What are the best solar system and deep-sky objects to view to get the most out of your binoculars? From moon-encircled worlds to starry knots in the Milky Way, our list makes the sky’s wonders easy to find. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/best-targets-for-binoculars-moon-planets-nebula-clusters…
Tag: Wisconsin
The moon rock in Washington National Cathedral
A moon rock collected by Apollo astronauts during the first moon landing is enshrined in a stained-glass window – known as the Space Window – in the Washington National Cathedral. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/moon-rock-washington-national-cathedral-stained-glass-window…
Monarch butterflies are in trouble: Here’s how to help in your own yard
The 2020 annual count of monarch butterflies in the western United States found shockingly few, confirming fears that the insect is on the brink of extinction. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/monarch-butterflies-of-western-us-nearing-extinction-what-you-can-do…
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…
The beauty of winter 2021
Enjoy photographs of winter 2021 and all of its beautiful snow and unusual icy shapes! Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/the-beauty-of-winter-2021…
What are degrees, arc minutes and arc seconds?
How do skywatchers measure distances in the night sky? Here’s how to understand it when they speak of objects as being several degrees (or several arc minutes or arc seconds) apart. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/sky-measurements-degrees-arc-minutes-arc-seconds…
Dark storm on Neptune changes direction, escapes deadly fate
Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe unusual weather on the planet Neptune, not observed until now. They saw a large, dark storm on Neptune unexpectedly changing direction, thereby saving itself from looming destruction and possibly producing a smaller companion storm. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/large-dark-storm-change-direction-neptune…
Mass Die-Off of Birds in Southwest US ‘Probably Linked to Climate Crisis’
The Guardian reports: The mass die-off of thousands of songbirds in south-western U.S. was caused by long-term starvation, made worse by unseasonably cold weather probably linked to the climate crisis, scientists have said. Flycatchers, swallows and warblers were among the migratory birds “falling out of the sky” in September, with carcasses found in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona and Nebraska. A…
Personal solstices
Photos from EarthSky community members around the world, showing what the December solstice – bringing winter to half of Earth, and summer to the other half – means to them. Thanks to all of you for sharing these evocative images with us! Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/personal-solstices-photos-dec-earthsky-community…
Where Tech Workers Are Moving
There’s a narrative that the tech industry’s future lies in Texas and Florida. That tech workers and executives — sick of California’s oppressive policies and sky-high real estate costs — are moving en masse to Miami and Austin this year. That these cities are building dominant talent foundations that will persist for years due to the pandemic. That narrative is wrong….