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[…]
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”[…]
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 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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
