Topic: Solar Systems
Get Thee Outside! The Perseids Are Coming!

Get Thee Outside! The Perseids Are Coming!

The Perseids are best viewed on August 12 and 13 but can be seen from now through August 24 as the Earth passes through debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. Overlapping with the bright Perseids is the Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower, which peak on July 30 but are visible until August 21. The source of this meteor shower isn’t known for certain. Both showers are best seen late at night, but I’m going to issue you a challenge. Saturday August 23 is the new moon. That night, and the nights around it will be moonless. I want you to go out at Sunset, and watch as the sky darkens, let...

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Aurora Alert: Neptune & Jupiter

Aurora Alert: Neptune & Jupiter

Aurora on Neptune shine along the right side of the planet in Webb's IR images (right). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Heidi Hammel (AURA), Henrik Melin (Northumbria University), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Stefanie Milam (NASA-GSFC) Earth isn’t the only...

It’s a Star-Eat-Planet Universe

It’s a Star-Eat-Planet Universe

One of the most mystifying planets to many of us are the hot Jupiters. These massive worlds have orbits smaller than Mercury’s and in some cases are so close to their stars that starlight is pushing mass off the planet or the planet is raising tides on the star....

New Weird Star-Star-Planet Combination

New Weird Star-Star-Planet Combination

The Universe sometimes likes to mock us. Such is the case with exoplanets. Once upon a time, researchers would sagely say, “Solar Systems like Tatooine, with twin stars, likely don’t exist.” The thing is, this was based on models that relied on limits created with...

Venus Volcanism is Erupting in the Literature

Venus Volcanism is Erupting in the Literature

Another big topic of discussion at LPSC seemed to be Venus. I say "seemed" because I’m sure the actual big topic of discussion was proposed budget cuts, which could be as much as 50%, but there was no definitive information on budget cuts, so that is more a big topic...

Closer Look: Mars Occupies the Science Journals

Closer Look: Mars Occupies the Science Journals

Talk of Mars has been seeping into just about every area of media, as rumors swirl that NASA’s current plans to return humans to the Moon will be replaced with plans to fly directly to Mars. Given that we can’t currently keep people alive on Mars, I’m really hoping...

Suni Williams Breaks Women’s Spacewalk Record

Suni Williams Breaks Women’s Spacewalk Record

NASA astronaut Suni Williams conducts spacewalk The US Human presence in space is supposed to be flying back and forth form the ISS on a combo of SpaceX and Boeing crew capsules. Unfortunately, was undermined by it’s own failures to deliver on time and a myriad of...

Protecting Historic Sites on Earth, Moon, and Mars

Protecting Historic Sites on Earth, Moon, and Mars

Dominion Observatory in Ottawa Our planet is dotted with old observatories and astronomical research centers that are no longer capable of doing science. Either their equipment is too small, their skies too bright, or both. Both is always an option. I've been lucky...