Tag Archives: astronomy

Meet Earth-Like Planet Proxima B [VIDEO]

The Guardian reports: The search for life outside our solar system has been brought to our cosmic doorstep with the discovery of an apparently rocky planet orbiting the nearest star to our sun. Thought to be at least 1.3 times the mass of the Earth, the planet lies within the so-called “habitable zone” of the star Proxima Centauri, meaning that …

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This Weekend: Manhattanhenge Returns To Gotham

The term was coined by astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson. Via CNN: Get your cameras and phones ready! The most picturesque sunset is coming to New York City this weekend. Two times a year, people in Manhattan gather in several spots to get a perfect shot of the sun aligning with the city’s carefully laid out streets. The phenomenon known as …

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NASA Releases Stunning Photo Of Pluto

From NASA: This ethereal scene captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft tells yet another story of Pluto’s diversity of geological and compositional features—this time in an enhanced color image of the north polar area. Long canyons run vertically across the polar area—part of the informally named Lowell Regio, named for Percival Lowell, who founded Lowell Observatory and initiated the search …

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Enter Planet Poltergeist

The International Astronomical Union has announced the names of a slew of exoplanets and stars as chosen by worldwide public ballot. Enter exoplanet Poltergeist, as nominated by an Italian group. Also new to the nomenclature galaxy is the star Cervantes (Spain) and the exoplanet Galileo (Netherlands).  The IAU writes: The votes are in — the names of 19 ExoWorlds (14 …

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Planet Nine From Outer Space [VIDEO]

Scientists at Caltech believe they have confirmed the existence of a massive and icy ninth planet in our solar system. The planet was first speculated upon in 2014 paper which the Caltech team had set out to disprove. Via the Washington Post: They have inferred its existence from the motion of recently discovered dwarf planets and other small objects in …

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China Joins Search For Alien Civilizations

China is constructing what will be the world’s largest radio telescope. The Independent reports: Assembly of the five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, began in July and is expected to be completed in 2016. Once finished, the reflector dish of the telescope will be 500 metres in diameter, replacing Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory, only 300 meters in diameter, as the …

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Limbaugh: NASA Faked Finding Water On Mars To Further The Leftist Climate Change Agenda

“They’re lying about it. They’re just making up the amount of ice in the North and South Poles, they’re making up the temperatures, they’re lying and making up false charts and so forth. So what’s to stop them from making up something that happened on Mars that will help advance their left-wing agenda on this planet? OK so there’s flowing …

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NASA: There’s Flowing Water On Mars [VIDEO]

NASA set the web aflame this weekend with a promise that they would have a “major announcement” about Mars today. Sadly, the big reveal is not about little green men – but it IS fascinating. Via the Guardian: Liquid water runs down canyons and crater walls over the summer months on Mars, according to researchers who say the discovery raises …

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Time Lapse: Supermoon Eclipse [VIDEO]

Over at Blood Moon Apocalypse World Headquarters (aka World Net Daily), they’re probably disappointed to wake up and find the planet still revolving. Here in Manhattan, we didn’t get such a great view due to the clouds. How were your skies last night? UPDATE: LGBT activist Inga Sarda-Sorensen got some great shots from Brooklyn.

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Mormon Church Reassures Flock: Tonight’s Supermoon Eclipse Probably Doesn’t Herald The Apocalypse

After wild claims by some Mormon nutters, the LDS Church has been forced to issue a reassuring statement about tonight’s “supermoon” eclipse. The Guardian reports: A rare confluence of a lunar eclipse and a supermoon to happen this weekend has prompted such widespread fear of an impending apocalypse that the Mormon church was compelled to issue a statement cautioning the …

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NASA: One Of Saturn’s Moons Has An Ocean

NASA’s Cassini–Huygens probe launched back in October 1997 and 18 years later it continues to provide fascinating discoveries. Via Science Daily: A global ocean lies beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s geologically active moon Enceladus, according to new research using data from NASA’s Cassini mission. Researchers found the magnitude of the moon’s very slight wobble, as it orbits Saturn, can …

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NASA Releases Stunning Photos Of Pluto

NBC reports: A new set of images has been received from the New Horizons spacecraft, showing close-up images of Pluto taken on July 15 (and only just recently processed) while it was passing by the dwarf planet at high speed — but not so fast it couldn’t see terrain so varied it’s astonishing astronomers. “If an artist had painted this …

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Everything Under The Sun Is In Tune

Via the Guardian: In an unusual treat for astronomers, and perhaps Pink Floyd fans, what is often known as the dark side of the moon has been captured, fully illuminated, by a camera aboard a NASA satellite. The series of images taken from NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory show a view of the far side of the moon, as it …

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Manhattanhenge Is This Weekend

Father Tony reminds us that the astronomical event known as Manhattanhenge is this weekend: Manhattanhenge, the moment when the setting sun aligns precisely with the street grid in Manhattan, can be seen this weekend. Half the sun will align with the grid on Friday at 8:12 p.m., and the full-sun Manhattanhenge will happen the same time on Saturday, according to …

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Today’s Solar Eclipse From Space

Grey skies blotted out today’s solar eclipse for many Europeans who were in the right place to observe it, but the European Space Agency has provided a brief time-lapse from its Proba-2 satellite. Today’s eclipse is especially rare as it took place on the vernal equinox during a “supermoon.” And that means the end times have begun, of course. WorldNetDaily, …

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Northern Lights Dazzle In Rare Display

Mashable reports: The Northern Lights could be seen pulsating through the sky in several cities throughout North America on Tuesday evening due to a rare geomagnetic storm. The colorful display was also caught on camera in areas within Canada and Europe. The geomagnetic storm, which is just one notch below the highest category of solar storm, began at about 10 …

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Ken Ham: Jesus Will Stop Asteroids

“According to God’s Word, the universe is not here as the result of naturalistic processes. God created the universe and has imposed order on it. The universe is not strictly governed by unfeeling natural laws. God upholds and sustains the universe that He has made.  And we don’t need to worry that an asteroid will obliterate life. The Bible has …

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NASA Craft Orbits Dwarf Planet

Via IFL Science: NASA’s Dawn spacecraft made history at 4:39 a.m. PST Friday morning when it reached Ceres and became the first man-made object to orbit a dwarf planet. According to NASA, the objective of the Dawn mission is to “study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have accreted early in the history of the …

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There’s A Moon In The Sky

Via Wonkette: This may be the goofiest thing the Maddow Show has ever run. On the QVC shopping channel, host Shawn Killinger and designer Isaac Mizrahi got into a debate over the true nature of the moon, after Killinger remarked that the swirly pattern on a cardigan looked like the view of Earth from zillions of miles away, like “from …

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Happy Solar Flare

Via the Telegraph: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured dramatic footage of a powerful X-class solar flare erupting on the surface of the Sun. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however – when intense enough – they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals …

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