Eggplant.place

44d

The New, Farthest Galaxy has Been Found by Webb. Only 280 Million Years After the Big Bang Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page

the-new-farthest-galaxy-has-been-found-by-webb-only-280-million-years-after-the-big-bang

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69d

Mercury is weird because of a 'hit-and-run' incident in its youth

https://www.livescience.com/space/mercury/mercury-is-weird-because-of-a-hit-and-run-incident-in-its-youth

Books about the planet Mercury at PG

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Mercury+%28planet%29&submit_search=Search

APPARENT MAGNITUDES OF THE SUN, AS SEEN FROM THE DIFFERENT PLANETS. - from the book "Letters on Astronomy" by Denison Olmsted (1855)

#science #astronomy

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68d

#OTD in 1930.

"Pluto" is officially proposed for the name of the newly discovered dwarf planet by Vesto Slipher in the Lowell Observatory Observation Circular. The name quickly catches on.

It was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh, making it the first known object in the Kuiper belt. However, its planetary status was questioned when it was found to be much smaller than expected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

Books about Pluto at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=pluto&submit_search=Search

#books #science #astronomy

Discovery photographs of Pluto.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto#/media/File:Pluto_discovery_plates.png

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67d

Ideas ‘of pure genius’ – how astronomers have measured the Universe across history

by Terence Tao and Grant Sanderson

https://aeon.co/videos/ideas-of-pure-genius-how-astronomers-have-measured-the-universe-across-history

#astronomy #historyofscience

Flammarion engraving, Paris 1888

Anonymous - Camille Flammarion, L'Atmosphère: Météorologie Populaire (Paris, 1888), pp. 163.

The Flammarion engraving is a wood engraving by an unknown artist that first appeared in Camille Flammarion's L'Atmosphère: Météorologie populaire (1888). The image depicts a man crawling under the edge of the sky, depicted as if it were a solid hemisphere, to look at the mysterious Empyrean beyond. The caption underneath the engraving (not shown here) translates to "A medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet..."

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65d

Which famous authors might go to space? (A chart.)

And which ones would write an interesting account of their trip?

By James Folta

https://lithub.com/which-famous-authors-might-go-to-space-a-chart/

#authors #astronomy

"Comparative Magnitudes of the Planets. Drawn and engraved by John Emslie. London. Published by James Reynolds 174 Strand. (insets) Phases of Saturn. (with) Phases of Venus. (with) Relative distances of the planets from the sun. (to accompany) Astronomical diagrams.

Hand colored engraved transparent diagram. Shows comparative sizes of the planets, including Neptune, depicting Saturn with its rings and the known satellites."

from the Internet Archive

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82d

Possibly the weirdest planet yet discovered?

Newfound world 2M1510 (AB) b appears to orbit not one but two stars...and they are actually failed stars, known as brown dwarfs...and the planet orbits sideways, in a unique up-and-down polar orbit.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2508/ #space #science #astronomy #nature

Left: This image, taken in visible light, shows 2M1510 AB, a pair of brown dwarfs orbiting each other. The two brown dwarfs, A and B, are seen as a single source in this image, but we know there are two of them because they periodically eclipse each other. When monitoring their orbits, astronomers found perturbations that can only be explained by the gravitational tug of an exoplanet circling both brown dwarfs in a perpendicular orbit. This system contains a third brown dwarf, 2M1510 C, which is located too far away to be responsible for these perturbations.

Right: This is an artist’s impression of the exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b’s unusual orbit around its host stars, a pair of brown dwarfs. The newly discovered planet has a polar orbit, which is perpendicular to the plane in which the two stars are traveling.

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82d

Astronomers using the #JamesWebbTelescope #JWST have found water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane on planet K2-18b

2.6x Earth radius, in the habitable zone (liquid water possible), 124 ly away

The cool part:

They also found DMS. Dimethyl Sulfide (probably, the signal is weak, they need to confirm)

you know DMS as "the smell of the sea"

We don't know of any geochemical processes that make DMS

The only process we know of that makes DMS, is life

👀

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2477008-astronomers-claim-strongest-evidence-of-alien-life-yet/

#Astronomy

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60d

Astronomers have a love-hate relationship with the atmosphere: it's great for, you know, not dying, but it blurs astronomical images. In the latest episode of Chasing Starlight we tell you the inner workings of adaptive optics, a technique where we use powerful lasers and fast shape-shifting mirrors to measure and correct atmospheric turbulence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QC2cLroDc

#astronomy #astrophysics #astrodon #science #space

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60d

Astronomers tune into the music of a nearby star to unlock a surprising discovery

by Meagan O'Shea, W. M. Keck Observatory

https://phys.org/news/2025-05-astronomers-tune-music-nearby-star.html

More information:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adc737

#astronomy #science

Credit: Gabriel Perez Diaz/Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias/W. M. Keck Observatory

