Recent Articles
Published in Descending Date Order
Using Basic Physics to Prove we Went to the Moon
Entire books, many videos, and thousands of hours of time have been wasted building this ‘conspiracy theory’, devoted to “debunking” the Apollo moon missions as some grand government conspiracy. We have spent much digital ink debunking the claims of Flat Earthers (simply enter “Flat Earth” in the search tool at the top of this page[…]
Increased Solar Activity Heralds Approaching Solar Maximum
Increasing magnitude and frequency of solar flares heralds approaching solar maximum Using data, video and imagery from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we’ve produced a video featuring two 1.1 magnitude X-Class solar flares (video link at foot of page). As part of its mission, the Solar Dynamics Observatory observes the sun in the extreme Ultra Violet[…]
Vernal Equinox, 2024
The Vernal Equinox, the Astronomical beginning of spring, occurs this year today, Tuesday, 19 March, 2024 at 3:06 UTC (11:06 PM EDT). What’s so special about this event? 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness everywhere on the planet. The beginning of Astronomical Autumn for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere The sun rises due[…]
Eclipse Hysteria and Delusional Thinking
Some counties in Texas have issued a disaster declaration ahead of the total eclipse that will occur on April 8 Background and Context Next month, on April 8, a total solar eclipse will grace the North American Continent. Starting in the Pacific Ocean off the southwest coast of Mexico, the 198 km-wide path (Nazas, Durango,[…]
Another Failure in the Age of Mediocrity
The recent “flop” by the Odysseus lunar lander in the lunar south polar region is being celebrated as a brilliant success. It landed and literally fell over on its side – it flopped. Of course the celebration, since the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and the White House have characterized this failure[…]
New JWST Imagery and Data Suggest Neutron Star As Probable Supernova Remnant at Heart of SNR1987a
Supernova remnant SNR-1987a is one of the closest and most studied of any supernova or supernova remnant since Kepler’s supernova in 1604. It was one of the first objects observed with the newly deployed Hubble Space Telescope in 1991 and, thus, the first -and closest supernova- to be observed with a modern observing platform. Although[…]
Winter Solstice, 2023
This Year’s Winter Solstice Occurs Today, Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 10:27 pm EST (3:27 UTC, December 22, 2023) In the illustration above, the angular distance on the sky at the meridian between the Celestial Equator (the projection of the Earth’s equator onto the sky) and the Ecliptic (the plane of the Solar System) is[…]
The Solution to Fermi’s Paradox is Nigh
We’re watching the solution to Fermi’s Paradox unfold in real time Before I begin, I wish to state up front that this post contains no political content and does not take sides in any particular conflict. Political motivations or outcomes not withstanding, I am a sentient being who knows and feels pain. I feel the[…]
Closest Yet to the Sun for the Parker Solar Probe!
Launched on August 12, 2018, the Parker Solar Probe is designed to withstand the brutal near-solar environment and heat of the sun and its atmosphere. Its mission is to probe the near-solar environment and help us answer yet unanswered questions about the hot, tenuous solar corona, the solar wind, coronal streamers and the near-solar environment in[…]
Friday’s Full Harvest Supermoon
I gazed at the full moon, hanging low and bright oe’r the trees last night, warm and inviting on that September night. Previously, we featured a story discussing this month’s full moon. In that article, we noted that the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox is known as the Harvest Moon. It should be[…]
The Moon, Antares, The Autumnal Equinox and the Harvest Moon
I gazed at the full moon, hanging low and bright oe’r the trees last night, warm and inviting on that September night. The late summer sky is no less beautiful now than when it was at the beginning. The moon, with the southern stars of summer, Antares in Scorpio and Sagittarius to the east, are[…]
JWST Observes Spectacular Evolution of Supernova Remnant SN1987A
Supernova 1987a was the closest supernova to be observed since Kepler’s supernova in 1604. It was one of the first objects observed with the newly deployed Hubble Space Telescope in 1991 and thus, the first -and closest supernova- to be observed with a modern observing platform. Although it is named and designated according to the[…]
RIP James B. Kaler
World renown lover of the stars and Professor of Astronomy, James B. Kaler has now gone onto that grand cosmos that was his home while he was with us. Jim Kaler quietly passed away from complications related to Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 84 at his home on November 26, 2022. There are now[…]
Comet Nishimura At Maximum Brightness This Weekend!
Comet Nishimura will be at its closest approach to the sun this weekend and thus affords us a rare opportunity to observe it at its brightest! Discovered on August 12 of this year by Hideo Nishimura, the comet originated in the Oort Cloud, a spherical shell of ancient debris, rock and ice left over from[…]
The Ten Brightest Stars (and where they are, with video) – 5. Betelgeuse
This is the fifth installment of our ten-part series on the brightest stars and, with it, we’re pleased to present the red supergiant star, Betelgeuse, the right shoulder of Orion, the hunter. Even though we’re still in August and Orion is a winter constellation, its prominence as a near-term supernova candidate makes it especially interesting.[…]
Late August Sky, 2023 With Saturn and A Full Blue Supermoon
A view towards the SSE at astronomical twilight (8:15 PM EDT), Sunday, August 27. The waxing gibbous moon is low above the southern horizon and Saturn is rising further to the east. The ecliptic is presented in this view to illustrate where the plane of the solar system is. Note that all solar system objects[…]
Occulation of Antares by First Quarter Moon
Tonight, we will be witness to the occultation of the red supergiant star Antares by the First Quarter moon. A previous occultation of the red supergiant star by the full moon was observed by Dr. Jim Daly back on June 6, 2009. Why are occultations important? The accurate timing of lunar occultations is performed[…]
Super Blue Moon Coming, Biggest and Brightest of 2023
The Full Moon in August is named after North America’s largest fish, the lake sturgeon. Other names for this Full Moon include Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Fruit Moon, and Barley Moon. Blue Moon The “first” full moon for this month occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The August 30 (Wednesday) full moon will be the second, hence,[…]
End of Summer, 2023 Appeal
Since 2016, Astronomy for Change has provided expert, world-class content from dedicated professionals, Astronomers, Physicists, Scientists and Information Technology Specialists. We’ve provided that content on our main web portal in the form of articles, interactive sky charts, a rich, searchable library as well as high-value, educational videos on our YouTube Channel. As of today’s date,[…]
The Universe is Still 13.8 Billion Years Old
Using data and imagery obtained with the JWST, a recent study claims the universe is now 26.7 billion years old. We will unequivocally show that the age of the universe is still 13.77 Gyr. One of the principal reasons the JWST mission was conceived in the first place was to test existing theories and current[…]
Tonight’s Full Sturgeon SuperMoon
The August 2023 Full Sturgeon Supermoon is still low in the southeast about 1 hour after its rising tonight at 01:30 UTC (9:30 p.m. EDT). The teapot of Sagittarius is due south on the meridian at this time, with Antares and Scorpio to the west. Tonight’s moon is the 2nd of 4 supermoons that occur during[…]
UAP Testimony, Fact or Fiction?
Regarding the existence of “UAPs”, is recent congressional testimony by “credible witnesses” fact or fiction? Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change responds to YouTuber Kim Iversen’s recent video: Is The UAP “National Security Threat” A MIC Fabrication To Escalate War Into Space? Kim, your comment regarding the existence of life elsewhere in the universe[…]
17 Inspirational Quotes From Famous Scientists and Authors
Featured Image The rugged Andes mountains of Patagonia, Argentina appear in the foreground in the featured image above along with the great comet of 2007, the iconic Comet McNaught. This image was obtained during the Austral Summer (20070126) by Professor Miloslav Druckmueller of the Brno University of Technology, the Czech Republic. It was also featured[…]
A Powerful Solar Eruption!
A powerful M-class solar flare erupted on the sun at 5:48 AM, EDT (01:48 UTC), July 18 2023. In this video obtained from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the powerful M-5.7 solar flare is clearly visible at the 4:00 position. The video is a composite produced from 3 discrete wavebands in the extreme ultraviolet region of[…]
Stunning New image of Saturn from JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope has trained its sharp, infrared eyes on the ringed planet and produced this stunning, new image. An excerpt from the Webb blog published by NASA follows: This image was taken as part of Webb Guaranteed Time Observation program 1247. The program included several very deep exposures of Saturn, which were designed[…]
Early July Night Sky 2023
In full HD and using a state of the art digital planetarium, Dr. James Daly takes us on a tour of the early July and Independence Day week night sky for 2023. He presents the major planets, the placement and phase of the moon and many other notable objects of interest at this time of[…]
Betelgeuse – 2 Great New Videos from Astronomy For Change!
Does the Brightening of Betelgeuse Portend The Immanent Occurrence of a New Galactic Supernova? Betelgeuse is at it again. Back in 2019, the red supergiant star, the bright and iconic right-shoulder of Orion had dimmed dramatically and uncharacteristically resulting in a flurry of speculation that the star was about to end its life in[…]
Podcast: Does the Brightening of Betelgeuse Herald The Immanent Occurrence of a New Galactic Supernova?
New podcast by Astronomy for Change’s James Daly, Ph.D:
The Great Eclipse of August 21, 2017
We are fortunate to have on staff professional volunteers with advanced degrees in Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrophysics. Some of these individuals have acted in an advisory capacity in the crafting and enactment of green, sensible lighting laws for the following municipalities: The Township of Brookhaven, NY The Incorporated Village of Patchogue, NY The Township of[…]
Summer Solstice, 2023
The 2023 Summer Solstice, the Astronomical beginning of summer and the longest day of the year, occurs this year at 10:57AM, EDT on Wednesday, June 21st. What is the Summer Solstice? Often referred to as the ‘First Day of Summer‘, a subjective term, the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the day the sun[…]
104th Anniversary of Einstein’s Great Triumph, May 29th, 1919 (with video)
Every year on this date, the anniversary of the famous May 29, 1919 Total Solar Eclipse, we celebrate Einstein’s Triumph, the experiment that provided incontrovertible evidence for the veracity of his theory on Gravity, the General Theory of Relativity. Up until the turn of the 20th century, the natural universe was governed by Newton’s Laws;[…]
We offer Tutoring!
Don’t forget, we offer tutoring in all the STEM fields, especially Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics. At this time of year, this could be a valuable resource for those who will be taking their final exams! A core aspect of our mission at Astronomy for change is education and how it can be a force for[…]
Brilliant Supernova Blazes to life in the Pinwheel Galaxy, Messier-101
Brilliant Supernova in a Nearby Galaxy Imagine inhabiting a planet within 100 light years of a Type II supernova. Take a good look at the image above. The pink emission region immediately to the east (left) of the supernova would be about 100 light years. At the time the second image (the “after” image in[…]
Astronomy for Change is back online!
Due to insurmountable irregularities attributable to our previous Web Hosting Provider, we have been offline. That has now been corrected, we have a new Web Hosting provider and are back online! Astronomy For Change: https://astronomyforchange.org Did you enjoy this article or like what we do? Why not leave a tip or buy us a Coffee?[…]
Astronomy For Change is now on Rumble!
