• Rocket Launches: Good and Bad News for Lunar Launches

    First, the good news is that India successfully launched a rocket to the Moon last Friday. The Chandrayaan-3 mission, or “moon craft,” includes an orbiter as well as a rover that will explore the southern pole of the Moon. This is India’s second attempt to land on the lunar surface after a failed attempt back…

  • Study Findings: Diverse Organic-mineral Associations in Jezero Crater, Mars

    Nature abstract of the study findings: The presence and distribution of preserved organic matter on the surface of Mars can provide key information about the Martian carbon cycle and the potential of the planet to host life throughout its history. Several types of organic molecules have been previously detected in Martian meteorites and at Gale crater, Mars. Evaluating…

  • Television: Season Two of Foundation

    If you are not watching Foundation on Apple TV+, I recommend you give it a try. Season two begins today. We need it during a summer with very few if any films touching on space fantasies (without Marvel or DC Comics superheros). The season two trailer will show you what is in store this season,…

  • Pic of the Week: Anniversary Image from JWST

    This amazing image was released by NASA earlier this week in celebration of the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) one year anniversary. It shows the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, which is the closest star-forming region to Earth. Here is more from NASA: Webb’s image shows a region containing approximately 50 young stars, all of them…

  • Where is This? July 12, 2023 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 “Where is This? The Answer Sheet” page.

  • A Day in Astronomy: The Anniversary of JWST

    Tomorrow, July 12th, is the first anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). As a result, NASA has a few events planned that you may want to attend. Here is the schedule from NASA:

  • More on AI & Astronomy: This Time Google’s Bard

    This past Sunday, 60 Minutes had a segment on Google and artificial intelligence (AI) called Exploring the human-like side of artificial intelligence at Google. Part of the discussion covered Google’s new AI chat bot Bard. And while the creative output of Bard was impressive, it was a little too creative when asked asked about economics.…

  • Space Quote: Did Harvard Professor Avi Loeb Find Evidence of Intelligent Alien Life?

    “Our findings open a new frontier in astronomy of studying what lies outside the solar system through microscopes rather than telescopes.” -Statement by Harvard Professor Avi Loeb to USAToday regarding his recent recovery of what is believed to be fragments of an asteroid from outside our solar system that crashed into the Earth back in…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The Beginning of Radio Astronomy

    On this day in 1933, American physicist and radio engineer Karl Guthe Jansky created the science of radio astronomy by publishing “”Radio Waves From Outside the Solar System” discussing his discovery that radio waves were emanating from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Unfortunately, Mr. Jansky was not a trained astronomer, so he was…

  • Safety Concerns Are Not a Personal Insult

    If you go to the OceanGate Expeditions website, home of the recently lost Titan submersible, you will notice two statements that say it all: Exploring is fine, but you are not helping to explore the other 95 percent of the Earth’s ocean if you keep going down to the same spot. In addition, “commercial” operations…