NASA’s InSight Mars lander keeps daily records of weather conditions at the Elysium Planitia landing site on the red planet. Last week saw daytime highs from 8 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit; lows fell to -139 degrees.Seasons are twice as long on Ma

Older than Dirt

Feb 22nd, 2020 8m 34s

Stardust discovered in a meteorite that landed in Australia more than 50 years ago is up to three billion years older than our solar system.These remnants are left over from ancient stars that populated this region of the galaxy prior to the b

Taking a Telescope to Galileo

Feb 15th, 2020 10m 37s

Today is Galileo’s 456th birth anniversary. His iconoclastic reputation overshadows his basic raison d’etre at the time – to make a buck. He was a struggling teacher who worked in the ‘gig economy’ of Renaissance Italy. Galileo wasn’t born to a

Coming Attractions

Feb 8th, 2020 7m 53s

Astronomers observing white dwarf stars see spectrographic signatures of previously orbiting gas giant planets. Our gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) will possibly do the same – leave signatures of their existence on our White Dwarf sun long afte

49ers, Chiefs & Punxsutawney Phil

Feb 1st, 2020 5m 18s

49ers, Chiefs & Punxsutawney PhilThis Superbowl Sunday coincides with Groundhog Day – the first cross-quarter day of 2020 (half-way between winter and spring). Punxsutawney Phil may be the most famous groundhog in the U.S., but he isn’t the mo

Our Stellar Neighbor Beckons

Jan 21st, 2020 9m 4s

The dim red star Proxima Centauri, 4.2 lightyears from Earth, is known to have an EarthPlus-planet in the star’s habitable zone. Now a second planet has been detected, but this one is 5.8 times the mass of our planet and orbits its star only on

Elementary

Jan 11th, 2020 5m 55s

Supernovae are known as element factories, but astronomers are now discovering that merging neutron stars and fast-spinning supernovae may also be capable of creating variants of the elements heavier than iron. Heavy elements are created throug

Imaging the Unimaginable

Dec 28th, 2019 7m 8s

This year’s highlights in the world of astronomy include:1) An image of the shadow of a black hole resembles an ‘orange doughnut.’ A supermassive Black Hole was seen in silhouette against the background of its surrounding accretion disk.2) Li

Mark the Moment

Dec 23rd, 2019 2m 48s

We’ve arrived at the point in our solar orbit where the number of hours of sunlight are at a minimum for us in the North, and and conversely at a maximum for those in the Southern hemisphere.Sunset is already three minutes later than its earli

Let There Be Light (but not too much)

Dec 14th, 2019 6m 23s

SpaceX will coat one side of a satellite to reduce brightness interference when observing from Earth. They intend to test one unit on the next deployment.There will be thousands of Starlink satellites joining the already tens of thousands of p

Worth A Look

Dec 9th, 2019 8m 28s

Thinking about buying a telescope as a gift this holiday season? Consider these three easy guidelines:1) Start simple; a telescope that is easy to use will get used more often.2) Don’t buy a telescope based on the supposed magnification. Inst

Water, Water Everywhere

Dec 2nd, 2019 5m 32s

There are lots of hints regarding the possibility of the existence of liquid water around the solar, system, the galaxy, and the universe, but confirmation at only a very few places: Mars and the moon for example. Astronomers using Keck telesco

You’re Outta Here!

Nov 23rd, 2019 5m 14s

Our Milky Way’s SgrA Black Hole in the center of our galaxy has ejected a star from the galaxy at a brisk 3.7 million miles per hour. The star originally was part of a binary system, but when the pair got too close to SgrA, the companion was sw

What’s in a Name?

Nov 16th, 2019 5m 8s

Following its Pluto encounter in 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft was pushing on into the Kuiper Belt, aiming toward an object known originally as 2014 MU69, when space scientists and the public decided it needed a new name. Shortly before

Happy Birthday, Carl!

Nov 9th, 2019 7m 2s

November 9th marks the anniversary of legendary astronomer Carl Sagan’s birth. Sagan was known for his wonderfully poetic way of explaining and transporting listeners into the history and complexities of the universe. He explored the mysteries

Special Delivery

Nov 2nd, 2019 5m 19s

An International Space Station Resupply Mission is scheduled to launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). It will transport 8,200 lbs of research, crew supplies, and hardware to the six-person crew on

Matter Barely Matters

Oct 26th, 2019 5m 58s

This Thursday is Halloween…and Dark Matter Day! Dark matter-themed events are being organized by labs and institutions around the world doing this research. They range from live webcasts with researchers to dark matter scavenger hunts to a Redd

Dinner on Mars?

Oct 19th, 2019 9m 11s

A group of researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands have successfully grown edible food crops in soils that simulate the soil composition of the Moon and Mars. Garden cress, radish, spinach, quinoa, tomato, rye, chives, leek and

Keeping Score

Oct 12th, 2019 6m 43s

Saturn pulls ahead of Jupiter in the number of moons detected – current score: 82 to 79Researchers recently announced the discovery of 20 new moons orbiting Saturn by using big telescopes at Hawaii’s Mauna Kea observatory equipped with very se

Rocket Man

Oct 5th, 2019 5m 3s

Saturday, October 5th is the 132nd birth anniversary of rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard. His was the first liquid-fueled rocket to prove the concept that allowed for the exploration of space as we know it today. He launched the first liquid-fu

Looking for Goldilocks

Sep 28th, 2019 5m 54s

Weeks ago, an announcement about the discovery on an exoplanet where it appeared possible for an atmosphere with precipitation to exist led it to be described as an “earthlike planet,” and suggestions were made about its potential habitability.

What’s in a name?

Sep 14th, 2019 4m 49s

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is putting out the call on its 100th anniversary to name an exoplanet and its star. The IAU, the world’s largest professional body for astronomers, serves as the internationally recognized authority f

Star Trekkin’

Sep 7th, 2019 5m 9s

The TV series ‘Star Trek’ premiered 53 years ago. The original series only lasted three seasons on prime time, but really hit its stride in syndication, where its popularity exploded. It also fueled fantasies for many other TV programs and film

India Targets South Pole (of the Moon)

Aug 31st, 2019 5m 19s

After a four-week journey from earth, the Indian Space Research Organization announced its Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft successfully entered lunar orbit. Next up in about a week is a landing attempt, then a rover deployment. The chosen landing loca

Nano-Sized Needle in a Huge Haystack

Aug 17th, 2019 6m 10s

Nuclear Physicist Gunther Korschinek and his team of researchers from Technical University of Munich sifted through half-a-ton of snow from Antarctica to find 10 atoms(!) of Iron-60 an isotope (radioactive 60 protons, 60 neutrons in the nucleu