• More Angst Regarding the International Space Station

    You may have already seen this ridiculous Russian video that NASA Watch shared with the world. It is very disturbing. Presumably created by the Russian space program Roscosmos, it shows the Russian portion of the International Space Station (ISS) breaking away as a result of the worldwide sanctions against the Russians for invading Ukraine. Here…

  • Pic of the Week: Test-Bed Telescope 2

    This week’s photo is from the European Space Agency (ESA) and shows a recently-completed telescope in Chile designed to detect dangerous asteroids. Here is the full story: Part of the world-wide effort to scan and identify near-Earth objects, the European Space Agency’s Test-Bed Telescope 2 (TBT2), a technology demonstrator hosted at ESO’s La Silla Observatory…

  • Podcast: The End of the World

    Yes, the title is bleak, but it is worth going through this earlier podcast to ponder the future of mankind in a universe that has not shown any other inhabitants to date. Is this because of some internal or external filtering mechanism, such as nuclear war or the dangers or space travel? Is there something…

  • Another Space Telescope is Coming: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

    With all the excitement about the James Webb Space Telescope coming online shortly, we do not want to forget about another space telescope in development. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, expected to be launched in 2027, will be even more productive than the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA noted the new space telescope will be:…

  • Local Black Hole: False Alarm

    You may have remembered this NASA tweet from September 2020: HR 6819 is the closest black hole we’ve detected so far, and it lies about 1,000 light-years away. ⚫️ Statistics say there should be one as close as 65 light-years, though we may never detect it unless it lights up! The original European Space Agency…

  • Television: The Orville Returns (Shortly)

    Season three of The Orville was supposed to return this week, but is has been pushed off until June 2nd. Hence, it will have been more than three years since the last episode on April 25, 2019. Seth McFarlane, also known as Captain Ed Mercer, tweeted that the delay relates to COVID, indicating that the…

  • In Case You Missed It: The Vatican’s Space Observatory

    Just in case you missed it, I recommend you read NPR’s June 2021 article, “The Vatican’s Space Observatory Wants To See Stars And Faith Align.” You can read about the interplay of astronomy and the Catholic Church. For instance, did you know the idea of the Big Bang originated with a Belgian priest? Or that…

  • Where is This?: The March 4, 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?” page.

  • Pic of the Week: Lunar Transit

    This week’s photo is a “lunar transit” of the International Space Station (ISS) taken on January 18, 2022. The details in the photo are impressive, including Tycho crater. The Mashable article accompanying this image states: The silhouette of the space station is so clear, observers can make out a faint grid pattern on its solar…

  • Viewing the Dark-side of an Exoplanet

    It was not so long ago that we were questioning the very existence of exoplanets, and now we are measuring their dark-sides. MIT News has a story about a recent paper discussing the findings of astronomers observing an exoplanet approximately 850 light years from Earth. About twice the size of Jupiter and tidally-locked with its…