An orbiting spacecraft has picked up a phenomenon that, until now at least, had only been seen on Earth. When the astronauts look back at our planet f… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/337651/green-glow-detected-on-mars-for-the-first-time…
Tag: glow
ExoMars spots unique green glow at the Red Planet
ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has detected glowing green oxygen in Mars’ atmosphere—the first time that this emission has been seen around a planet other than Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-exomars-unique-green-red-planet.html…
Moon and Venus at dawn June 17, 18, 19
These next several mornings – June 17, 18 and 19, 2020 – look east before sunrise to see the moon and Venus. You might spot the Pleiades star cluster nearby. On June 19, the moon will occult or cover over Venus. For most of us, the occultation will happen in daylight. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-venus-at-dawn-june-17-18-19…
1962 Roger Ebert Article Unearthed On Distance Learning For Homebound Students
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: In 2011, the late film critic Roger Ebert gave tech’s movers-and-shakers a PLATO history lesson in his Remaking My Voice TED Talk. “When I heard the amazing talk by Salman Khan on Wednesday, about the Khan Academy website that teaches hundreds of subjects to students all over the world, I had a flashback,” explained Ebert. “I…
A new catalog of infrared dark clouds
Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are dark patches of cold dust and gas seen in the sky against the bright diffuse infrared glow of warm dust in our galaxy. These IRDCs, massive and rich in molecules, are natural sites for star birth—one of the main reasons why astronomers are actively studying them. IRDCs were first detected by two early space infrared missions,…
Mercury’s greatest evening elongation around June 3-4
Mercury reaches milestone in the evening sky, as it reaches its greatest elongation of 24 degrees east of the sun on June 4, 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/mercurys-greatest-elongation-in-evening-sky…
Intense flash from Milky Way’s black hole illuminated gas far outside of our galaxy
About 3.5 million years ago, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy unleashed an enormous burst of energy. Our primitive ancestors, already afoot on the African plains, likely would have witnessed this flare as a ghostly glow high overhead in the constellation Sagittarius. It might have persisted for 1 million years. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-intense-milky-black-hole-illuminated.html…
Moon, in Gemini, points to Mercury and Venus
These next few evenings – May 26 and 27, 2020 – the moon moves out of the constellation Gemini and into the constellation Cancer. The lit side of the waxing crescent moon serves as your arrow in the sky, pointing right at the planet Mercury. Mercury may be visible to the eye alone around an hour after sunset. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-in-gemini-points-to-mercury…
Young moon, Venus, Mercury on May 23, 24 and 25
On the evenings of May 23, 24 and 25, 2020, watch the great drama in your western twilight sky, as the young moon meets Mercury and Venus. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/young-moon-2-planets-may-23-24-and-25…
High-Resolution Telescope Images Solve a Mystery About Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
Researchers have collected some of the highest resolution images of Jupiter ever obtained from earth — by combining images from Hawaii’s Gemini North telescope with images from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Juno probe (currently orbiting Jupiter). The images — assembled from three years of observations — “confirm that dark spots in the famous Great Red Spot are actually gaps…