What is the Milky Way?

When someone says “Milky Way,” do you think of the starry pathway across our sky, or of the great pinwheel-shaped galaxy in space? Both are correct! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-the-milky-way-galaxy…

The myths behind the southern and northern lights

For millennia, humans have viewed the northern and southern lights – aurora borealis and aurora australis – and created myths and folklore to explain the dancing lights they saw in the sky. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/legends-folklore-myths-northern-southern-lights-auroras…

Tonight is New Year’s Eve in the Julian calendar

Happy Julian New Year! January 13, 2021, marks the last day of the year in the old-style Julian calendar. Why, and what happened when the calendars switched. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/julian-calendar-new-years-eve…

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…

Top 10 things to know about asteroid Bennu

Take a video tour of asteroid Bennu’s remarkable terrain and read a list of 10 cool things scientists know about this pristine remnant from the early days of our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-10-things-to-know-about-asteroid-bennu-video-tour…

5 myths about lightning debunked

NOAA debunks some popular myths about lightning. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/myths-about-lightning-debunked…

Born under the sign of Ophiuchus?

Born between November 29 and December 18? If so, the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus on your birthday. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/born-between-november-29-and-december-18-heres-your-constellation…

Sagittarius? Here’s your constellation

How to find Sagittarius on August evenings, plus the lore and science of this constellation. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/sagittarius-heres-your-constellation…

China Is Now Blocking All Encrypted HTTPS Traffic That Uses TLS 1.3 and ESNI

China’s Great Firewall “is now blocking HTTPS connections set up via the new TLS 1.3 encryption protocol and which use ESNI (Encrypted Server Name Indication),” reports ZDNet: The block has been in place for more than a week, according to a joint report authored by three organizations tracking Chinese censorship — iYouPort, the University of Maryland, and the Great Firewall Report….

Watch the moon shed its shadow

Because the moon moves eastward (away from the setting sun) at the rate of about 13 degrees per day, watch for the young moon to shed its shadow as it waxes (increases) in age. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/watch-the-moon-shed-its-shadow…