TESS to Discover Exoplanets
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS was successfully launched on April 18, 2018 aboard a Space X Falcon 9 rocket. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space telescope for NASA‘s Explorers program, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered by the Kepler mission. During its primary mission, it is expected to find more […]
Late April is the Time for Lyrids
Late April is a time for the Lyrid meteor shower, which started late last night, April 20 until dawn this morning. The better viewing will be from Saturday night, April 21, until Sunday morning April 22nd. The Lyrids will more than likely peak. If not, try again on Sunday night until dawn, April 22 and […]
72 Bright and Fast Explosions(video)
Recently, a team of astronomers reported that they noticed 72 quick Fast-Evolving Luminous Transients that were very bright in a survey. These events may resemble supernovae in their ability to outshine an entire galaxy of stars, but, they fade away much faster than supernovae, on a timescale of days instead of weeks. The groups […]
New Horizons Snaps the Furthest Pictures From Earth
Spacecraft continues to give us a new perspective!
The Close Approach of Asteroid 2017 VR12
ASTEROID WATCH! Astronomers are watching an Asteroid labeled 2017 VR12, that was discovered on November 10, 2017 by the 60-inch Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii. The asteroid is estimated to be between 820 to 920 feet in diameter. 2017 VR12 is expected to pass closest to Earth at 3.76 times the moon’s distance during the […]
TRAPPIST-1: Possible Water-Rich Terrestrial Worlds
TRAPPIST-1, is an ultra-cool red dwarf star that is slightly larger but much more massive than the planet Jupiter, located 39.6 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Aquarius. 2017 was a big year concerning TRAPPIST-1, with the news that this star has a system of seven planets, and that three of which are Earth-sized in what is called a goldilocks orbit, […]
TWO ASTEROIDS WILL PASS US BY!
Two newly discovered asteroids will sweep passed the Earth. they were both discovered February 5, 2018. Asteroids 2018CB and 2018 CC will pass closer to the Earth, than the Moon. These visitors comes on the heels of the Asteroid 2002 AJ129, which flew passed Earth on Super Bowl Sunday at 10 times the moon’s distance. […]
Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth Super Bowl Sunday
Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. PST. At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. 2002 AJ129 is an intermediate-sized near-Earth asteroid, somewhere between 0.3 miles and […]
January 31, 2018 Super Blue Moon Eclipse Video
A view of the total lunar eclipse from Phoenix, AZ where I started filming around 5:20 AM MST. This was nearly ninety minutes of filming of the main event until the moon set behind a stand of trees. [Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”72″ gal_title=”Super Blue Moon Eclipse”]
What Is a Blue Moon?
The term has traditionally referred to an “extra” full moon, where a year which normally has 12 full moons has 13 instead. The “blue moon” reference is applied to the third full moon in a season with four full moons, thus correcting the timing of the last month of a season that would have otherwise been expected […]