Clik here to view.
Where is Planet X? Where is Nemesis?
Before Pluto was discovered, the world’s astronomers were captivated by the possibility of finding another massive planet beyond the orbit of Neptune. In 1930, Pluto was discovered lurking in what was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brown Dwarfs: “Over-Achieving Jupiters” not “Failed Stars”
Why is the term “failed star” synonymous with brown dwarfs? On the one hand, brown dwarfs lack the mass to sustain nuclear fusion in their cores. On the other hand, who said brown dwarfs were trying...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Introducing Little SDO
Playing on our love for WALL-E, our amazement for the Pixar Lamp and some great animation, Chris Smith, an employee at NASA Goddard Flight Center, has given the upcoming Solar Dynamics Observatory a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Wide Angle View of Our Nearest Star
In case you were wondering why Astroengine has been a little quiet of late, this is why. I’ve been working with my Discovery Space colleagues to produce a “Wide Angle” all about the current solar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Borg Cube Spotted Near Solar Limb
There I was idly checking out SpaceWeather.com, seeing whether there was any sunspot activity going on… and then I saw this. At first, I assumed it was a highly symmetrical sunspot, but no! It was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compex Magnetic Eruption Witnessed by Solar Observatories
Solar Dynamics Observatory view of the solar disk shortly after eruption (NASA). This morning, at 08:55 UT, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) detected a C3-class flare erupt inside a sunspot...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can Spicules Explain the Mysteries of Coronal Heating?
Solar spicules as imaged by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (NASA) There’s one recurring question I’ve been asking for nearly a decade: Why is the Sun’s corona (its atmosphere) so hot? When asking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Do You See When SETI’s Allen Telescope Array Is Aimed At The Sun?
A comparison between an observation of the sun using the ATA's 2.75 GHz band (left) and SOHO's 195A filter. Both are near-simultaneous observations on Oct. 1, 2009 (Saint-Hilaire et al., 2011). And no,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Venus Transited the Sun
The Venus transit taken with my iPhone 3GS through a telescope eyepiece atop Mt. Wilson on June 5, 2012. After the historic Venus transit and my involvement of the Astronomers Without Borders live...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Plasmaloopalicious!
The magnetic loop containing hydrogen and nitrogen plasma evolves over 4 micro-seconds. Credit: Bellan & Stenson, 2012 There’s no better method to understand how something works than to build it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Sun Just Unleashed a Massive Explosion — at Mars
NASA/ESA/SOHO The Earth and Mars are currently on exact opposite sides of the sun — a celestial situation known as “Mars solar conjunction” — a time when we have no way of directly communicating with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Massive, Long-Period Comets Are Way More Common Than We Thought
NASA/JPL-Caltech During the formation of the solar system, when the planets were molten messes and asteroid collisions (or “mudball” collisions, possibly) were commonplace, chunks of icy debris were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Solar Eclipse Is Going to Cost the U.S. $700 Million? Good.
A photo of the 2012 annular eclipse from Malibu, Calif., using an old digital camera and solar filter (Ian O’Neill) The U.S. media is currently saturated with hot takes, histories, weird facts, “how...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sun Erupts With a Monster X9-Class Solar Flare — Earth Feels Its Punch
Credit: NASA/SDO This morning, the sun erupted with the most powerful solar flare in a decade, blasting the Earth’s upper atmosphere with energetic X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coolest White Dwarf Is a Glimpse of What Happens Long After Our Sun Dies
All good things come to a cold and dusty end. [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger] “So, what do you think happens after you die?” The question was more of an accusation. The lady...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Sun Is a Beautifully Blank Billiard Ball for Halloween
For the festive season, our nearest star is keeping its choice of costume simple. I’m not saying the Sun isn’t being creative, it’s just not putting too much effort into this year’s stellar fancy...
View Article