In addition to our YouTube channel, we have established ourselves on the video hosting platform Rumble. Over the coming days, we will be populating existing videos, already published on YouTube, as well as new content on Rumble. The videos published thus far on Rumble: Overview of James Webb Space Telescope Deep Field Confirming Evolutionary Theories[…]
Vernal Equinox, 2023
The Vernal Equinox, the Astronomical beginning of spring, occurs this year on Monday, 20 March, 2023 at 21:24 UTC (5:24 PM EDT). What’s so special about this event? 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness everywhere on the planet. The beginning of Astronomical Autumn for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere The sun rises due[…]
Ancient Relics Observed by JWST
The southern extent of NGC-1365 showing the galaxy’s active galactic nucleus at the bottom left. A plethora of background galaxies are visible, with one prominent elliptical galaxy to the southwest (upper right) amid the other edge-on galaxies. Appearing as a small bright sphere, this galaxy is 2.9 billion light-years distant or 52x more distant than[…]
The Star of Bethlehem
By James Daly, Ph.D The following quote from the gospel according to Matthew is often found on holiday greeting cards and is heard around the world during this season as a message of peace and hope; the year is over and it’s time to rest, to be with family, friends and to prepare for the[…]
Winter Solstice 2022 and a Striking Celestial Alignment
This Year’s Winter Solstice Occurs on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 4:48 pm EST The sun is at its lowest point on the sky at mid-day during the third week in December in the northern hemisphere and represents the ‘beginning of winter’. The two Equinoxes (Vernal or ‘Spring’, 3rd week in March and Autumnal, 3rd[…]
Humanity Begins Journey Back to the Moon and on to Mars with the Launch of Artemis 1
By James Daly, Ph.D At 1:47 AM, EST on November 16, 2022, humanity took the first step on the long road back to the moon and on to Mars with the launch of Artemis 1. With that launch, the mighty SLS (Space Launch System) boosted the unmanned Orion spacecraft into earth orbit and on to[…]
November’s ‘New’ Super Moon is First of Five New Supermoons
We often speak of a “Super Moon” within the context of the Full Moon phase, rather than its opposite, the ‘New’ moon. The New moon is the beginning of the lunar cycle when the moon is aligned with the earth and the sun with the moon towards the sun. It is the only phase of[…]
Stunning Compact Galaxy Group Imaged By JWST
Full 6 waveband Composite Image of Stephan’s Quintet In the ERO release images of this group of galaxies by NASA, much to do was made about their interaction. In the NASA release, NIrCam (near IR) and MIRI (mid IR) data were included in the composite images. While it was briefly mentioned in the news release,[…]
Full Hunter’s Moon Sunday, October 9th
The Hunter’s Moon The full moon following the “Harvest Moon” is known as the Hunter’s Moon. This year, that occurs on Sunday, October 9 at 8:54 PM (UTC), 4:54 PM (EDT). As the name suggests before the invention of the electric light, the light of the full moon gave aid to the farmers and hunters[…]
Hubble and JWST Composite Image of Famous Grand-Design Spiral Galaxy, M-74
Composite Image Produced from Two Flagship Orbiting Observatories At 32 million light years, this image of the Grand Design spiral galaxy, M-74 appears in this composite rendition using JWST and Hubble data. The JWST component includes data in the 2, 3 and 3.6 micron range. The Hubble component includes 435 nm, 555 nm, 656 nm[…]
The Autumnal Equinox and Harvest Moon, 2022
I gazed at the full moon, hanging low and bright oe’r the trees last night, warm and inviting on that September night. The Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes are two days during the year with 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness. The Vernal Equinox heralds the beginning of Spring and the Autumnal Equinox, Autumn. The[…]
Stunning JWST Image Suggests Rapidly Rotating Black Hole in Galaxy’s Core (with video)
On July 12th of this year, the world was gifted with 5 studies and a treasure trove of data and images, content released through NASA’s Early Release Observations (ERO) program for JWST (attribution at the foot of this page). The great thing about a public space agency: the fruits and products of the agency are[…]
Full Sturgeon SuperMoon Tonight!
The last supermoon for the year occurs tonight, Thursday, August 11th. Why is August’s full moon known as a “Sturgeon Moon”? The August 2022 Full Sturgeon Supermoon is still low in the southeast over two hours after its rising at 20:15 UTC (8:15 PM, EDT) on Thursday, August 11. Flanking the moon to the north[…]
Overview of JWST Deep Field Confirming Evolutionary Theories of Early Universe (video)
Note: this video is the companion to our article and a prelude to our full feature video A brief overview of our study, highlighting evidence in JWST NirSpec data that affirms the veracity of prevailing theories of the early universe’s composition and evolution. Some important discoveries and confirmations have been realized with the first public release of[…]
James Webb Space Telescope Deep Field Confirms Evolutionary Theories of The Early Universe (Video)
The tiny red dot at the center of this image is our galaxy of interest, z13.1,13.1 billion light years distant. Heavy Element Nucleosynthesis, the process by which heavy elements are synthesized in the cores of high-mass stars, was ongoing in this galaxy less than 700 million years after the big bang. Note: this video is[…]
James Webb Space Telescope Deep Field Confirms Evolutionary Theories of Early Universe
Note: This article is an addendum to James Webb Space Telescope Full Science Operations Begin As 5 ‘First Light’ Images Are Released (1 of 5). Some important discoveries and confirmations have been realized with the first public release of JWST data and imagery. We can unequivocally state that our evolutionary theories of the early universe[…]
James Webb Space Telescope’s Stunning Results for Transiting Exoplanet WASP-96b (2 of 5)
In our presentation of the NASA-hosted event opening the James Webb Space Telescope to the world’s astronomical community, we discussed one of the five commissioning targets presented to the public. That choice to open this 5-article series was SMACS 0723, a distant galaxy cluster receding at 29% the speed of light. In this article, we’ll[…]
James Webb Space Telescope Remains Optically Superior
OMG, the sky is falling! In what appears to be another visceral, emotionally charged characterization, a thinly-veiled attempt at clickbait, another article has now appeared, describing the JWST micrometeoroid event of May 24 as an ‘uncorrectable‘ tragedy, a show-stopper, the proverbial final nail-in-the-coffin. Nothing could be further from the truth! The actual report, a peer-reviewed,[…]
James Webb Space Telescope Full Science Operations Begin As 5 ‘First Light’ Images Are Released (1 of 5)
Full resolution image (2799×2856) of the SMACS 0723 cluster of galaxies, 4.6 billion light years distant in the southern constellation Volans. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster is overflowing with detail and is described more fully below. Images and results from Webb’s observations are archived here with the first images[…]
July Full Moon Biggest and Brightest Supermoon of 2022
July 2022 Full Buck Supermoon low in the southeast following its rising at 21:00 UT (9:00 PM, EDT) on July 13. Note: the brilliant ruby Antares is near the meridian with the “Tea Pot” of Sagittarius to the east. Image via Stellarium. The full moon for this month occurs on Wednesday, July 13. According to[…]
Recent Solar Flares Herald Rise In Solar Activity
The sun as recorded in the extreme ultraviolet part of the spectrum by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) between July 6 and July 10. Pay particular attention to the bright orange-pink outburst that occurs on July 8 at the 10:00 position on the solar disk. This was a magnitude 2.6 M-Class flare, a classification one[…]
NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to Begin Full Science Operations, Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Update: James Webb Space Telescope Full Science Operations Get Underway As 5 ‘First Light’ Images Are Released To kick off the beginning of full science operations for the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA will be hosting a full public event Tuesday, July 12th. During the event, a traunch of full-color images and data will be[…]
Update: Dark Matter – Chasing A Ghost That Doesn’t Exist
Hubble Space Telescope image of UGC 12158, a “Grand Design” barred spiral (Sb D) galaxy, 384 million light years distant in the constellation Pegasus. With a distinct bar in its nuclear region and 140,000 light years in diameter, it is believed to be similar in size and structure to our home galaxy, the Milky Way.[…]
Lunar Occultation of Delta Scorpii, June 12, 2022 (with Video)
A lunar occultation of Delta Scorpii, a bright, second magnitude star and one of the principal stars in Scorpio, the scorpion, occurs tonight, Sunday June 12th. What is a Lunar Occultation? A lunar occultation is exactly what it sounds like. The moon occults a star and astronomers often take advantage of these events to better[…]
Summer Solstice, 2022
The 2022 Summer Solstice, the Astronomical beginning of summer and the longest day of the year, occurs this year at 5:14 AM, EDT on Tuesday, June 21st. What is the Summer Solstice? Often referred to as the ‘First Day of Summer‘, a subjective term, the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere is the day the[…]
JWST Stunning Alignment Image Released by NASA
Update: James Webb Space Telescope Full Science Operations Get Underway As 5 ‘First Light’ Images Are Released Update: James Webb Space Telescope Full Science Operations Get Underway As 5 ‘First Light’ Images Are Released The recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (December 25th, Christmas Day, 2021) has produced what should be the first of many thousands of[…]
Vernal Equinox, 2022
The Vernal Equinox, the Astronomical beginning of spring, occurs this year on Sunday, 20 March, 2022 (today) at 15:33 UTC (11:33 AM EDT). What’s so special about this event? 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness everywhere on the planet. The beginning of Astronomical Autumn for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere The sun rises[…]
James Webb Space Telescope, An Orbiting Observatory for the next Decade
The successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has placed the orbiting observatory on the path to become the premier space platform for the next decade and beyond! On Christmas Day, 2021 the world witnessed the launch of JWST, by all accounts a brilliant launch in its precision and timing! That launch put[…]
Winter Solstice, 2021 And A Striking Planetary Alignment
This Year’s Winter Solstice Occurs on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 10:59 am EST The sun is at its lowest point on the sky at mid-day during the third week in December in the northern hemisphere and represents the ‘beginning of winter’. The two Equinoxes (Vernal or ‘Spring’, 3rd week in March and Autumnal, 3rd[…]
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) To Launch December 25
JWST Launch Following a 6-day delay and now (Dec 22) an additional day for adverse weather conditions on Dec 24, the James Webb Space Telescope, originally scheduled to launch on December 18, will finally launch on December 25 (Christmas Day) of this year. JWST is the next generation orbiting observatory that will push back the[…]
Autumnal Equinox and Harvest Moon, 2021
There are two days during the year with 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness, the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes. The Vernal Equinox heralds the beginning of Spring and the Autumnal Equinox, Autumn. The Autumnal Equinox for this year occurs on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 7:21 pm UTC (3:21 pm EDT). Many significant astronomical[…]
An Irish Graduate Student Discovers Pulsars, An English Man gets the Nobel Prize
To suffer is to learn humility, true humility. Jocelyn Bell, no doubt, suffered in silence from the insult and the culture that led to it, one of the greatest professional injustices in modern academia. Given my Irish heritage, I have a particular interest in this story and, although the title could be a trigger or[…]
Some memories from meeting Einstein in 1951 – 1952
Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat is a French mathematician and physicist, renowned for her pioneering work on the initial value problem of General Relativity. Her work was one of the “Milestones of General Relativity” featured in a recent CQG focus issue. She has been on the faculty of the University of Marseille, the University of Reims and the[…]
Hubble Captures Stunning Image of Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1385
Discovered by Anglo-German Astronomer William Herschel on November 17, 1784 and located approximately 68 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Fornax, is NGC (New General Catalog) 1385. Like the Milky Way, NGC-1385 is a Barred Spiral Galaxy but 40% smaller at 70,000 light years in diameter. The central ‘bar’ is the result of density[…]
Recurring Nova RS Ophiuchi Blows its Top!