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58d

Happy birthday to #astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979), a trailblazer for women in #astronomy who discovered that hydrogen & helium are the most common elements in the universe.⁠
⁠
Born England, she won a scholarship to Newnham College at Cambridge in 1919 where she heard a lecture which changed her life. She wrote, “My world had been so shaken that I experienced something very like a nervous breakdown.”🧵
⁠
#linocut #physics #sciart #printmaking #womenInSTEM #mastoArt #astronomy

My linocut portrait of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in a lace collar in front of the sun in oranges and black against the blackness of space. At the bottom of the print is the solar absorption spectrum (a rainbow style gradient of indigo at left through to red and black at the right with specific discrete thin black vertical lines at various places).

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60d

#OnThisDay, 9 May 1922, the International Astronomical Union formally adopts Annie Jump Cannon's stellar classification system. The principles in it still underpin modern classification.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Astronomy #WomenInSTEM #AmericanHistory #Histodons

Annie Jump Cannon sat at a desk. She is clearly not a fan of a clear desk policy as it's messy with papers and open drawers. She is a white woman with pale hair.

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47d

These Scientists Say They’ve Identified the Oldest Known Star Chart in the World

A new preprint suggests that an ancient Chinese star catalog dates to 355 B.C.E. But other researchers aren’t convinced, arguing that the original coordinates are misaligned by one degree

By Sonja Anderson

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-scientists-say-theyve-identified-the-oldest-known-star-chart-in-the-world-180986651/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

Astronomy-History at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/891

#history #astronomy

An ancient star map (not the document analyzed in the new research) unearthed in Dunhuang, China, in the seventh century C.E. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

This is a detailed celestial chart drawn on a long scroll, part of a larger astronomical manuscript. The map features star positions organized into constellations, many labeled with Chinese characters.

The stars are depicted as small black dots, often connected with lines to form recognizable asterisms, aligned along vertical and horizontal axes. This map is one of the oldest known graphical representations of the night sky, demonstrating advanced astronomical knowledge and the importance of celestial observation in Tang dynasty China.

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1d

You only die twice:

Recent theoretical models suggested that some stars could destroy themselves in two, successive supernova explosions. Now we have direct visual evidence that such doubled stellar deaths really happen.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2511/ #space #astronomy #science #nature

This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. These are the expanding remains of a star that exploded hundreds of years ago in a double-detonation – the first photographic evidence that stars can die with two blasts.

The data were captured with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at the VLT. MUSE allows astronomers to map the distribution of different chemical elements, displayed here in different colours. Calcium is shown in blue, and it is arranged in two concentric shells. These two layers indicate that the now-dead star exploded with a double-detonation. Hydrogen (H alpha) is shown in orange.

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29d

Ancient Egyptian Drawing Now Theorized To Represent the Milky Way’s Great Rift

By Livia Pereira

https://mymodernmet.com/ancient-egyptian-goddess-milky-way/?utm_campaign=daily-digest&utm_content=link&utm_source=convertkit&utm_term=05262025&utm_medium=email&sh_kit=19f2988141aeef1ce3da2871b25613801e24297faaf654001575521d8c39910f

Original paper:
https://www.sciengine.com/JAHH/doi/10.3724/SP.J.140-2807.2025.01.06

Astronomy-History at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/891

#history #astronomy

The shape of the Milky Way as deduced from star counts by William Herschel in 1785. The Solar System was assumed to be near the center

Caroline Herschel - "Section of our sidereal system." Herschel, William (1785). "On the Construction of the Heavens. By William Herschel, Esq. FRS.". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 75: 216-266. DOI:10.2307/106755.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way#/media/File:Herschel-Galaxy.png

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41d

Woah! Really cool new videos from the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory show timelapse adaptive optics views of the Sun's corona. This one is of a solar prominence being shaped by the Sun’s magnetism.

I like the choice to color hydrogen-alpha light pink.

You should check out all of the videos (the Sun is so fluffy!):
https://nso.edu/press-release/new-adaptive-optics-shows-stunning-details-of-our-stars-atmosphere/

#Space #Astronomy #SolarObserving

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41d

An object called 2017 OF201 is shaking up our ideas about the outer zone of our solar system.
It follows an extreme, 25,000-year orbit.
It may be one of a hundred or so similar bodies filling a seemingly vacant region.
And its existence casts doubt on searches for Planet 9.

https://www.ias.edu/news/extreme-cousin-pluto-possible-dwarf-planet-discovered-solar-systems-edge #space #science #nature #astronomy

Plan view of the orbits of TNOs (trans-Neptune objects) with extremely wide orbits, including our newly discovered 2017 OF201, which has a distinct orbit is an outlier to the apsidal clustering of the others. For reference, the most probable orbit of Planet X from Siraj et al. (2025) is shown in white.

