history of astronomy
Christiaan Huygens’ Telescope Lenses Tell Us He Was Nearsighted
A world-famous 17th-century astronomer credited with discovering Saturn’s moon Titan may have needed glasses, according to a recent paper in…
Astronomers Have Digitized 94,000 Photographic Plates of the Night sky, Going Back 129 Years
Since the early days of the internet, and even computers more generally, there has been a push to collect all…
Betelgeuse and Antares Have Been Observed for Over 2,000 Years. Astronomers can use This to Figure out how old They are
Stars don’t usually evolve fast enough for humans to notice them change within one lifetime. Even a hundred lifetimes won’t…
‘The Clocks are Telling Lies:’ A New Book from Universe Today Writer Scott Alan Johnston
Scott Alan Johnston (that's me!) joined the Universe Today team just over a year ago. Since then, I've written over…
An 1874 Citizen Science Project Studying the Aurora Borealis Helped Inspire Time Zones
For millennia, humans have gazed at the northern lights with wonder, pondering their nature and source. Even today, these once…
A History of the Magellanic Clouds and How They Got Their Names
The Magellanic Clouds are a pair of dwarf galaxies that are bound to the Milky Way. The Milky Way is…
Christie’s to Auction off 1st Edition Works by Newton, Galileo
[/caption]It's too bad that they missed Black Friday, but you'll at least be able to get a few gifts for…