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[…]

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