December 15, 2021 Today in 1923, physicist John Dyson was born. Dyson is best known for his speculative work on extraterrestrial civilizations. One of his theories proposed that a highly advanced civilization would be able to construct a giant shell around their host star to capture 100% of the star’s energy. A ‘Dyson Sphere’ was… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 14, 2021
December 14, 2021 Tonight you will find the Summer Triangle low in the west at 7 pm. This summer asterism is seen most of the year, but summer is when we see it the best. The constellations and asterisms we use are a reminder of how the night sky can be used to track the… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 13, 2021
December 13, 2021 Today in 1962, the communications satellite Relay 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Relay 1 was used to transmit telephone, television, teleprinter, and facsimile signals globally. Unfortunately, the leakage of a high-power regulator caused the satellite to revert to a low voltage state and communication was lost with the… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 12, 2021
December 12, 2021 The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks tomorrow night into the morning of December 14. The Geminids are caused as debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon enters Earth’s atmosphere. The radiant for the Geminids appears in the constellation Gemini which can be found rising in the east by 7:30 pm. The Geminids will be impacted… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 11, 2021
December 11, 2021 Today in 1939, analytical chemist John W. Macklin was born. Macklin refined the technique of Raman spectrometry to test very small sample sizes. In the 1980s, he collaborated with NASA scientists to analyze meteorites and cosmic dust particles looking for complex carbon-based molecules. A close-up view of an engineering model of SHERLOC… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 10, 2021
December 10, 2021 First quarter moon occurs tonight at 7:35 pm. The Moon will be found in the constellation Aquarius about 4.5° south of the planet Neptune. Neptune will appear as a 7.89 magnitude object which means a telescope is needed to spot this distant world. Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and the Moon can be found… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 9, 2021
December 9, 2021 Today in 1978, NASA’s Pioneer Venus Multiprobe (PVM) entered the atmosphere of Venus. The PVM contained one large and three small atmospheric probes. The radio signals from all four probes were used to characterize the winds, turbulence and propagation in the atmosphere. Artist illustration of the Pioneer Large Probe opening its parachute… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 8, 2021
December 8, 2021 Looking southwest tonight around 5:30 pm, you will find the Moon between the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The Moon will be exhibiting a waxing crescent phase with roughly 28% disk illumination. Waxing crescent moon will be seen after sunset on December 8, 2021. Look along the terminator for the best views of… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 7, 2021
December 7, 2021 Today 1995, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter and entered orbit after 6 years of travel including a flyby of Venus and two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida. Galileo spent a further 8 years examining Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. In 1994, the Galileo orbiter was present to watch the fragments… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 6, 2021
December 6, 2021 The closest star to the Earth is the Sun which on average is 93 million miles away. The closest star to the Sun is Proxima Centauri. This red dwarf star is about 4.2 light years away. The most distant star ever observed is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, nicknamed Icarus which is… Continue reading