I miss working at Paranal Observatory: the lovely sunsets, the clear sky, riding sandworms...
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2416a/
📷 S. Lowery/ESO
I miss working at Paranal Observatory: the lovely sunsets, the clear sky, riding sandworms...
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2416a/
📷 S. Lowery/ESO
French astronomer Charles Messier died #OTD in 1817.
He is best known for his catalog, the Messier Catalog (contains 110 objects), which lists various astronomical objects, including nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies. Messier was primarily interested in comet hunting, and his catalog was created to help him and other astronomers differentiate between permanent celestial objects and comets, which could easily be mistaken for new discoveries.
English astronomer Edward W. Maunder was born #OTD in 1851.
The Maunder Minimum, named after him, refers to a period of low solar activity that occurred from about 1645 to 1715. During this time, very few sunspots were observed, indicating a decrease in solar magnetic activity. His research into historical records of sunspot observations led to the recognition of this extended period of solar quiescence, which is now associated with a decrease in global temperatures on Earth.
Heads Up!
Extremely Rare #citizenScience opportunity for #astronomy #astrophysics #astrodon #universeodon enthusiasts!
This year, there will be a nova, before or by September, as bright as the North Star.
After peak brightness it will remain bright enough, for several days, to observe with binoculars.
You can help research scientists with observational details.
https://www.seti.org/be-first-see-once-lifetime-stellar-explosion
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2024/02/27/view-nova-explosion-new-star-in-northern-crown/
#Global #education #science #fediScience #scienceMastodon #lifelongLearning
British Geologist And Astronomer John Michell died #OTD in 1793.
He is the first person known to have proposed the existence of stellar bodies comparable to black holes, and the first to have suggested that earthquakes travelled in (seismic) waves. He invented an apparatus to measure the mass of the Earth, and explained how to manufacture an artificial magnet.
#OTD in 1910.
Halley's comet reappears after 76 years, and Mark Twain dies at his home, Stormfield, the day after the comet's perihelion. In his autobiography, Twain wrote, "I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It's coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it. The Almighty has said no doubt, 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'"
An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God
2,500 years ago, Anaxagoras correctly determined that the rocky moon reflects light from the sun, allowing him to explain lunar phases and eclipses
By David Warmflash via @SmithsonianMag
Wooooaaahhhh!
The new JWST image of a small bit of the Horsehead Nebula is INCREDIBLE.
To give you a sense of scale here, here’s an image of the nebula from my backyard. That small white box … that’s the JWST field of view! 🤯🤯🤯
Look at ALL those galaxies, all in that tiny white box.
JWST image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, K. Misselt and A. Abergel. [updated]
Dodgy image with white boxes is my own.
#JWST #SpaceTelescope #HorseheadNebula #Astronomy #Galaxies #Astrodon
Euclid telescope: A scientist tells us of his quest to understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
On July 1st 2023, Euclid, a unique European space telescope was launched from Cape Canaveral. Euclid is the next big step forward in our quest to try to understand the Universe.
By Henk Hoekstra. via @FR_Conversation
A mind-blower for a Friday evening:
This deceptively simple-looking graph is a spectrum of *gravitational waves* ringing through the Milky Way.
The waves may be caused by a chorus of supermassive black holes colliding all across the universe. Whoa!
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.16227 #science #space #physics #astronomy
#OTD in 1715.
A total solar eclipse is visible across northern Europe and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within four minutes accuracy. He also drew a predictive map showing the path of totality across Great Britain. The original map was about 20 miles off the observed eclipse path, mainly due to his use of inaccurate lunar ephemeris. After the eclipse, he corrected the eclipse path, and added the path and description of the 1724 total solar eclipse.
Scottish astronomer Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was born #OTD in 1857.
Fleming's most significant contributions came in the field of stellar classification. She developed a system for classifying stars based on their spectra, which became known as the Harvard Classification Scheme. In 1890, she published the first catalog of stellar spectra, which contained over 10,000 stars classified according to her system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification#Harvard_spectral_classification
#Aurora photos from my husband a couple of hours ago, outside our home in #Dundee, #Scotland. #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Tayside #Angus #Scotland #Astronomy #Space
American astronomer Walter Sydney Adams died #OTD in 1956.