On August 8 and visible now during the summer, the faint cataclysmic variable star RS Ophiuchi at over 6,500 light-years distant brightened from magnitude 11.2 to 4.8 during the August 8-9, 2021 time frame. It went from a threshold small-telescope object to naked-eye visibility within 24 hours. Irish amateur Astronomer Keith Geary was the first[…]
End of Summer, 2021 Support Appeal
Since 2016, Astronomy for Change has provided expert, world-class content from dedicated professionals, Astronomers, Physicists, Scientists and Information Technology Specialists. We’ve provided that content on our main web portal in the form of articles, interactive sky charts, a rich, searchable library as well as high-value, educational videos on our YouTube Channel. All of this content[…]
Tonight’s Full Moon is a ‘Real’ Blue Moon (with video)
The Full Moon in August is named after North America’s largest fish, the lake sturgeon. Other names for this Full Moon include Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Fruit Moon, and Barley Moon. Tonight’s full moon marks this year’s first Real ‘Blue Moon’ (a term suggesting the occurrence of something rare). Normally, there are only three[…]
Perseid Meteor Shower 2021
Six Hour Time Lapse Video Showing the Perseid Meteor Shower’s Radiant Point The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that occurs during the 2nd week in August as the Earth passes through the same debris field left behind by comet Swift–Tuttle. The Radiant Point is the imaginary point on the sky that they appear[…]
Three of Summer’s Favorite Star Clusters
In this video, we present three favorite star clusters of summer for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. We open looking due south at twilight for mid-northern latitudes and note brilliant Venus setting as it follows the sun and Scorpio on the meridian with Sagittarius due east. Scorpio with red Supergiant Antares, the heart of the[…]
Late July, Early August Sky, 2021 (Video including Three of Summer’s Favorite Star Clusters)
Today we look at the sky for the week beginning Sunday, July 25th. With this edition of the sky tonight, the sky has changed somewhat since last week. In the morning, Mercury is in Cancer with the sun and lost in the solar glare before sunrise. The evening sky sees Venus remaining prominently placed[…]
The Sky Tonight for the week Beginning July 25th (Podcast)
Today we look at the sky for the week beginning Sunday, July 25th. With this edition of the sky tonight, the sky has changed somewhat since last week. In the morning, Mercury is in Cancer with the sun and lost in the solar glare before sunrise. The evening sky sees Venus remaining prominently placed with[…]
‘First Light’ Images from Hubble Following Return to Full Operational Status
This pair of images represent Hubble’s targets on July 17, 2021 and demonstrate the telescope’s return to full science operations on that date. The images are part of a study being conducted by Julianne Dalcanton of the University of Washington in Seattle. The Galaxies ARP-MADORE2115-273 is a rare example of an interacting pair of galaxies[…]
Neptune-class Planet Discovered 90 L-Yrs from Earth
With a period of 24 days, TOI-1231-b orbits an M-class (M3V) star of 0.48 solar masses, first discovered by the TESS orbiting exoplanet finder in 2019. Further confirmation came from the Planet Finder Spectrograph on the Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Led by Jennifer Burt of NASA/JPL, her team at JPL and the University[…]
The Sky Tonight for The Week of July 18, 2021
With this edition of the sky tonight, the sky has changed slightly since last week. Today we look at the sky for the week beginning Sunday, July 18th. Sunday, July 18th, we have brilliant Venus and ruddy red Mars still well placed in the Southwest sky and setting at 9:50 PM, EDT, following the sun[…]
On This Day 30 Years Ago, the Eclipse of a Lifetime and of the Century!
The total solar eclipse of July 11th, 1991 was hailed as the “Eclipse of the Century”. On this day 30 years ago, traveling with a group of friends and colleagues, I was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to observe the Eclipse of 11 July, 1991. 2 days of the 5-day, 4-night trip was in Cabo.[…]
Electron Capture Supernova Observed
Using the Keck Observatory’s Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) and DEep Imaging and Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) attached to the 10 meter telescopes on Mauna Kea, we’ve observed a long-postulated, third type of supernova, an “Electron Capture” supernova. It is believed, based on composite imaging across multiple spectral regimes, the famous Crab Nebula may have been[…]
The Sky Tonight for week Beginning July 11th, 2021
With this edition of the sky tonight, the sky has changed slightly since last week’s premier installment of our weekly sky tonight program. Today we look at the sky for the week beginning Sunday, July 11th. Sunday, July 11th, we have brilliant Venus and ruddy red Mars beautifully flanking the 46-hour old waxing crescent moon,[…]
The Sky Tonight week Beginning July 4th (Video)
With this first installment, we begin a new program feature here at Astronomy for Change, the weekly “Sky Tonight” broadcast. Each week on Friday or Saturday, we’ll post a short podcast and video of the coming week’s sky and what to look for. Sunday, July 4th (Independence Day in the US), we have brilliant Venus[…]
The Sky Tonight week Beginning July 4th (Podcast)
With this first installment, we begin a new program feature here at Astronomy for Change, the weekly “Sky Tonight” broadcast. Each week on Friday or Saturday, we’ll post a short podcast and video of the coming week’s sky and what to look for. Sunday, July 4th (Independence Day in the US), we have brilliant Venus[…]
Interview with Alberto Caballero, founder of The SETI Project
On December 17, 2020, Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change interviewed Alberto Caballero, founder of the The Exoplanet Project and The SETI Project. Alberto holds a Master’s degree and is the host of the “Exoplanets” YouTube channel whose focus is habitable exoplanets, extraterrestrial intelligence and Interstellar Travel. Alberto is also involved with the Habitable[…]
A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away….
Please visit our Patreon page to learn what happened “A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away….” VIdeo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Astronomy For Change: https://astronomyforchange.org Buy us a Coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/astronomychange Follow Us On Twitter: https://twitter.com/astronomychange Why not support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/astronomyforchange Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of[…]
Strawberry Moon, 2021
This year’s ‘Strawberry Moon‘ occurs on Thursday, June 24th. Why is June’s full moon the “Strawberry Moon“? In North America and Europe, the name of each month’s moon is linked to nature and related to a particular season or seasonal activity. June’s full moon is known as the “Strawberry Moon” since it is during this[…]
Waxing Gibbous Moon and Antares, A Mid-June Southern Summer Spectacle
Tonight’s southern vista features the waxing gibbous moon 2 days before full, 4 degrees north of the heart of the Scorpion, the red supergiant star Antares. For complete ephemerides of the moon, including phase, please visit Time and Date. The current phase of the moon is always displayed on any of our articles or pages[…]
The Summer Solstice, 2021
The Summer Solstice this year occurs on Sunday, June 20 at 3:32 AM, UTC (11:32 PM EDT). What is the Summer Solstice? Often referred to as the ‘First Day of Summer‘, a generally subjective term, the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere is the day the sun is at its highest point above the southern[…]
Ethereal Splendor of The Milky Way’s Galactic Center
Image credit: Adrien Mauduit of Night Lights Films In this June, 2019 view from Vicuña, south of the Atacama Desert Plateau, Chile, home to ESO’s Very Large Telescope Complex, we stand in awe of the Milky Way’s Galactic Center front and center. Brilliant Jupiter is ‘below’ (east) of red-orange Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud[…]
Rare ‘Ring of Fire’ Solar Eclipse Occurs Thursday, June 10, 2021
For observers in the Canadian North, Greenland, the North Pole and parts of Russia, a full annular solar eclipse will be visible. The red band in the video depicts the ‘path of annularity’. Video credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight center. What is an ‘Annular’ Eclipse? As we know, a total solar eclipse occurs when the[…]
Highest Resolution Image of May 29, 1919 Solar Eclipse Confirming Prediction of Einstein GTR (update)
Recently, we published an article with video celebrating the Anniversary of the famous May 29th, 1919 Total Solar Eclipse instrumental in confirming a key prediction of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Update Not only was this eclipse instrumental in confirming a key aspect of Einstein’s GTR, the duration of totality was just under 7 minutes,[…]
Einstein’s Triumph, May 29th, 1919 (with video)
Every year on this date, the anniversary of the famous May 29, 1919 Total Solar Eclipse, we celebrate Einstein’s Triumph, the experiment that provided incontrovertible evidence for the veracity of his theory on Gravity, the General Theory of Relativity. Up until the turn of the 20th century, the natural universe was governed by Newton’s Laws;[…]
Hubble 31st Anniversary Observation of Luminous Blue Supergiant Star
By James Daly, Ph.D NASA Video at foot of article NASA Hubblesite news release here On the occasion of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 31st successful year in orbit last Saturday (4/24, launch date: 4/24/1990), the iconic orbiting telescope was tasked with capturing AG Carinae, a blue supergiant star in the southern constellation of Carina. This[…]
Vaya Con Dios, Michael Collins!
By James Daly, Ph.D Farewell, Michael, you dared to do mighty things and succeeded! I remember you well as I watched the historic mission on the family’s B&W TV at the age of 13. History will smile on you and remember you fondly. Vaya con dios, mi amigo! Michael Collins, the pilot of Apollo[…]
Spring is Galaxy Season!
