Blog Profile / Bad Astronomy
| URL : | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Academics / Astronomy | |
| Posts on Regator: | 5173 | |
| Posts / Week: | 18.6 | |
| Archived Since: | February 24, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
That’s not what the Batsignal is supposed to look like!
The dark night rises?
[Click to stimulatedemissionate.]
Nope. This way cool picture is actually the Very Large Telescope observatory in Chile, though that really is a laser being shot into the sky. Our atmosphere boils and writhes, distorting the view of the stars. Show More Summary
The puzzle of dogma
reddit user jerfoo created a lovely and simple photo series demonstrating the difference between experimental science – testing data and finding things out based on evidence – and dogmatic faith – belief in something rigidly and without wavering.
Read the whole thing; it’s wonderfully done. Show More Summary
VERY bright and spectacular meteor seen over northern UK!
Twitter just exploded with reports, pictures, and videos of an extremely bright fireball moving over the northern part of the UK. I’ve seen tweets from folks in Ireland, Manchester, and more. It was traveling east-to-west, and broke up into many pieces as it fell. Show More Summary
7000
According to my software, this blog post you are reading is the 7000th article I have published on the Bad Astronomy Blog.
Wow.
That’s a lot of words. It’s also a lot of astronomy, geekery, science, antiscience, web comics, puns, embiggenates,...Show More Summary
A butterfly in the Swan
I am constantly amazed and awed by the sheer beauty of planetary nebulae – the gorgeous structures created as stars die.
Among the most astonishing of them is NGC 7026, a youngish nebula about 6000 light years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Show More Summary
Let those global warming dollars flow
One of the weirdest (and by that I mean most ridiculous) claims I’ve heard from global warming deniers is the idea that somehow there is a cabal of scientists making up all the information we see about climate change. First, scientists aren’t very good at that sort of collusion. Show More Summary
Ceci est une pipe
Oh, have I got a treat for you today. Behold the brain-busting beauty of Barnard 59!
[Click to ennicotianatabacumenate - and seriously, do it! - or stick the gargantuan 16,000 x 15,000 pixel version (!!) into your pipe and smoke it.]
This...Show More Summary
Looking down on the snow of Kilimanjaro
In May, 2012, when the International Space Station was passing over Africa at 8 kilometers per second, astronaut André Kuipers took this stunning picture of Mount Kilimanjaro:
[Click to hephaestenate.]
The stratovolcano is nearly 5900 meters (19,000 feet) high. Show More Summary
Hubble peers in on a galactic snack
Galaxies come in a lot of shapes and sizes: huge ellipticals, big spirals, weird squishy irregulars. There is a sub-class called "dwarf galaxies" which are smaller than usual. We actually think they dominate the Universe by number, but...Show More Summary
Emerald Isle time lapse
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a beautiful time lapse video, so here’s one that should do the trick: "Between the Raindrops", by Peter Cox. It shows some inclement weather in Ireland, but ends with a lovely astronomical sight: a lunar eclipse setting over some hills. Show More Summary
Excavating a long-dead lunar fire fountain
Although it may seem rather obvious now, for a long time there was a debate over craters on the Moon. Were they from impacts, or big volcanoes?
We now know that the vast majority are from objects slamming into the Moon. There’s a lot...Show More Summary
Libration libretto
Sticking with my theme of art and astronomy… Back in March 2012, I posted a remarkable video from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (where I used to work) showing the motion of the Moon and how its appearance changes over the course of the year. Show More Summary
Jupiter gets rocked by an impact again
By now you’ve probably heard that on September 10, Jupiter got whacked by an asteroid or comet again. It was seen directly by amateur astronomer Dan Peterson, and video was taken by George Hall, who kindly posted a fairly awesome a four-second...Show More Summary
The brush strokes of star birth
Every now and again I see something so simply stunning that it leaves me speechless.
OK, I’m kidding; I’m never speechless. But this really is flipping amazing.
Tell me: which of these two pictures below is a Hubble Space Telescope image...Show More Summary
Rocketfest!
In early September, the day after DragonCon, I traveled with some good friends to Huntsville, Alabama to raise money for Space Camp. We put on a show called Rocketfest – it was the brainchild of singer/siren Marian Call, and we had a fantastic time.
[Click to vonbraunenate. Show More Summary
A solar eclipse… FROM MARS!
OK, this is simply too cool.
The Mars Curiosity rover has already returned thousands of images taken of the Red Planet’s landscape. But on September 13, 2012, it was commanded not to look around, but to look up, at the Sun. Why? Because Mars’s tiny moon Phobos passed directly in front of the Sun, partially eclipsing it!
Sweeeeet. Show More Summary
A new space race?
When Curiosity landed on Mars, I was interviewed by RTTV about it, and China’s plans on landing on the Moon. The interview’s online: Like I’ve said before: I’d like to see us cooperating more internationally, and I fear a new space race with China might be good for funding in the short run, but terrible in the long run. Show More Summary
… I’m just on my way up to Clavius
Thierry Legault is no stranger to this blog (see Related Posts below or search the blog for his stuff); his astrophotos are always amazing. Always. And he just sent me a link to a new batch that are jaw-dropping: very high-resolution images of the Moon, Mercury, and even Uranus. Show More Summary
Symphony of Science: climate change
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new Symphony of Science – videos autotuning scientists and science popularizers to promote critical thinking – and I’m pleased not only that a fresh one went up, but that it’s about a topic near and dear to me (and should be to everyone): climate change. It’s nice to see Asimov included in the video. Show More Summary
The subtlety of cosmic violence
One of the most amazing things I can think of can be stated simply: some stars explode.
That’s incredible. An entire star, millions of kilometers across and massing octillions of tons, can go supernova, tearing itself to shreds. TheShow More Summary