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39d

The light beyond sight

Only a tiny sliver of the Universe’s light can be seen by human eyes. But today we’re catching glimpses of the invisible

By Corey S Powell

https://aeon.co/essays/william-herschels-sensors-let-us-see-the-invisible-universe?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=180c8189f5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_05_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972

Herschel at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=william+herschel

#books #science #astronomy

William Herschel by Lemuel Francis Abbott c1785.

Herschel is shown seated or half-length, turned slightly to one side, with a calm yet intense gaze that suggests intellectual depth and curiosity. His expression is serious and reflective, as though engaged in thought or observation.

Attire: He wears formal 18th-century clothing, typically a dark coat and waistcoat with a white cravat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel#/media/File:William_Herschel01.jpg

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29d

#SilentSunday

#PNW #Washington #NLC #Clouds #Night #WaWx #Nature #Photo #PhotoOfTheDay #Astronomy #Space #SpaceWeather #Science #sciencemastodon

The NLC season has started in Washington state!
I have a fascination with these rare, very high-altitude noctilucent or night shining clouds (NLC) hanging at the edge of space with an electric blue glow, can’t be mistaken when these beautiful luminous blue-white tendrils are spreading across the sky in sunset afterglow over the Salish Sea (as seen here).

They’re composed of very small water ice crystals formed on minute particles of dust, possibly of cosmic origin from micrometeors. They are visible in the northern hemisphere at latitudes between 45˚and 65˚north, and occur after sunset or before sunrise from mid June to the end of July here at our latitude (47°).

Edmonds, WA
June 07, 2025 - around 11PM

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20d

PRESS RELEASE: https://www.seti.org/news/skymapper-and-seti-institute-team-up-to-map-the-entire-sky-all-the-time/

Today, the SETI Institute announced a strategic collaboration with SkyMapper, the world’s leading decentralized global astronomy and space science network. Together, they plan to deliver continuous, real-time astronomical data to scientists, educators, and enthusiasts worldwide.

#astronomy #science #scicomm

SETI Institute and SkyMapper logos against a starry night sky over the silhouette of a building and a field. Text: Today, the SETI Institute announced a strategic collaboration with SkyMapper, the world’s leading decentralized global astronomy and space science network.

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15d

First celestial image unveiled from revolutionary telescope

A powerful new telescope in Chile has released its first images, showing off its unprecedented ability to peer into the dark depths of the universe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3rmjjgx6xo

Telescopes at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/2331

#astronomy

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13d

Last year, astronomers detected a fast radio burst that got them excited as to a new discovery, but confused them as to the signal's power

When they pinpointed the signal it turned out to be... a #NASA satellite that died in 1964

They have some good theories as to how the zombie satellite fired off some signals but us #StarTrek fans know what's going on

V'GER

https://phys.org/news/2025-06-mysterious-fast-radio-dead-nasa.html

#space #frb #astronomy #radioastronomy

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13d

I don't know who needs to hear this, but @internetarchive has the complete set of Carl Sagan's 1980s Cosmos series online for free.

https://archive.org/details/CosmosAPersonalVoyage

#astronomy #space #carlsagan

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11d

New instance, new #introduction !

Hi #fediverse ! We’re the European Southern Observatory, and we design, build and operate ground-based telescopes.

One of them is our Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in #Chile. It will have a 39 m mirror, and its rotating enclosure will weigh 6100 tonnes, or about 700 mastodons!

We’re looking forward to chatting with all of you about #astronomy

And many thanks to @sebinthestars for running our former instance!

📷 ESO/G. Vecchia

A drone photograph of a gigantic telescope in the desert, at sunset. The telescope dome is under construction, and partially covered in cladding. The sliding doors of the dome are open, revelaning the telescope inside: a cylindrical structure of white criss-crossed beams. The dome is surrounded by huge cranes, and the entire scene is bathed in the golden light of the setting Sun in the background.

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8d

Early visions of Mars: Meet the 19th-century astronomer who used science fiction to imagine the red planet

Parisian astronomer Camille Flammarion brought used science fiction to bring Mars to life

By Matthew Shindell

https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/early-visions-of-mars-meet-the-19th-century-astronomer-who-used-science-fiction-to-imagine-the-red-planet

Camille Flammarion at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/8763

#Books #Astronomy #Sciencefiction

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3d

Christiaan Huygens and the Scientific Secrets of Saturn

Seventeenth-century science was so competitive that Christiaan Huygens used a cipher to conceal his Saturn observations when sharing them with interlocutors.

By: Danny Robb

https://daily.jstor.org/christiaan-huygens-and-the-scientific-secrets-of-saturn/

Christiaan Huygens at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5648

#Books #Science #Astronomy

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