A quick video showing the placement of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies with the massive elliptical galaxy Messier-87 at its center. Imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope, M-87 is shown here surrounded by thousands of globular star clusters. Our Milky Way galaxy, a member of the Local Cluster of Galaxies is, in turn, a member[…]
Tonight’s Pink Super Moon
The full moon for April, 2021 occurs tonight, April 26. The full moon is a unique and interesting lunar phase for a variety of reasons. It always rises as the sun sets and is the only phase during which we can witness a lunar eclipse, the immersion of the moon into the earth’s shadow. As[…]
The Changing Seasonal Skies
Did you ever wonder why each of the seasons features a unique and distinctive procession of stars and constellations? The year is divided into four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We begin the astronomical year on the Vernal Equinox, the astronomical beginning of Spring and the date the sun, moving eastward along the Ecliptic,[…]
GigaPixel Milky Way! (video)
In a stunning image, worthy of publication on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day or, as a new category, as “Astronomy Picture of the Year”, Finnish Astrophotographer JP Metsavainio has produced a GigaPixel class image that took 12 years and more than 1,250 hours to produce! Join Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change has[…]
Tribute to Larry King with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson – Part 1 (video)
Link to video below As we all mourn the passing of Larry King, an icon, a professional with an uncommon sense of honesty, integrity and decency, a giant among journalists and communicators, let us remember him as a science communicator as well, the “middle-man” as such, between the science professional and the common man. Link[…]
Vernal Equinox, 2021 (with video)
The Vernal Equinox, the Astronomical Beginning of spring, occurs this year on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 9:37 UTC (5:37 AM EDT). What’s so special about this event? 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness The beginning of Astronomical Autumn for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere The sun rises due east and sets due[…]
Mars2020 Perseverance Video Series
We recently produced a multi-part series of videos showcasing the amazing physics and technology of the Mars2020 Rover Perseverance. This series specifically focused on the physics necessary to safely and successfully get the rover to the martian surface. Coming soon, we will continue our coverage of the mission, showcasing new discoveries and milestones such as[…]
The Amazing Physics of Perseverance EDL Part 2 (video)
This is the second part in the two part series showcasing and explaining the amazing physics and technology that made NASA’s latest mission to Mars such a resounding success. In the first video Dr. Daly explains the physics behind the launch and cruise phases of the mission, complete with explanations, diagrams, theory and calculations specific[…]
Rare Triple Conjunction of Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn (video) for March, 2021
Join Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy for Change as he showcases and describes a rare triple conjunction of Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn in the early morning hours before sunrise, a planetary alignment visible through Sunday, March 14. Those who are early risers will be witness to this rare planetary alignment. Especially rare and quite spectacular[…]
The Amazing Physics of Mars2020 Perseverance, Destination Mars! (video)
Link to video below With this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change presents Part 1 of a multi-part series on the amazing physics and technology behind the brilliant journey and successful landing of the Mars2020 Perseverance Rover. In this first video, Dr. Daly will discuss and describe the basic physics behind the mission[…]
Apophis’ Near Miss of Earth (video)
Link to video below Beginning Friday, March 5th, the asteroid 99942 Apophis or simply Apophis, passes 1/10 of an Astronomical Unit from earth, making that the first of 4 such close approaches. In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change describes the asteroid’s trajectory and this passage while presenting some history and context[…]
New Eyes and Ears for #Perseverance – New DSN Antenna Enhances Send and Receive Capability (video)
Link to video below The Deep Space Network (DSN) provides continuous send and receive service for all planetary and deep-space missions throughout one solar day or 24 hours. Stationed in three separate regions of the planet, a seamless hand off transitions service from one network complex to another as the earth rotates providing worldwide coverage[…]
#Perseverance Arrives at Mars Today! #CountdownToMars
Live stream the event here: https://youtu.be/gm0b_ijaYMQ or at http://nasa.gov/live Astronomy For Change: https://astronomyforchange.org On Twitter: https://twitter.com/astronomychange Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/astronomyforchange Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of all articles can be found here. If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting us with a modest donation or through a subscription on our Patreon Page Membership[…]
The Mystery and Wonder of Astronomy – True Structure of Spiral Galaxies first determined visually (video)
Video Link Below With this video we introduce a new program feature at Astronomy for Change: “The Mystery and Wonder of Astronomy”. The true structure of spiral galaxies, as yet undetermined into the first quarter of the 20th century with Edwin Hubble, Harlow Shapley, Heber Curtis and Fritz Zwicky making great strides in determining the[…]
Spectacular Solar Flare Captured by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in Full HD with extra content (video)
Video link below We were reminded of the enormous power of our home star on November 29 of last year (2020), when NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a powerful Solar Flare, entitled the ‘Anemone’ Eruption’! In this video, Dr. James Daly presents and discusses our sun and the spectacular display witnessed on November 29, 2020.[…]
Tribute to Larry King with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson – Part 3 (video)
Link to video below As we all mourn the passing of Larry King, an icon, a professional with an uncommon sense of honesty, integrity and decency, a giant among journalists and communicators, let us remember him as a science communicator as well, the “middle-man” as such, between the science professional and the common man. Link[…]
Tribute to Larry King with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson – Part 2 (video)
Link to video below As we all mourn the passing of Larry King, an icon, a professional with an uncommon sense of honesty, integrity and decency, a giant among journalists and communicators, let us remember him as a science communicator as well, the “middle-man” as such, between the science professional and the common man. Link[…]
7 Minutes of Terror – #Perseverance Arrives at #Mars, 02/18/2021 (Video) #CountDownToMars
Link to video below In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change choreographs the arrival of Perseverance at Mars on Thursday, February 18th and reminds everyone to set their calendars as Astronomy For Change will be live-streaming the event beginning at 1:45 PM, EST. Nine years ago this August, Curiosity rover landed at[…]
Our future and how it could be as Limitless as the stars! (video)
In this video, Dr. Daly discusses the advantages of visual astronomy and shares his view of the world, history and how we can back on track – and it’s not that hard! Astronomy for Change: https://astronomyforchange.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/astronomychange Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/astronomyforchange NASA/ Apollo 11 legacy archive video: https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/288/apollo-11-launch/ NASA STS-125 SM4 10th Anniversary video: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/10-years-ago-hubble-s-final-servicing-mission-made-it-better-than-ever Featured[…]
#Kilauea Update! (video)
Last month we brought you Kilauea LIVE! Well, the fun continues with the volcano remaining active and eruptive as the lava lake continues to fill the caldera. In today’s video, well take a look at the 24-hour thermal scan of the caldera’s well, a thermal webcam at the summit rim of the volcano; we’ll zoom[…]
#SKAO Officially Launches! The Square Kilometer Array Observatory Officially Opens!
Rather than rewrite the story, we’ll reproduce today’s news release here in its entirety: The Square Kilometre Array Public Website Square Kilometre Array Exploring the Universe with the world’s largest radio telescope SKAO is born – Launch of international Observatory signals new era for radio astronomy Nighttime composite image of the SKA combining all elements[…]
Our Response to Dylan O’Donnell’s “10 Most Useless Astronomy Products (Trigger Warning)” video
In this video Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change responds to Dylan’s claims that printed star charts are a waste, that we don’t have to “cut down trees to look at the stars” and that he will always defer to a digital solution. He’s free to do that but the claim that the digital[…]
Some Thoughts About Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
When I was a young child, long before I received my first telescope as a Christmas gift from my parents, I often looked up at the moon and thought to myself, this is what the moon will look like in a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, long after I’m gone. While[…]
A Scientific Tribute to Larry King (video)
Link to video below As we all mourn the passing of Larry King, an icon, a professional with an uncommon sense of honesty, integrity and decency, a giant among journalists and communicators, let us remember him as a science communicator as well, the “middle-man” as such, between the science professional and the common man. Link[…]
Amazing Science News! Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Captures Spectacular Solar Eruption! (video)
Link to video below. We were reminded of the enormous power of our home star on November 29 of last year (2020), when NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a powerful Solar Flare, entitled the ‘Anemone’ Eruption’!In this video, Dr. James Daly presents and discusses our sun and the spectacular display witnessed on November 29, 2020.[…]
Kilauea Eruptions Increase!
Dr Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change chronicles the latest dramatic increases in eruptions at Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano. YouTube video link below. Video specific content links: US Geologic Survey: usgs.gov USGS Kilauea Eruption: https://www.usgs.gov/science-explorer-results?es=kilauea+eruption USGS Webcams at Kilauea: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/webcams NASA: nasa.gov NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: nasa.gov/goddard Google Earth Links https://www.google.com/earth/versions/ (includes all sources) https://www.google.com/earth/versions/#download-pro[…]
The #FlatEarth Phenomenon DeBunked, Part I (video)
Related articles linked at the foot of this page In this first of a series video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change discusses (and debunks) the growing Flat Earth Phenomenon. Related articles The #FlatEarth Phenomenon DeBunked, Part I (video) Update: Real #Science Answers to #FlatEarth Claims Real #Science Answers to #FlatEarth Claims The #EarthIsFlat[…]
An Astronomer’s New Years Message (with video)
On this cold, clear night when the stellar jewels are alight above, take the time, if just for a moment, to gaze upwards, to make that visceral connection with that from whence we all came. Regardless of your religious persuasion, if any, we are all connected at the deepest level to those stars; that grand[…]
Beautiful #Holiday Compilation for The #Christmas Season (video)
The production team here at Astronomy For Change has stitched together seasonal and appropriate selections from our original content, presenting them to our viewers, patrons, members and the world at large as a gift and expression of peace for the holidays and hope for a bright 2021. Featured Image: Photo of the Canis Major produced[…]
The #Christmas Star and the Great #Conjunction 2020 (with Video)
Link to YouTube video at foot of the article The following quote from the gospel according to Matthew is often found on holiday greeting cards and is heard around the world during this season as a message of peace and hope; the year is over and it’s time to rest, to be with family, friends[…]
The Great #Conjunction 2020, LIVE Event, Dec 20, 2020
Update: The #Christmas Star and the Great #Conjunction 2020 (with Video) Live Stream of the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 2020 from the University of Exeter, England. Unlike Saturday’s attempt, the weather cooperated and we witnessed the Conjunction, an event not to be repeated until 2080. Dr. Daly offers instruction and commentary where appropriate.[…]
The Great #Conjunction 2020 LIVE Stream Event from the Univ. of Exeter, UK (Sunday, 20 December, 2020)
Updated 21 December, 2020 Updated 24 December, 2020: The #Christmas Star and the Great #Conjunction 2020 (with Video) Mark your calendars! We’ll be streaming the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 2020 LIVE tomorrow, Sunday, December 20, 2020 beginning at 11:15 AM, EST (4:15 PM, GMT) with live feed from the University of Exeter, England.[…]
The Great #Conjunction 2020 LIVE Stream Event from the Univ. of Exeter, UK
Update: The #Christmas Star and the Great #Conjunction 2020 (with Video) Mark your calendars! We’ll be streaming the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 2020 LIVE tomorrow, Saturday, December 19, 2020 beginning at 11:00 AM, EST with live feed from the University of Exeter, England. Although the two planets will appear closest together on Monday,[…]
The #SETI Project with Alberto Caballero (Interview)
Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change Interviews Alberto Caballero. The Exoplanet Project’s home page: https://exoplanetschannel.wixsite.com/home. Alberto holds a Master’s degree and is the host of the “Exoplanets” YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdDS4j318UpKjNcpe_LeQxQ) whose focus is habitable exoplanets, extraterrestrial intelligence and Interstellar Travel. He is also involved with the Habitable Exoplanet Hunting Project, an international consortium of[…]
LIVE Total #Eclipse of the Sun from Chile, Dec 14, 2020 (Video)
Total Solar eclipse via live feed from west coast of Chile, hosted and narrated by Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change. Dr. Daly narrates and describes the progress of the eclipse, providing appropriate commentary and instruction on relevant and related topics in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of[…]
The Ten Brightest Stars (and where they are, with video) – 4. Sirius
This is the fourth installment of our ten-part series on the brightest stars and, with it, we’re pleased to present Sirius, the brightest star in Canis Major, the Great Dog. As we transition to winter, with the Winter Solstice occurring this year on the 21st of December (don’t forget to watch the Conjunction of Jupiter[…]
The Great #Conjunction of #Jupiter and #Saturn, 2020 (video)
In this video, Dr. Jim Daly presents and discusses this once-in-a-century event: the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 2020, an event occurring on December 21st, the Winter Solstice, and an event that won’t be repeated again until the year 2080, 60 years hence. The University of Exeter (in the UK) will host a live-stream[…]
Iconic #Arecibo Radio Telescope Collapses!
