Because its out there
In a continuing effort to figure out this universe scientists have gone beyond the electromagnetic spectrum to gather information. The electromagnetic spectrum, with all its information, only presents us with 5% of the universe. Albert Einstein predicted things like gravitational. It took
Following up from last week, our universe is expanding. Not just expanding, but at an increasing rate and no one knows if it will ever slow or even stop. What if our universe’s expansion doesn’t stop? Let’s take a step back and
I’m Not talking about coronavirus. Not talking about conspiracy theories that are a constant presence…you know, comet Z, asteroid A, or heaven forbid, planet Nibiru might threaten life on Earth. Because even if they don’t hit us, they are poisonous or will
I feel lucky…so far. Our neighborhood has been free of Coronavirus (COVID-19) but people are getting stir crazy. Jigsaw puzzles go just so far. Zoom or other video meetings are fun but… So, grab your binoculars, get your hands-on binoculars and forego
Not kidding, there are galaxies that are transparent! Our Milky Way is not one of them, we are quite obscure thank you. In 1984 Allan Sandage and Bruno Binggeli discovered the first see-through galaxy, in the Virgo supercluster of galaxies. This discovery,
Let me pull out the old Ouija board. No, to subjective. How about tea leaves, taro, psychic, crystal ball? All too subjective. Ask the old Eight Ball? It’s not subjective, but somewhat random. Darn, there must be a way to predict our
At first Hiram Bingham, generally credited as Machu Picchu’s discoverer, thought they were for grinding grain. Later scientists discarded this hypothesis as the structures were not like others used in that time period. The current consensus is they were used as astronomical
Betelgeuse has been acting up lately. As stars go, Betelgeuse is a beast! It’s the bright, orange star defining the constellation Orion’s right (left as we look at it) shoulder. It’s a huge, massive red giant star. Huge, meaning if it were
In an opium induced dream, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge experienced a wonderous place he called Xanadu. In Citizen Kane, Orson Welles’ character creates a magical paradise he called Xanadu. However, while the Xanadu of Coleridge was a placid benevolent place, Xanadu in
Carbon is essential for life on Earth and it takes numerous forms but when a star gets really old and runs out of gas, carbon shows up. Stars begin their lives by fusing hydrogen nuclei and the good news is there’s lots
Weather forecasters and services get maligned for an occasional miss. It was supposed to be mostly clear for our Astronomy Night, but noooo, clouds rolled in just in time to mess with us! Just saying, weather is still a tricky prediction due
We can’t see in infrared. For better or worse, our eyes rods and cones just do not have sensitivity to those longish wavelengths of light. What would we see if we could suddenly see in infrared? It would be wild! Everything and
Space is a cold mistress. When we venture up, higher and higher into the atmosphere it just keeps getting colder and colder. At 29,035 feet it’s never warm at the peak of Mount Everest, with temperatures staying well below zero F all
Our Sun has a strong magnetic field but there are stars out there with much strong magnetic fields, way beyond what they should have. Stars many times the size and mass of the Sun are expected to have proportionally larger magnetic fields,
It’s everywhere, except maybe in super clean rooms where the air is constantly filtered. Dust mostly comes from the breakdown of bigger stuff like rocks, planets, stars, people, pets. Nancy and I live with a dust machine. Her name is Blanca and
Do you own property? Has it been surveyed? Has it been surveyed again? Did the surveys agree? In my experience the possibility of two surveys not agreeing is good. Why? Change. Change in how surveys are done, change in technology, sometimes a
Why should I care about it? What difference does it make? It doesn’t make a difference for my cozy life in the comfort of mid-sized normalcy. I like it here but it’s fun to explore the extremes, no? Our universe is unimaginably
In my October 8, 2017 article I wrote about the suspected existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was called planet nine in light of Pluto having been demoted to Dwarf Planet status. There has been considerable interest in