Category Archives: On Science and the Cosmos

The frontier….

Posted on June 26, 2023 by ksedinger

The teeming stars of the globular cluster NGC 6544 glisten in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This cluster of tightly bound stars lies more than 8,000 light-years away from Earth and is, like all globular clusters, a … Continue reading →

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Lift off!

Posted on May 10, 2023 by ksedinger

A first for space flight: the first launch of a rocket made entirely from 3D-printed parts. More here. Amazing!

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Ingenuity

Posted on April 19, 2023 by ksedinger

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has completed its 50th flight on Mars. Keep on flying, Ingenuity!  

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On Fridays we post space photos

Posted on April 7, 2023 by ksedinger

We don’t necessarily post space photos on Friday, but maybe we should! Here is an oblique view of Mt. Etna on Sicily (note the plume being blown away!), taken from the International Space Station, which at this point is apparently above … Continue reading →

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Checking in on the universe….

Posted on March 15, 2023 by ksedinger

From the James Webb Telescope, something really amazing: The rare sight of a Wolf-Rayet star – among the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly detectable stars known – was one of the first observations made by NASA’s James Webb … Continue reading →

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From the Books, for International Women’s Day

Posted on March 8, 2023 by ksedinger

This is a repost from a couple of years ago. I chose to repost this, about a book by astronomer Sara Seager, because it has lodged in my brain since I read it. I generally try to avoid reading grief … Continue reading →

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Speaking of STAR TREK…

Posted on March 1, 2023 by ksedinger

…check this out. If you remember the episode “Metamorphosis”, this looks a lot like the Companion! What is it, actually? NASA explains: Using data from NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), international researchers have uncovered new information about the Tycho … Continue reading →

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“Godspeed, John Glenn!”

Posted on February 20, 2023 by ksedinger

(A repost…today is the 61st anniversary of John Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7.) Sixty years ago today, astronaut John Glenn launched in a spacecraft called Friendship 7 and became the first American to orbit the Earth. Here’s a wonderful … Continue reading →

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Starry Night

Posted on February 13, 2023 by ksedinger

We’ve had a relative rarity the last few nights: clear skies. This area has been abnormally cloudy the last six weeks or so; we went an absurdly large number of days without seeing the sun, and of course, seeing the … Continue reading →

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When in doubt, space

Posted on January 25, 2023 by ksedinger

Wow: Via: An international team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has obtained an in-depth inventory of the deepest, coldest ices measured to date in a molecular cloud. In addition to simple ices like water, the team was … Continue reading →

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