This is a follow-up story to recent developments at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Radio Observatory. At 7:53:50 AM EST, December 1st, the observatory’s radio transceiver superstructure, suspended above the 305-meter spherical radio dish, collapsed and fell to the dish below (watch video at the foot of this article). The NSF news release reporting the event follows:[…]
The SETI Project is looking for Observatories
Update: watch our interview with Alberto Caballero, the project leader: The #SETI Project with Alberto Caballero (Interview) Part of our mission is to engage society, to inspire and empower current and future generations and thus affect positive change through astronomy and science education. Astronomy For Change is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to affect[…]
#Arecibo Radio Telescope to be Decommissioned
Update: Emergency Action Petition to the WhiteHouse to evaluate and stabilize the Arecibo radio telescope In an unexpected blow to the worldwide Astronomical community, the National Science Foundation announced on Thursday (11/19) that they would soon begin decommissioning the iconic radio telescope, the heart of the Arecibo Radio Observatory. The telescope was made famous in[…]
Climate Change is an Existential Threat to All Life on Earth, A Solution
Climate Change is an Existential Threat to All Life on the Planet and to the Continuance of the Human Species as the dominant life form on the planet. By James Daly, Ph.D That’s a pretty bleak outlook and as stark as it gets but, sadly, it’s the truth regardless of how many politicians choose to[…]
Heavy Element NucleoSynthesis In A High mass #Star (narrated video)
Dr. Jim Daly narrates the evolution of a high mass star, describing heavy element nucleosynthesis and how such a star will ultimately end it’s life in a spectacular fashion as a Type-II Core Collapse Supernova. In this video, the evolution of a 15 solar-mass star is depicted from its “0-age” or the point on it’s[…]
Replacing the #Sun with #Vega, what would happen? (video)
In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy for Change discusses the star Vega, where it is in the night sky, how it compares to the sun and the mythology surrounding Lyra, the constellation that it’s in. As an exercise in Astrophysics and imagination, Dr. Daly describes what would happen to our solar system if[…]
The Sky Tonight Now Available at #Astronomy For Change via #Stellarium Web (video)
An interactive Sky Tonight portal is now available on our Web portal. Simply click the Blue Bar (or here) to launch an interactive Sky Tonight application courtesy of Stellarium Web. Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of all articles can be found here. If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting us with[…]
Replacing the Sun with Arcturus, what would happen? (video)
Dr. Jim Daly of AFC discusses the star Arcturus and its similarities to our own sun, our sun as seen through a lens that takes us on a journey in time 2.6 billion years into the future. What will happen to our solar system when that happens. We also take a look at the sky[…]
Mid-October Night Sky #Planetarium Show (20201015) with #Antares (video)
Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change narrates “The Sky Tonight” for for Mid-October. This is our latest Planetarium Show where we tour the waning skies of summer and focus on the third star in our list of the 10 brightest stars, Antares. Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of all articles can[…]
Red Sun Sunset on US East Coast (from California Fires, with video)
In a scene reminiscent of the view from Tatooine or from a planet orbiting a red dwarf star, this author witnessed a remarkable sunset this week. By now, everyone should be aware of the unprecedented fires engulfing the US State of California. As the climate continues to change and warm unabated, the frequency and intensity[…]
The Ten Brightest Stars (and where they are, with video) – 3. Antares
Related videos available at the foot of the page. With this third in installment in our ten-part series on the ten brightest stars we’re pleased to present the red supergiant star Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion. Derived from the Greek, the star’s name refers to it as a “rival to-Ares” (“opponent to-Mars”) with a[…]
Update: Real #Science Answers to #FlatEarth Claims
Related articles linked at the foot of this page […]
Real #Science Answers to #FlatEarth Claims
Related articles linked at the foot of this page By James Daly, Ph.D We’ve published a variety of articles to address a new, and growing phenomenon, the belief that the earth is flat. To my mind, it is inconceivable that, in the 21st century, when we’ve brilliantly navigated a robot craft to flyby Pluto some[…]
The Earth Is Flat (and other nonsense)
Related articles linked at the foot of this page By James Daly, Ph.D I wouldn’t normally write about such things as this as there is so much to be concerned of as of late that this topic might seem trivial by comparison. Trivial on its face, yes but it bespeaks a deeper problem with grave[…]
Starlink Poses an Existential Threat to Ground-Based Astronomy
Opinion by James Daly, Ph.D, Astronomer, Curator and Author We’ve written extensively on this subject as it is impossible to overstate the threat to ground-based Astronomy this project poses and have chronicled the various professional facilities and how they will be effected: #SpaceX #Starlink Project Tops Shortlist Of Really Bad Ideas #Starlink (#SpaceX) Update and[…]
Perseid Meteor Shower 2020 #Perseids #Perseids2020 #Perseid #MeteorShower
The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that generally occurs each year during the 2nd week in August as the Earth passes through the same debris field left behind by comet Swift–Tuttle. This year the shower peaks on the morning of August 12. Unlike last year, however, the moon is at 3rd quarter and[…]
The Ten Brightest Stars (and where they are, with video) – 2. Vega
This is the second installment of our ten-part series on the brightest stars and, with it, we’re pleased to present Vega, the “Contact Star” (made famous by the feature-length Hollywood production of the same name, starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey). Vega, at 25 light-years distant, is the fifth brightest star in the sky and[…]
Some Common Questions in Astronomy (Part I)
Here at Astronomy for Change we often get questions, good questions, about various topics in astronomy. Here’s a sampling of some of the more common questions received as of late: Which planets we can see from earth What star did sailors use to navigate? Why is Sirius so easy to find in the night sky?[…]
Invitation To Observe (Radio #Astronomy) #RadioAstronomy
One of our sponsors, Radio Astronomy Supplies, has posted an “Invitation to Observe“, for astronomers (Amateur or Professional) to participate in exploratory radio observations of the rich galaxy cluster in the constellation Coma Berencies. The details follow: Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of all articles can be found here. If you enjoyed[…]
The Ten Brightest Stars (and where they are, with video) – 1. Arcturus
Link to video at foot of page Back in 2016 we published an article Where are the five brightest stars in our sky? Since then, this article has been one of our most popular and, accordingly, we’re going to continue the discussion, expanding the list from 5 (6, really, when you consider the sun) to[…]
#Comet 2020 F3 #NeoWise Gradually Fading thru July (with Video)
Update (22 July, 2020) As of today’s date, Comet 2020 F3 NeoWise rises with the sun and is thus, exclusively an evening object. The comet is well placed at twilight, south and west of Merak and Dubhe, the famous “pointer stars” of the “Big Dipper“, the Northern-Hemisphere asterism made famous as a great “dipper” in[…]
Thoughts on a Double-sun Sunset, the Doomsday Clock and the Fermi Paradox
Opinion I’m an Astronomer and Astrophysicist by training and profession and care deeply about all living things, the state of our world and the planet we inhabit. In studying the universe and the natural world most of my life, I have come to learn a few things; among those, I’ve come to learn about the[…]
Distant #Fireworks Just in Time for #July4th (First Time Visible Light Observation of #BlackHole Merger)
Here at Astronomy For Change, we’ve discussed at length, the recent discoveries, observations and scientific breakthroughs regarding these enigmatic objects whose light was emitted billions of years before the sun burned bright in space: A Discovery that Shook the World! In a galaxy far, far away, KiloNova Explosion From Neutron Star Merger Observed – Gravity[…]
Cosmic First #KiloNova #Explosion From #NeutronStar Merger – #GravityWave Event Visual Confirmation (video)
On 3 October of 2017, in what the prestigious Royal Swedish Academy described simply as “a discovery that shook the world”, three Americans were awarded that year’s Nobel Prize in Physics “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”, waves famously predicted by Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity 105[…]
Some Thoughts on The #CoronaVirus and the #PaleBlueDot #Covid19
As the country and the world struggles to cope with the Corona Virus, it is instructive to contemplate the words of the late Carl Sagan as he shared his thoughts on the state of the world in 1994. The world was different then in some ways but, in many respects, it remains the same today.[…]
#SpaceX #Starlink New Update, 16 April, 2020
Since this is a fluid situation (the planned launch of the next round of Starlink satellites on April 15th has been postponed), we will be publishing new stories as the situation evolves. We recently published an update to our original story reporting on the effects and aftermath of SpaceX’s first-round launch of 60 Starlink Satellites[…]
#Starlink (#SpaceX) Update and It’s Not Good News for #Astronomers
In June of last year, we published a story on the launch of a brand-new SpaceX mission, Starlink, an ostensible name really that has nothing to do with linking to the stars (whatever that means) rather, it would be more like eclipsing them. This is an update to that story and the news isn’t good[…]
Vernal Equinox 2020
This year’s Vernal Equinox occurred on Thursday, March 19 amid beautiful evening and morning skies. The sun, as it appears to move along the Ecliptic, crossed the Celestial Equator at 11:49 PM EDT on the 19th. Of note, this will be the earliest spring in over 100 years. According to the Farmers Almanac For much[…]
An Astronomer’s New Year’s Message
On this cold, clear night when the stellar jewels are alight above, take the time, if just for a moment, to gaze upwards, to make that visceral connection with that from whence we all came. Regardless of your religious persuasion, if any, we are all connected at the deepest level to those stars; that grand[…]
#AutumnSky, #October #NewMoon, #Mars at #Sunrise, #Venus at #Sunset (un narrated Video)
In this un-narrated video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change takes us on a quick tour of the sky tonight starting at sunset, taking a look at the New Moon with Venus and Mercury at sunset, then jumping to Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus (yes, Uranus). Following all that, we keep moving east to the[…]
#HuntersMoon and Early #AutumnSky (Video)
In this video, Dr. James Daly takes us on a tour of the early Autumn Sky, discussing the October Full Moon otherwise known as The Hunter’s Moon. These colloquial names for the full moon describe certain activities where the brilliant moon, high in the sky, would extend visibility and assist in the activity associated with[…]
#AutumnalEquinox 2019, Early Fall Sky, Major Planets (video)
Dr. Daly presents the science and, specifically, the Astronomy behind the event, the seasons and how they change. It should be pointed out that on this date and the Vernal Equinox (the beginning of Spring) the sun rises due East and sets due West. Dr. Daly presents the science and, specifically, the Astronomy behind the[…]
Full Harvest Moon, Early Fall Sky (Video)
In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change presents this year’s Full Harvest Moon, Friday, September 13, 2019 set against the late Sumer and early Autumn Sky. Dr. Daly discusses the origin, legend and lore behind the naming of each month’s full moon and why they are significant. With the full moon rising[…]
Einstein’s Triumph (video)
In this video, Dr. James Daly celebrates and discusses the Centenary of the first of many confirmations of Einstein’s Theory of Gravity, his General Theory of Relativity. On 29 May, 1919, observations were made of stars in the vicinity of the totally-eclipsed sun, a rare event that provided the conditions necessary for such an experiment[…]
Beautiful #LaborDay Sky w Waxing Crescent #Moon, #Venus (no narration)
Without narration and with select ambient music, we explore the Labor Day weekend sky beginning tonight, August 31 through September 2nd, 2019. The holiday weekend sky features a waxing crescent moon with Venus setting 15 minutes after the sun on Labor Day with Jupiter and Saturn still well placed to the south in Scorpio and[…]
The #Sun and other #Stars, How They Shine and #Evolve – Part I (#Video)
How does the sun and other stars shine? In this, the first of a multi-part series, Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change (https://astronomyforchange.org) teaches us and illustrates how stars, incredibly dynamic and self-regulating, shine and evolve. With this video, we start with the sun as a model and an up-close and personal laboratory to[…]
Beautiful Pre Dawn Sky Aug 27, 2019 No Narration w Ambient Music (Video)
This is a short, narration free video featuring the beautiful (and peaceful) pre-dawn sky of today, August 27, 2019. Tomorrow’s sky is similar Please like, subscribe and share. Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of all articles in this blog can be found here.
