• Exoplanet or Star?

    Phys.org had a good story on the reclassification of objects captured by the NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope once believed to be exoplanets. New evidence indicates three “exoplanets” – Kepler-854b, Kepler-840b, and Kepler-699b – are actually stars (hence, the NASA image above will need to be modified). The article notes that the three objects are too…

  • The Future of the International Space Station

    Over the weekend, the Washington Post published an editorial by Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer and advisor to the National Space Council, titled, “Our space partnership with Russia can’t go on.” In the piece, Mr. Hickam argues that the International Space Station (ISS) has accomplished its goals and the US can now move onto other…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The Discovery of Uranus

    On this day in 1781, astronomer Frederick William Herschel noticed a new object in the constellation of Gemini. With further study, he found he had discovered a new planet in our solar system – Uranus. Following his discovery, King George III appointed him Court Astronomer (yes, that King George who did not get many kind words from the embattled…

  • Space Trips: Getting Too Costly?

    I thought we were trying to bring down the cost of space travel. Someone may need to inform Disney. It was already expensive enough for visit Disney World under normal circumstances, but now it is crazy if you want to be part of the new Star Wars adventure. Would you like to spend up to…

  • 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…