pale blue dot
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Carl Sagan (Cosmos, 1980) This phrase is the standard that astronomers will be applying to a curious signal captured with China’s “Sky Eye” telescope that might be a transmission from alien technology. An article reporting the signal was posted on the website of China’s state-backed Science and Technology Daily newspaper …
Continue reading “Chinese scientists discovered aliens? Not so FAST”
Busy days don’t leave much time to stare at the sky in awe. But once in a while, in the midst of looking forward, it may be time to look around – or up – at your surroundings and appreciate the view. Beyond a seemingly inky nightscape with only the occasional cloud, aircraft, or spattering …
Earth and the entire Solar system carry a significant abundance of precious stones and metals. The history of human’s lust for these stones is as old as the earth itself. Earth has embedded in its crust some precious rock of billions of worth. Some of these precious stones are diamonds, black opal, ruby, emerald, red …
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Is faster-than-light (FTL) travel possible? Ever since astronomers found that Earth and the Solar System are not unique in the cosmos, humanity has dreamed of the day when we might explore nearby stars and settle extrasolar planets. Unfortunately, the laws of physics impose strict limitations on how fast things can travel in our Universe, otherwise …
On May 29, 1919, Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which was just four-year-old at the time, was put to its first test during a total solar eclipse. