This year – on March 3, 2021 – the red planet Mars and the Pleiades star cluster – also known as the Seven Sisters – stage their closest conjunction on the sky’s dome until February 4, 2038. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/closest-mars-pleiades-conjunction-until-2038…
Tag: hop
Moon and Lion’s Heart rise mid-evening January 29 and 30
These next few nights – January 29 and 30, 2021 – use the moon to find Regulus, the Heart of the Lion in the constellation Leo. After the moon drops out of the evening sky, use the Big Dipper to star-hop to Regulus and Leo. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-regulus-at-mid-evening-in-january…
The Large Magellanic Cloud, our galactic neighbor
The Large Magellanic Cloud is a petite galaxy visible with the unaided eye – all year round – for those in the Southern Hemisphere. This small neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way is somewhere between spiral and irregular in shape. Source: https://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/the-large-magellanic-cloud…
Find the Geminids’ radiant point
Why is the Geminid meteor shower best around 2 a.m.? It’s because that’s when the shower’s radiant point – near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini – is highest in the sky. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/radiant-point-for-geminid-meteor-shower…
Physicists Nail Down the ‘Magic Number’ That Shapes the Universe
Natalie Wolchover writes via Quanta Magazine: As fundamental constants go, the speed of light, c, enjoys all the fame, yet c’s numerical value says nothing about nature; it differs depending on whether it’s measured in meters per second or miles per hour. The fine-structure constant, by contrast, has no dimensions or units. It’s a pure number that shapes the universe to…
Moon lights up Gemini December 2 and 3
These next few nights – December 2 and 3 – the bright waning gibbous moon shines in front of the constellation Gemini the Twins. Find this constellation, and you’ve found the radiant point for the Geminid meteor shower, due to peak on December 13-14. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-lights-up-gemini-december-2-and-3…
Watch for the moon and Mars
Use the moon to find the planet Mars on November 24, 25 and 26, 2020. Then use the planet Mars to find Mars and Uranus within the same binocular field in January 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/watch-for-the-moon-and-mars…
YouTube Launches Audio Ads and Ad-Targetable Music Lineups, Taking Aim at Spotify
YouTube claims to be the world’s biggest jukebox — and now it wants to wring more ad dollars from the platform’s music fans. From a report: The video giant is launching 15-second audio ads, the first format designed to reach YouTube users who listen to music or podcasts ambiently (i.e., in the background). YouTube also is introducing the ability for advertisers…
Iconic American Quiz Show Host Alex Trebek Dies at Age 80
The iconic host of America’s TV quiz show Jeopardy! has died at age 80, after 35 years of reminding contestants to always state their answers in the form of a question. Who was Alex Trebec? CNN calls him “the genial host with all the answers and a reassuring presence in the TV game-show landscape for five decades.” Notable moments include playing…
SpaceX starship passes static fire test with three raptor engines, finally gets nose cone
It’s beginning to look like SpaceX will attempt to make the 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) hop test before Christmas. After two successful 150-meter (~500 foot) hops with the SN5 and SN6 prototypes, engineers at SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch facility in South Texas rolled out the SN8—the first Starship prototype to have three Raptor engines. But before the SN8 can conduct a high-altitude test…