The #Amazon #Rainforest is on #Fire #AmazonOnFIre (Video)
In this video, Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change discusses the science behind the deadly wildfires sweeping much of Brazil, Bolivia and other countries in Latin America and how important it is for us to quickly extinguish those fires and prevent them in the future. Dr. Daly also discusses sensible, sustainable energy solutions and,[…]
Should we or could we ‘Nuke’ #Mars? #NukeMars (Video)
In our latest video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy for Change discusses the recent interest in colonizing Mars through ‘Terraforming’. Elon Musk is pushing the idea of rapidly warming the surface of the Red Planet using clean Nuclear Fusion ‘bombs’ and thus rapidly increasing the planet’s average surface temperature. Through a thoughtful choice of the[…]
Does #Asteroid #Apophis Pose a #Threat to #Earth? (Video)
Does Asteroid Apophis, first discovered in 2004, now Pose a Threat to Earth? In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy for Change discusses this and related topics with the renewed interest in these and other Near Earth Objects (NEOs) that could pose an existential threat to the planet, to life and civilization as we[…]
Building #TMT #Telescope On #MaunaKea #Hawaii is True Progress (Video)
In this video, Dr. Jm Daly discusses recent developments regarding the attempted construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the large Island of Hawaii, Mauna Kea. It is the opinion of Astronomy For Change that the TMT should be built on Site A, Mauna Kea. Dr. Daly makes a case for construction of TMT[…]
Late #August Sky, Beautiful #StarClusters, Last of the #Perseids
In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change discusses remaining viewing options for the Perseid Meteor Shower and the mid-to-late August Sky, highlighting those constellations and objects of interest that are receding from view with the close of the season. The constellations discussed include Bootes, The Herdsman, Canes Venatici, The Hunting Dogs, Hercules[…]
#Breakthrough #Starshot-Going to the Stars, Riding on a Beam of Light! (Video)
Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change presents a public lecture on the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative that, if successful, will see the launch of humanities first interstellar mission. Thousands of nano-class, gram-mass scale robotic craft will be launched via a high-power, phased-array microwave laser to 20% the speed of light towards the nearest star system[…]
Full Sturgeon Moon, Beautiful Star Clusters, Perseid Meteor Shower
Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change discusses the Full Moon for August, the Full Sturgeon Moon, Full Moon naming conventions, two beautiful new objects for binoculars or telescope (M-11, M-24), the Perseid Meteor Shower and the coming Autumnal Equinox. Please like, subscribe and share. Imagination is more important than knowledge An index of all[…]
Early #AugustNightSky, Beautiful #StarClusters, #Perseid #MeteorShower
In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change discusses the early August Night Sky with some of the jewels of the Summer Sky, some of the prominent constellations, the Milky Way, the major planets visible (Jupiter & Saturn), the phases of the moon for August 10 – 13 along with the Perseid Meteor[…]
Galactic Relic Globular Cluster Terzan5
The object discussed in this article, Terzan5, was featured as the Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD for 21 September, 2016 Astronomy Picture of the Day In a few articles I’ve touched upon a poorly understood class of objects known as Globular Clusters. These objects and the stars in them are galactic relics, timeposts that[…]
#Jupiter, #Moon #NightSky #Spectacular With #Perseid #MeteorShower
In this video, Dr. Jim Daly of Astronomy For Change revisits the Perseid Meteor Shower and takes a look at the stunning view looking south for Friday, August 9, 2019. We present new objects to view with binoculars or an amateur telescope, discuss the phase of the moon for August 8 and 9 and take[…]
#Perseid Meteor Shower, Waxing Crescent #Moon, Early August Sky, 2019
In this video, we take a quick look at the early August sky at twilight and move on, later into the night, taking a look at the major planets (Jupiter and Saturn, in Scorpio and Sagittarius, respectively), a quick look at the early Autumn constellations, rising much later into the night. We then take an[…]
#Einstein Was Correct – And so was #Newton (Video)
Dr. James Daly discusses Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and Newton’s Laws within the context of a recent study published by UCLA’s Dr. Andrea Ghez of the Supermassive Black Hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The study can be found here: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/07/24/science.aav8137 https://phys.org/news/2019-07-einstein-relativity-theory.html Please like, share and subscribe. This subscription is[…]
The Sky Tonight July 28, 2019 Planetarium Sky Show
The Sky Tonight for July 28, 2019 presented by Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change. In this edition of the series, we take a look at the early morning sky, the slim, waning crescent moon, and the morning planets Venus and Mercury. We take a brief look at the stars and constellations of autumn[…]
Build the #ThirtyMeterTelescope #TMT Now!
Opinion by Dr. James Daly The late Carl Sagan, in his 1995 book “The Demon-Haunted World, Science as a Candle In the Dark” warns of exactly what is happening today and how reliance on science, reason, thought and collaboration is the antidote to a society that has, quite literally, gone mad. Are we citizens of[…]
In A Demon-Haunted World, Science As A Candle In The Dark
Related articles linked at the foot of this page Opinion by Dr. James Daly The late Carl Sagan, in his 1995 book “The Demon-Haunted World, Science as a Candle In the Dark” warns of exactly what is happening today and how reliance on science, reason, thought and collaboration is the antidote to a society that[…]
The Sky Tonight for July 23, 2019
The latest edition of The Sky Tonight with Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change. In this video we continue our exploration of the summer sky and constellations, the summer Milky Way and notable objects of interest specific to the season. We zoom in on the Summer Triangle, the Constellations Lyra and Hercules while discussing[…]
The Sky Tonight For July 16 through July 21, 2019
The Sky Tonight for July 16 through July 21, 2019 presented by Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change. Topics include the continued discussion of the various constellations of the day and the season, the major planets visible, the ecliptic, the moon, Apollo 11 along with a brief discussion of stellar evolution. Ambient background music:[…]
The #SkyTonight July 14, 2019 #Planetarium Show
The Sky Tonight for the week beginning July 14, 2019. We look at the phase of the moon, some of the prominent summer constellations and planets as well as discuss some interesting aspects of two of the season’s prominent stars. During the video we discuss the star Antares and that it is a highly evolved[…]
Some Thoughts about Summer, Arcturus and the Future
Looking up at the shimmering sapphire set low in the western sky towards midnight, Arcturus, we are reminded that another summer is here, that spring is gone and that Father Time continues his cadence, marking the years; it is a reminder that everything is changing and growing; it is solace in an insane world and[…]
Going to the Stars, Riding on a Beam of Light!
During his years working in the Swiss Patent Office, Albert Einstein often imagined what it would be like to ride on beam of light. This thought experiment would come to play a key role in the development of his Special Theory of Relativity, one of the four great works produced during his 1905 Annus Mirabilis.[…]
The Enigma of Time
What does it mean, Albert Einstein asked in 1905, to say that a train arrives someplace — in Paris, say — at 7 o’clock? It should be noted that last week, 30 June, 2019, is the 114th anniversary of Einstein’s publication of “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies“, his Special Theory of Relativity. What is[…]
The Old Astronomer
The Old Astronomer To His Pupil By Sarah Williams Reach me down my Tycho Brahé, – I would know him when we meet, When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from[…]
The Sky Tonight for Week Beginning July 8, 2019
We continue our video initiative with this latest installment of “The Sky Tonight” for the week beginning 8 July, 2019. We take a look at what planets are visible with a quick tour of the summer sky over the coming week; we’ll revisit this often over the coming weeks, taking a more in-depth look at[…]
Live Event: Great #LATAM #Eclipse of 2019 – #Eclipse2019
The cover image for the feature video (also above) was produced from Dr. Daly’s composite image of the totally eclipsed sun as observed during his eclipse expedition to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, 11 July 1991. We hosted a live event via YouTube today, 2 July, 2019 presenting the Great Latin American Eclipse of 2019. Decribing[…]
#LatinAmerica’s Great Total Solar #Eclipse of July 2, 2019
This Tuesday, July 2nd, observers in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay will be witness to one of nature’s most awesome spectacles, a Total Eclipse of the Sun. A total eclipse of the sun occurs when the moon, at “New” Phase, perfectly covers the disk of the sun. Since the moon is 400x smaller than the sun,[…]
A Most Distant Globular Cluster
Well, I did it! Using the college’s 0.63m flagship instrument, I, along with colleagues, visually observed the second most distant globular cluster associated with our Milky Way galaxy! I’m fascinated with relics as they have a story to tell, a deep story of something very old, of a long-gone epoch, a bridge, if you will,[…]
#DarkMatter and #DarkEnergy Explained? Well, not really!
Ever since it was discovered that the rotational dynamics of spiral galaxies were inconsistent with the observed mass of those galaxies, it has been postulated that missing mass or dark matter was responsible. With fellow staff-member Kent Ford, astronomer Vera Rubin announced at a 1975 meeting of the American Astronomical Society the discovery that most stars in spiral galaxies orbit at roughly[…]
Summer Solstice, 2019
As the last vestiges of the winter sky are low in the west at twilight, we look forward to the late spring and early summer sky. With Lyra the celestial harp ascending the northeastern sky towards midnight along with Cygnus and the rich summer Milky Way following close behind, we’re certain that spring is here[…]
SpaceX’s Starlink Project Tops Shortlist Of Really Bad Ideas
The beauty of the night sky has inspired generation after generation from the dawn of recorded history and now, that vista, the essence of that inspiration, is under direct threat! Many famous poets, authors, scientists and philosophers have written about the stars, the universe and the night sky above and, sadly, what is absent in[…]
Einstein’s Triumph – This Day 100 Years Ago!