One of Adams' most notable achievements was his collaboration with the astronomer Theodore Dunham, Jr., in the early 20th century. Together, they developed a method for measuring the radial velocities of stars using spectroscopy, which involves analyzing the light emitted or absorbed by celestial objects. This method allowed them to determine the speed at which stars were moving toward or away from Earth.
#OTD in 1618.
Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
The elliptical orbits of planets were indicated by calculations of the orbit of Mars. The third law expresses that the farther a planet is from the Sun, the slower its orbital speed, and vice versa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_laws_of_planetary_motion
After years of searching, astronomers have finally detected an atmosphere on a rocky planet around another star.
But what a strange planet it is! 55 Cancri e seems to be blanketed in carbon dioxide gas bubbling out of a global ocean of lava. Like an image out of Dante's Inferno.
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-102 #space #science #nasa #astronomy
#OTD in 1902.
Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
The mechanism is composed of at least 30 bronze gears housed in a wooden frame. It features dials, pointers, and inscriptions that correspond to various astronomical cycles. The front dial is believed to show the zodiac and the solar and lunar calendars, while the back dials include the Metonic, Saros & Callippic cycles.
French astronomer Benjamin Valz was born #OTD in 1787.
He had a particular interest in comets, his observations including that of Biela’s Comet made in 1846 in which he noted that the comet had split into two parts. He is also remembered for his suggestion that observed irregularities in the orbit of Halley’s Comet may have been due to the gravitational effects of an as-yet unknown planet orbiting the Sun beyond Uranus which was at a time prior to the discovery of Neptune.
English amateur astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington was born #OTD in 1826.
In 1859 his astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Earth & its aurorae; and whose 1863 records of sunspot observations revealed the differential rotation of the Sun. His publications include Results of Astronomical Observations Made at the Observatory of the University, Durham; & Observations of the Spots on the Sun.
#OTD in 585 BC.
A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher & scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce.
How exactly Thales predicted the eclipse remains uncertain; some scholars assert the eclipse was never predicted at all. Others have argued for different dates, but only the eclipse of May 585 BC matches the conditions of visibility necessary to explain the historical event.
The birth of a new, sunlike star is beautiful and spooky in this new image from Hubble. (34 years old and going strong!)
The ominous "mask" is a cloud of cool dust. The baby star HP Tau, top of the trio, is flickering madly due to inspiraling gas, jets, and huge starspots.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-views-the-dawn-of-a-sun-like-star/ #science #space #astronomy #astrodon #nature
A rare, magical alignment of Big Dipper with the dazzling Corona Borealis during the unforgettable, historic auroral display on May 10-11, 2024
**PRINTS and Various items :https://ez-lorenz.pixels.com/featured/a-rare-magical-alignment-of-big-dipper-with-the-dazzling-corona-borealis-ez-lorenz.html
#Seattle #Washington #PNW #Aurora #NorthernLights #Nightsky #Astronomy #Stars #AuroraBorealis #Prints #WallArt #HomeDecor #Giftideas #Puzzle #GreetingCards #FedigiftShop #Abstract #MastoArt #Art #artforsale #Photography
#OTD in 1919.
Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested by Arthur Eddington and Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin.
The Eddington experiment was organised by the astronomers Frank Watson Dyson & Arthur Stanley Eddington in 1919. The observations were of the total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 and were carried out by two expeditions which aim was to measure the gravitational deflection of starlight passing near the Sun.
Exciting space-discovery alert!
Gliese 12 b is an Earth-size planet orbiting in the temperate zone around a nearby, stable red dwarf star. It's a Rosetta Stone world that will tell us a lot about how many superficially earthlike planets actually have the right conditions for life.
Are we rare? Are we common? Let's find out.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/nasas-tess-finds-a-world-sized-between-earth-and-venus #space #science #astronomy #astrodon #life #aliens
"How it started/how it's going," space edition:
On March 17, 2013 a flash appeared on the Moon. It was bright enough to see with the naked eye.
Now we can see the result: a new 18-meter-wide crater, blasted out by a watermelon-size meteoroid.
https://www.lroc.asu.edu/featured_sites/40 #science #space #NASA #astronomy #Moon