Light Pollution is the bane of astronomers everywhere. We’ve been complaining about it for decades and for the most part, get ignored for our efforts. Some local authorities are more clued in and have added shielding to street lamps for example or implemented lights-out policies at certain times of the night.
But it’s a losing battle. The ever-expansion of our … Read the rest of this article
Using data from a NASA satellite, scientists have discovered a massive particle accelerator in the heart of one of the harshest regions of near-Earth space, a region of super-energetic, charged particles surrounding the globe and known as the Van Allen radiation belts.
New results from NASA’s Van Allen Probes show the acceleration energy is in the belts themselves. Local bumps … Read the rest of this article
Color and black-and-white images of Earth taken by two NASA interplanetary spacecraft on July 19 show our planet and its moon as bright beacons from millions of miles away in space.
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured the color images of Earth and the moon from its perch in the Saturn system nearly 900 million miles (1.5 billion kilometers) away. MESSENGER, the … Read the rest of this article
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano is spending six months on the International Space Station conducting experiments and keeping the orbital outpost running with five colleague astronauts.
In Luca’s spare time he photographs our world from 400 km high, looking out of the Station’s panoramic Cupola. Luca tweeted the picture above with the comment: “The sky is simply perfect.” Of course, for … Read the rest of this article
Flying low and slow above the pristine terrain of Alaska’s North Slope research scientist Charles Miller of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory surveys the white expanse of tundra and permafrost below. On the horizon, a long, dark line appears. His plane draws nearer, and the mysterious object reveals itself to be a massive herd of migrating caribou, stretching for miles.
Every summer, something strange and wonderful happens high above the north pole. Ice crystals begin to cling to the smoky remains of meteors, forming electric-blue clouds with tendrils that ripple hypnotically against the sunset sky. Noctilucent clouds—a.k.a. “NLCs”–are a delight for high-latitude sky watchers, and around the Arctic Circle their season of visibility is always eagerly anticipated.
News flash: This … Read the rest of this article
The continuing growth in space debris poses an increasing threat to economically vital orbital regions. Next week, hundreds of top experts from across the globe will meet at Europe’s largest-ever debris forum to share their latest research findings and discuss potential solutions.
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All human-made space objects result from the near-5000 launches since the start of the space age. About 65% …
This beautiful aurora illuminates the sky over the snow-clad landscape near Tromsø, Norway.
Bright aurora illuminating the sky over Norway (near Tromsø) on 17 February 2013. Image credit: ESA–S. MazroueiThese colourful displays are produced when electrically charged particles travelling from the Sun in the solar wind are channelled along Earth’s magnetic field lines and strike atoms high in the … Read the rest of this article
Ozone stinks. People who breathe it gag as their lungs burn. The EPA classifies ground-level ozone as air pollution.
Yet without it, life on Earth would be impossible.
A fragile layer of ozone 25 km above Earth’s surface is all that stands between us and some of the harshest UV rays from the sun. The ozone molecule O3 blocks radiation … Read the rest of this article
Starry skies are a vanishing treasure because light pollution is washing away our view of the cosmos. It not only threatens astronomy, it disrupts wildlife, and affects human health. The yellow glows over cities and towns — seen so clearly from space — are testament to the billions spent in wasted energy from lighting up the sky.
To help raise … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
(Northern Hemisphere) |
Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
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