For millennia, humans have gazed at the northern lights with wonder, pondering their nature and source. Even today, these once mysterious phenomena still evoke awe, though we understand them a little better now. Still, most of our knowledge about the northern lights has come recently, in the last century or two. Astronomers and meteorologists of the 1800s worked for years to understand the aurora, wondering if they were a feature of Earth’s atmospheric weather, of outer space, or, perhaps, something that straddled the boundary in-between. This centuries-old attempt to understand the northern lights was an immense, international-scale project, and, through fortunate happenstance, it even helped inspire one of the underlying foundations of modern society – time zones.
Continue reading “An 1874 Citizen Science Project Studying the Aurora Borealis Helped Inspire Time Zones”Astronomy Jargon 101: Planetary Nebula
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll be confused with an actual planet after today’s topic: planetary nebula!
Continue reading “Astronomy Jargon 101: Planetary Nebula”The Sun is Slowly Tearing This Comet Apart
Using ground-based and space-based observations, a team of researchers has been monitoring a difficult-to-see comet carefully. It’s called Comet 323P/SOHO, and it was discovered over 20 years ago in 1999. But it’s difficult to observe due to its proximity to the Sun.
They’ve found that the Sun is slowly tearing the comet to pieces.
Continue reading “The Sun is Slowly Tearing This Comet Apart”The IPCC Releases its 2022 Report on Climate Change, in Case you Needed Something Else to Worry About
Since 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed and tasked with advancing knowledge of humanity’s impact on the natural environment. Beginning in 1990, they have issued multiple reports on the natural, political, and economic impacts Climate Change will have, as well as possible options for mitigation and adaptation. On Feb. 27th, the IPCC released the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) – “Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability” – and the outlook isn’t good!
Continue reading “The IPCC Releases its 2022 Report on Climate Change, in Case you Needed Something Else to Worry About”50-Year-Old Lunar Samples are Opened up for the First Time
NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon brought back about 382 kilograms (842 pounds) of samples, including rocks, rock cores, rock, pebbles, sand, and dust. Scientists have studied those samples intently over the decades and have learned a lot. But they haven’t studied all of the samples.
In an impressive act of foresight, NASA left some of the samples unopened and in pristine condition. Why? Because they knew the technology used to study the samples would only improve over the decades.
Continue reading “50-Year-Old Lunar Samples are Opened up for the First Time”Astronomy Jargon 101: Planet
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll finally have a place in the solar system after today’s topic: the planet!
Continue reading “Astronomy Jargon 101: Planet”Neutron Stars Could be the Best way to Measure Dark Energy
Dark energy is central to our modern theory of cosmology. We know the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate, and the clearest explanation is that some kind of energy is driving it. Since this energy doesn’t emit light, we call it dark energy. But simply giving dark energy a name doesn’t mean we fully understand it. We can see what dark energy does, but its fundamental nature is perhaps the biggest scientific mystery we have.
Continue reading “Neutron Stars Could be the Best way to Measure Dark Energy”Strange Terraces on Mars are a Clear Signal of Sedimentary Rock
If we’ve learned anything about Mars the past 2-3 decades from the various rovers, landers and orbiters we’ve sent to the Red Planet, it’s that the planet’s geologic history is much more complicated and diverse than what we thought.
This picture from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows fractured sedimentary rock inside a crater called Danielson. Sedimentary rock is a sure sign that this planet was active in the past. The fracturing, layering and terrace-like structures suggests a long-term watery history in this region.
Continue reading “Strange Terraces on Mars are a Clear Signal of Sedimentary Rock”Russian Space Agency Tweets a Bizarre Video Showing the Russian Modules Detaching From ISS
The world is on high alert because of the unfolding crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Ever since Russian troops began deploying to the border regions between the two countries, there have been fears that conflict would ensue. Since the invasion began, there have also been genuine anxieties that it could spill over into neighboring states and even escalate to the point of a nuclear standoff. In the midst of all this, there have also been worries about the toll it might take on international efforts in space.
The International Space Station (ISS) is made possible through the cooperative efforts and funding of its participating space agencies – NASA (U.S.), Roscosmos (Russia), the ESA (Europe), the CSA (Canada), and JAXA (Japan). As such, it was rather curious when Russian state media company RIA Novosti posted a video online that showed Russian cosmonauts packing up and detaching the Russian segment from the ISS. Whether this represents a threat or a prediction, the message is clear: cooperation in space may be the next casualty of this war!
Continue reading “Russian Space Agency Tweets a Bizarre Video Showing the Russian Modules Detaching From ISS”Astronomy Jargon 101: Protoplanetary Disk
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll just be getting started with today’s topic: protoplanetary disk!
Continue reading “Astronomy Jargon 101: Protoplanetary Disk”