Category Archives: On Science and the Cosmos

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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Launch

Posted on January 21, 2023 by ksedinger

What an amazing photo: An external high-definition camera on the International Space Station captured the launch plume of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket after it had ascended to Earth orbit following its liftoff on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, from NASA’s … Continue reading →

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The Snowflake Cluster

Posted on December 30, 2022 by ksedinger

I saw this photo the other day on the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Flickr stream, and my jaw dropped: What is this? Here: Newborn stars, hidden behind thick dust, are revealed in this image of a section of the … Continue reading →

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The Hunter rises!

Posted on November 4, 2022 by ksedinger

My favorite constellation has almost always been Orion the Hunter–and I only hedge on this just a bit, because maybe there was a point when I was in first grade and just starting to learn about constellations that I preferred … Continue reading →

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Allow me to present, a Nebula.

Posted on September 9, 2022 by ksedinger

Specifically, the Tarantula Nebula. Wow!  

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