a New Way Exoplanets Could Make Oxygen; Unfortunately, it Doesn’t Require Life“ The researchers have found an abiotic source of oxygen that stems from sulphur dioxide. Sulphur is not rare in celestial bodies, and since volcanoes produce sulphur and pump it into the atmosphere, terrestrial volcanic…

  • Study Findings: Early Mars Habitability and Global Cooling by H2-based Methanogens

    Nature Astronomy abstract: During the Noachian, Mars’ crust may have provided a favourable environment for microbial life. The porous brine-saturated regolith would have created a physical space sheltered from ultraviolet and cosmic radiation and provided a solvent, whereas the below-ground temperature and diffusion of a dense, reduced atmosphere may have supported simple microbial organisms that consumed H2 and CO2 as…

  • First Class Fun from the US Post Office

    While the U.S. currency remains pretty boring, at least U.S. postage stamps continually change and highlight various aspects of American society. Two of those themes are science fiction and space exploration, and you have a few options if you want to show your interest in these areas. These stamps include: Star Wars Droids (above); Space…

  • Television: Debating Putin’s Nukes

    Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson was a guest on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher last Friday. During the broadcast he discussed his new book, Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, which I commented on in an earlier post. The odd part of the discussion came when Mr. Tyson was trying to explain that hydrogen bombs…

  • Artemis I: If at First You Don’t Succeed…

    NASA is ready to try the uncrewed Artemis I mission again next month. The planned date is November 14, with November 16 and 19 as back up dates. Should you need it, here is a quick summary of the Artemis I mission again: Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space…

  • Arecibo Observatory Gone Forever

    If you were hoping that the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico would have a second life, it may be time to say goodbye. Efforts to rebuild the radio telescope since it collapsed in 2020 have ended. Nature reports that the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has given up on the idea of rebuilding the telescope…