Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’
Partial lunar eclipse…
A partial lunar eclipse is happening this afternoon, so if you live in one of the places where it can be seen, you can use this event as a prelude to the total solar eclipse in a couple of weeks.
UPDATE: We have some photos in, taken from some of the places offering really fine views of the event.
Record-breaking super-moon…
The biggest and brightest super-moon in almost 70 years is headed our way on the eve of November 14th. It will appear about 14% larger and 30% brighter than the average full moon, so it really will e special for us regular sky-watchers, not just the astronomers. If you miss this even, you’ll have to wait until 2034 to see something as spectacular, so mark your calnedars!
Olbers Paradox…
German astronomer Heinrich Olbers famously pondered the “dark sky paradox” two centuries ago, and suggested that hydrogen gas was blocking us from seeing all the stars at night.
His theory was dismissed, but thanks to the Hubble Telescope, we know know there are enough stars to fill the night sky, as Olbers thought, and it appears the German may have been correct about why we couldn’t see them.
Peering for Perseid…
This is supposed to be a great year for watching the annual Perseid meteor shower, but I was outside at the appropriate time and didn’t see a single one. That was hugely disappointing, but I’ll try again. You should too, because a meteor shower is such an amazing phenomenon.
Look up!
If you go outside and look up at the sky Tuesday night, you may see what could account for the Star of Bethlehem.
Exploding asteroid…
Some residents of a city in Slovakia got a frightening light show when a meteor exploded upon entering the atmosphere. Let’s hear it for dash-cams!
Colorful cosmic cluster…
One of the telescopes at the La Silla Observatory in Chile has taken a lovey photo of Star cluster NGC 3532, which was actually the first target ever observed by the Hubble Space Telescope back in the 1990’s.
More conventionally known as the Wishing Well Cluster or Football Cluster, this grouping is 300 million years old, which means it is entering its twilight years in astronomic terms. Not to worry — it’s still bright and big, even from 1,300 light-years away, but until you’re in one of the places on earth you can see it from, enjoy this beautiful shot of the cluster.
