This is a picture of the Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3372. It is a huge nebula spanning over 300 light years. The dark shapes you can see in this image are actually clouds of molecular gas and dust so thick they appear opaque. Continue reading
Last week we had the peak of the Leonid meteor shower. If you missed it, you could still see a few meteors this week, though not nearly as many as last week. Besides the occasional meteor, there are no major … Continue reading
Yesterday I have used the term “apparent magnitude” in my article about the Antlia Constellation. Since some of you may be new to astronomy, I decided to start a new series of articles to introduce you to the topic. Each … Continue reading
Antlia is a constellation in the southern sky and therefore has been unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Its name means “pump” and it specifically represents an air pump. It was created by the French astronomer Abbé Nicolas Louis … Continue reading
Over the last 15 years, astronomers have detected nearly 500 planets orbiting stars in our cosmic neighbourhood, but none outside our Milky Way has been confirmed. Now, however, a planet with a minimum mass 1.25 times that of Jupiter has been discovered orbiting a star of extragalactic origin… Continue reading
Today is the peak of the Leonid meteor shower. It is one of the best meteor showers to watch because it produces an average of 40 meteors per hour during the peak. All meteors seem to come from the Leo … Continue reading
This week the Leonids meteor shower will have it’s peak on November 17 and 18. The Leonids is one of the best meteor shower to watch because it produces an average of 40 meteors per hour during the peak. Look … Continue reading
Andromeda is a constellation in the northern sky. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. The Andromeda Galaxy is named after the constellation, … Continue reading
The Hartley 2 comet has made it to the news recently: first because of the comet’s flyby near Earth and then due to it being visited by the Deep Impact spacecraft. The comet is commonly known as Hartley 2, but … Continue reading
Rocky planets a few times heavier than Earth that were thought might be life-friendly may lack a protective magnetic field that originates from an iron core that is at least partly molten. A simulation of super-Earths between a few times and 10 times Earth’s mass suggests that high pressures will keep the core solid… Continue reading