Every year on the 29th of May, the anniversary of the famous 1919 Total Solar Eclipse, we celebrate Einstein’s Triumph, the experiment that provided incontrovertible evidence for the veracity of his theory on Gravity, the General Theory of Relativity. Up until the turn of the 20th century, the natural universe was governed by Newton’s Laws;[…]
Podcast – In a galaxy far, far away, KiloNova Explosion From Neutron Star Merger
On 4 December, 2017 Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change hosted a public event discussing the landmark discovery and optical counterpart observation of the merger of two Neutron Stars. The discovery was made on 17 August, 2017 using the US-Based LIGO Gravity Wave Telescope Array and the Virgo gravitational wave observatory located near Pisa,[…]
Dark Matter – Chasing A Ghost That Doesn’t Exist
This video is the first in a short series on this topic. Many studies of late have been published regarding this enigmatic phenomenon known as “Dark Matter“. The term is a misnomer since the expression suggests that there is some “matter”, some quantifiable, measurable quantity, heretofore unobserved. This is not the case; the term was[…]
Peering Into The ‘Heart of Darkness’
In an unprecedented observation of a class of objects that have been the center of much attention since they were first postulated by Karl Schwarzchild in 1916 using Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, a world-wide collaboration of astronomers will release tomorrow, the first ever images of 2 super-massive black holes, Sagittarius-A at the center of[…]
Late Summer Southern Showcase
It is rare that so many solar system objects are all located so closely in a singular view. This week, moving along the ecliptic towards full moon on the 26th, the the August moon, Sturgeon Moon, the Green Corn Moon or the Grain Moon the moon will be favorably positioned near 3 of the solar[…]
Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of this century Occurs Tomorrow, Friday, July 27
The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will take place this Friday, July 27. This eclipse is also significant as it takes place during a “Blue” moon, or a full moon that occurs more than once during a calendar month. A lunar eclipse occurs only during the full moon phase as the moon[…]
Summer Solstice, 2018
As the last vestiges of the winter sky are low in the west at twilight, we look forward to the late spring and early summer sky. With Lyra the celestial harp ascending the northeastern sky towards midnight along with Cygnus and the rich summer Milky Way following close behind, we’re certain that spring is here[…]
How Successful will TESS be?
As pictured in this Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 21, in a brilliantly successful launch, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 into a highly elliptical, High Earth Orbit. Contrary to many news reports, TESS is not a telescope, nor does it have any telescopes onboard. It[…]
Hubble’s 28th Anniversary
Tomorrow, 24 April, 2018, marks the 28th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s service to mankind. Twenty Eight years ago on this date in 1990, the intrepid telescope rocketed into history aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. To celebrate this momentous occasion, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute have released the beautiful image and “Fly Through”[…]
Introducing The Astronomy For Change Discussion Board and Community Forum!
With the first topic of discussion posted, Astronomy for Change launches our new Community Forum and Discussion Board. The first topic of discussion is How Successful will TESS be? Jump right in and let us know what you think of NASA’s new mission of discovery and exploration or introduce a topic of your own.
The Sky Tonight, April 17th, 2018
The sky tonight for April 17, 2018 without narration. A version of this video will follow with full narration by Dr. James Daly of Astronomy For Change. This is the first video in our weekly tour of the night sky. Each installment will be seasonal and timely, designed to take our guests on a quick[…]
Reflections on Arcturus, The Sun and the Changing Seasons
Looking up at the shimmering sapphire ascending the northeast sky at twilight, Arcturus, reminds us that the seasons are changing, that spring is emerging from what seemed to be an intolerably long winter; it is a reminder that everything is changing and growing; it is solace in an uncertain world and allows one, at least[…]
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Confirms Einstein Ring Prediction
In Albert Einstein‘s 1915 General Theory of Relativity, his theory on Gravity and a brand new way of looking at the universe, it was predicted that the space in the vicinity of a massive object would be warped and thus, the appearance of anything whose light would pass through this region of space would be[…]
SpaceX Set to Launch new Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
UPDATE: On April 18th at 6:51 PM, EDT, SpaceX is set to launch the small counterpart and addition to the intrepid Kepler Space Telescope now operating with limited control propellant and hence, limited time during the newly designated K2 mission. Having its original mission cut short due to general failure of a second of the[…]
Amateur Astronomer Records Stellar Beacon 80 Million Light Years Distant
On February 21st, in a heretofore unprecedented accomplishment, an amateur astronomer has recorded the “First Light” of a dying star over 80 million light years distant. As described in the Nature article, the first point of contact for the supernova’s photons after traveling 80 million years, a point in the distant past 15 million years[…]
The Seasonal Skies
Did you ever wonder why each of the seasons feature a unique and distinctive procession of stars and constellations? The year is divided into four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We begin the astronomical year on the Vernal Equinox, the astronomical beginning of Spring and the date the sun, moving eastward along the Ecliptic,[…]
Orion, The Celestial Centurion and His Faithful Companions
During these cold, clear winter nights in the Northern Hemisphere, the sky is adorned with a veritable treasure trove of jewels, ranging widely in brilliance, splendor and color. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, the winter sky has one of the highest densities of bright stars for any given region of the sky. Even a casual[…]
Celestial Navigation in the Age of the GPS
“All I Ask Is A Tall Ship And A Star To Steer Her By” Those poetic words spoken by 19-20th century English poet John Masefield suggest that all that the men who “go down to the sea” need is a star to steer their tall ship by. What’s to be said of this love of[…]
Greek Scholars and the Development of the Constellations
Astronomy is an area where the Greeks displayed a remarkable talent. Observational astronomy, the main focal point where astronomy took an unprecedented leap in Greece, attempted to construct a model of the universe that could account for the observations made by Greek scholars. They explored all imaginable alternatives, and carefully accounted for several different solutions of[…]
The Sounds of Saturn
Saturn is a source of intense radio emissions and, starting in 2002, scientists at NASA have been monitoring that emission using instrumentation onboard the Cassini spacecraft. As a result, NASA was able to convert and translate the radio signals into sound in an effort to better understand the underlying phenomenon. This discovery is just one[…]
Uranus Uniquely placed Tonight, January 23, 2018
Tonight, January 23, 2018, the planet Uranus is uniquely placed in the constellation Pisces within 6 degrees almost due north of the waxing crescent moon. Although the planet’s brightness or magnitude is at the threshold for naked-eye observation, a modest pair of binoculars is necessary to reveal the planet as a greenish-blue “star” and a[…]
The Star That Wouldn’t Die
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…. there was this star that, by all known theories of stellar evolution (the study of how stars are born, live and die), should have died. Many stories in the media lately have described this star as the “Zombie” star since, contrary to what should have[…]
What a Giant Solar Flare Means to Earth
Composite video of the sun as imaged by the Solar Dynamics Observatory in three false-color, high-energy wavebands between 5 September and 7 September of this year showing the magnitude 9.3 X-class solar flare as a bright pink outburst. Link to original HD video available here and on our YouTube channel here. What would happen if[…]
In a galaxy far, far away, KiloNova Explosion From Neutron Star Merger Observed – Gravity Waves Produced
Update to European Southern Observatory To Announce “Unprecedented Astronomical Discovery” Monday, 16 October The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has announced the unprecedented discovery and observation of the optical counterpart to the gravitational wave event observed on 17 August (GW170817) of this year. The full announcement and press event can be watched here: This observation is[…]
European Southern Observatory To Announce “Unprecedented Astronomical Discovery” Monday, 16 October
Update: Update to ESO Announcement – In a galaxy far, far away, the Optical Counterpart to Historic Gravity Wave Detection Observed Media Advisory: Press Conference at ESO HQ Announcing Unprecedented Discovery 11 October 2017 ESO will hold a press conference on 16 October 2017 at 16:00 CEST, at its Headquarters in Garching, Germany, to present[…]
Weighing the Milky Way Galaxy
Like early explorers mapping the continents of our globe, astronomers are busy charting the spiral structure of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Using infrared images from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists have discovered that the Milky Way’s elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms sweeping off the ends of a central bar of[…]
A Discovery that Shook the World!
2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Gravity Wave Detection A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… This now famous opening scroll of Star Wars is a fitting and appropriate way to open this story as it describes -perfectly- the environment, origin and progenitor of these waves. Yesterday, 3 October, in what[…]
Autumnal Equinox, 2017
At 20:02 UTC (4:02 PM, EDT) today, the Autumnal Equinox occurs, the Astronomical beginning of Autumn. This is the second time this year, and every year, that marks the date and time when there are equal hours of daylight and darkness, the first being the Vernal Equinox, the Astronomical beginning of Spring. Today the sun[…]
The Cassini-Huygens Legacy of Science and Discovery at Saturn
September 7, 2017 After Cassini: Pondering the Saturn Mission’s Legacy Cassini’s discoveries are feeding forward into future exploration of the solar system. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute › Full image and caption (Author’s note: The Cassini orbiter is scheduled to be deorbited and plunge into Saturn’s cloud tops this Friday, September 15 at 4:55 AM, PDT.[…]
World’s best ‘eclipse chaser’ explains why you may not want to photograph the eclipse
Reposted from The Class Dismissed Podcast, Inspiring Educators Through Story Original article Published by Ortego Communications Astronomer Glenn Schneider has been chasing total eclipses since he was 14 years old. In all, he’s witnessed 33, an accomplishment that only two other people in history can put on their resume. Credit: Dr. Glenn Schneider August 21, Schneider will[…]
Scientists Collect Eclipse Data from the Ground
Did you know that while you are watching the solar eclipse, scientists from NASA are recording data related to radiation from the ground? On August 21, 2017, during the solar eclipse, the over a 70-mile wide path that crosses the country from Oregon to South Carolina will be recorded from the ground. During the total[…]
Nasa follows Eclipse’s Shadow
As an effort to promote astronomy and science around the world, we will be having a live stream for those interested in seeing the eclipse. Nasa will be covering the eclipse on the air and in the ground with docents of scientist participating in the endeavor. he first total solar eclipse in the continental United States[…]
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH STARS IN 7 STEPS
A lot of us live astronomy and most importantly, love to look up at the sky and feel immersed in its vast beauty. Many are taken back by the difficulty to capture stars with their mobile 📱phones, but it is possible to capture that special moment between you and the stars. So how do we go[…]
Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) Trade show highlights
NEAF is one of the World’s largest Astronomy and Space Trades show in United States. Every year, the astronomical imaging conferences presents a two-day event hosting leaders and acknowledged experts in extra solar planets, variable star, minor planets, asteroids, comets, and supernova research with the intention of fostering pro-am collaborations. With more than 200 attendees, the trades[…]
NASA Discovery Reveals Largest Group of Earth-Size Planets In Habitable Zone
A team of astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, an orbiting platform that observes the universe exclusively in the InfraRed (heat) region of the spectrum, have discovered a group of Earth-size planets in orbit around the cool, low-mass red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, three of which are within the star’s habitable zone! As mentioned in yesterday’s[…]
NASA Study Finds Planets of Red Dwarf Stars May Face Oxygen Loss
The search for life beyond Earth starts in habitable zones, the regions around stars where conditions could potentially allow liquid water – essential for life as we know it – to pool on a planet’s surface. New NASA research suggests some of these zones might not actually be able to support life due to frequent[…]
2016 Autumnal Equinox
At 14:21 UTC (10:21 EDT) yesterday, the Autumnal Equinox occured, the Astronomical beginning of Autumn. This is the second time this year, and every year, that marks the date and time when there are equal hours of daylight and darkness, the first being the Vernal Equinox, the Astronomical beginning of Spring. Yesterday the sun transited[…]
How Astronomy Benefits Human Kind
By Anton Vankovich Throughout all our history people have been gazing at the night sky wondering what’s there, what secrets it hides. These thoughts have taken their imaginations and minds. Some have started to dream up a fairy tales, but some could look beyond and see regularities up there. . It took centuries for real[…]
Did You Know That The Blue Sky Is Really “Black”
The sky is actually black, but have you ever wondered why it is blue? A lot of other smart people think the sky is blue, when in reality is black but due to white light have see it blue. The light from the[…]
September Harvest Moon and Other Special Celestial Highlights
Two notable events occur this month, the Harvest (Full) Moon tomorrow, Friday, 16 September and the Autumnal Equinox on Thursday, 22 September. In fact, they’re both linked. The full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox is known as the “Harvest Moon”, a designation indicting that the light of the full moon gave aid to the[…]
The Mystery of Philae, Missing for Two Years, Solved!
Remember the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and the intrepid little lander, Philae that went missing, was subsequently found and then went quiet again? Well, the mystery has been solved. High-resolution cameras aboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft have found Philae, wedged into a crack and in the shadow of a cliff on the[…]
Limitless!
In what could only be described as a visual metaphor of a bright, hopeful, limitless future, this image, iconic as it is inspirational, epitomizes what is the best in us, the potential we have to soar to new heights, a young child chasing Juno along a Florida beach as the intrepid explorer slips the surly[…]
Juno Completes First Orbit of Jupiter
Jupiter’s North Pole Unlike Anything Encountered in Solar System Having completed a brilliant orbital insertion on 4 July, Juno has successfully completed the first of 36 orbits of Jupiter. As it passed within 4,200 Km (2,600 mi) of the giant planet’s upper cloud decks at 6:44 a.m. PDT (9:44 a.m. EDT, 13:44 UTC), it was[…]
Garvey Nights – open to the public
Garvey Nights The Garvey Ranch Observatory is open to the public every Wednesday evening from 7:30 PM to 10 PM. Go into the dome to use the 8 Inch Refractor or observe through one of our telescopes on the lawn. Visit our workshop to learn how you can build your own telescope, grind your own[…]
New Horizons Closes Out August With Two Great Stories
The brilliantly successful New Horizons that flew by Pluto in a spectacular reconnaissance mission on 14 July last year closes out this month with two great stories. New Horizons Spies a Kuiper Belt Companion On its way to a New Years Day 2019 rendezvous with its next port of call, 2014 MU69, New Horizons is[…]
Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano Continues to Erupt!
As of 8:34 AM, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), yesterday, August 29th, Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano is actively erupting! More than 450 Volcanoes today form the Pacific Ring of Fire, a sub-oceanic expanse that is host to 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes and an area prone to powerful earthquakes. The active volcanism along the[…]
Discovered! A Sister World, Earth-Like Planet Orbits Proxima Centauri – Closest Ever!
Its often been said that Three’s a Charm! That is to say, in this case, three stars in the same system with a habitable Earth-like planet in the mix just for good measure! The Alpha Centauri Star System is a Trinary system – three stars linked by gravity, in orbit around a common center. What[…]
Today is Golden Anniversary of First Image of Earth from the Moon
Fifty years ago today, NASA published the first-ever image of the Earth from the moon. Imaged by the intrepid Lunar Orbiter 1, the black and white image above was beamed back from a distance of 380,000 Km (236,000 mi). Lunar Orbiter 1 was the first of five Lunar Orbiters sent to the moon in preparation[…]
Going to the Stars, Riding on a Beam of Light!
During his years working in the Swiss Patent Office, Albert Einstein often imagined what it would be like to ride on beam of light. This thought experiment would come to play a key role in the development of his Special Theory of Relativity, one of the four great works produced during his 1905 Annus Mirabilis.[…]
Where are the five brightest stars in our sky?
Update to this topic: The Ten Brightest Stars (and where they are, with video) – 1. Arcturus Going out to look up at the stars on a clear, dark night can be daunting, if not for its beauty and majesty but for what may seem like an uncountable number of stars; you often hear the[…]
Science Gives Us Hope in a Turbulent World
World renowned physicist, and Advanced Fellow of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester, Professor Brian Cox suggests that science not only gives us hope in a turbulent, conflicted and often dysfunctional world but also provides a method of coping with the turbulence. In an August 3rd BBC[…]
The Sun Today!
Note: Following observations of the 2 August Transit of the moon across the sun, SDO failed to return to Science mode, hence the blank video composites below. Daily, Dynamic Video Composite Loops of the Sun in the light of Extreme UltraViolet and soft X-Rays High-Definition Movies of the Raging Sun 24/7 Be the first to[…]
Himawari-8 Weather Satellite Provides High-Res Real Time View of Earth
Equatorial Pacific Region during the preceding 24 hours The Himawari-8 weather satellite was launched on 7 October, 2014 and went into service on 7 July, 2015. It is in geostationary orbit 35,900 Km above the equator and centered on New Guinea. It images the earth in real time every 10 minutes. http://himawari8.nict.go.jp is a comprehensive[…]
First In-Orbit View of Jupiter From Juno
The JunoCam camera aboard NASA’s Juno mission is operational and transmitting data after the spacecraft’s July 4 arrival at Jupiter. Juno’s visible-light camera was turned on six days after Juno fired its main engine, placing itself into orbit around the solar system’s largest planet. The first high-resolution images of the gas giant Jupiter are still[…]
Today is The 47th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Lunar Landing!
At 9:32 AM, EDT on this date forty seven years ago, humanity finally came of age, venturing off our home world, home to all life that we know of since the dawn of recorded history, for a thousand millennia. It has been said, and quite accurately, that for the 21 hours his two companions were[…]
10 Things We Didn’t Know 100 Years Ago
Almost half a million of the people alive today were alive 100 years ago. These same people have seen so much during that time and we’ve learned far more than the great lights of that day could have ever imagined. Ironically, it was through some of those great lights that we have progressed as far[…]
Significant Solar Flare Recorded By NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
A relatively strong, C-class solar flare was observed on Sunday, July 17th by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare is noteworthy in that the sun has been relatively quiescent, on its way to solar minimum. The image and the accompanying video below are composites, compiled from hard Ultraviolet and X-ray images obtained by the SDO,[…]
Tonight’s Full Moon
Tonight at 22:57 UTC (6:57 EDT), the moon will be 180º from the sun as it is every month at astronomical Full Moon. July’s full moon is otherwise known as the “Full Buck Moon”, the “Thunder Moon” or the “Hay Moon” in North America. At this time of year, buck deer begin to grow antlers,[…]
Tonight’s Southern Celestial Spectacle
As twilight deepens tonight and as you step outside facing south, it’s as though nature was trying to dress to impress, complete with her best jewels! Tonight’s waxing gibbous moon, less than 24 hours before full, is in Sagittarius, set against the far more distant galactic center. Although the sky’s brightness will continue to increase[…]
New Dwarf Planet Discovered
Astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea announced today that a new trans-Neptunian dwarf planet has been discovered. Known as RR245, the frigid, newly-discovered world was discovered as part of the ongoing Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS). With an orbital period of 700 years and a semi-major axis of 11.8 billion km (almost twice[…]
A Bright, Hopeful Future!
In what could only be described as a visual metaphor for a bright, hopeful, limitless future, this image, iconic as it is inspirational, epitomizes the essence of our mission at Astronomy For Change: a young child is chasing Juno along a Florida beach as the intrepid explorer slips the surly bonds of Earth into a[…]
Juno, The Essence of Celestial Harmonic Motion
In beautiful cadence, the progress of knowledge and understanding cascading across the millennia culminating now, with Juno’s successful arrival at Jupiter. In resounding brilliance, we are in orbit around the largest planet in our solar system, in search of our beginning. In the waning hours of July 4th, Juno successfully began its two year orbit[…]
Juno Flies Into the Eye of the Monster!
As I write this post, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has commenced the Jupiter Orbital Insertion (JOI) burn, the most perilous phase of the mission. No spacecraft has ever flown this close to Jupiter or its intense radiation belts. The Juno Mission to Jupiter, has arrived at its destination. Juno is the second spacecraft designed for NASA’s[…]
16 Inspirational Quotes From Famous Scientists and Authors
Scientists are an interesting breed of people, they are creative, adventurers, critical, and pragmatic. This may not be the initial subset of people you would look to for inspiration. However, think for an instance of the motivation required to tackle the great intellectual challenges of our time. Scientists are driven by constant curiosity and inspired[…]
Solar Panels 100 Times Thinner Than a Human Hair
Solar panels so flexible and thin that they can be wrapped around the frame of a pair of glasses have been developed by scientists in a potential breakthrough for wearable electronics. The panels, developed by a team of researchers in South Korea, are just a single micrometre across – much thinner than the average human[…]
Juno To Arrive at Jupiter on July 4
NASA’s Juno spacecraft is going closer to the massive and mysterious planet Jupiter than any spacecraft has ever gone. The ship has flown more than 1.7 billion miles over five years, and on Thursday Juno began executing the sequence of commands that will take it right to Jupiter’s clouds. On July 4th, the engines will[…]
Kepler K2 Mission Finds Nascent Exoplanet Around Young Star
In another first for extrasolar planetary astronomy, it was announced on 20 June that NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, reconfigured and designated as the “K2 Mission”, has discovered the youngest exoplanet to date orbiting a brand new star. Follow-up confirmation observations were made using the W. M. Keck Observatory’s twin 10 meter telescopes on Mauna Kea,[…]
DISCOVER
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Astronomy For Change is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to affect positive change through astronomy and science education, by inspiring and empowering current and future generations to become engaged and interested in Astronomy and Science.
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Since 1994, Radio Astronomy Supplies has been building Radio Telescopes for Education and Research. Our engineering staff has been instrumental in the development of high-quality instrumentation “designed specifically for Radio Astronomy”.
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This channel is dedicated to Habitable exoplanets, Extraterrestrial intelligence and Interstellar travel.We coordinate the Habitable Exoplanet Hunting Project, through which we have discovered several exoplanet candidates: exoplanet.eu/catalog/gj_3470_c/.We also coordinate the SETI Project, where we are searching for unintentional extraterrestrial radio signals: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/searching-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence-seti-with-a-hackrf/In addition, we have designed a new type of interstellar spacecraft called Solar One: commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol7/iss4/6/
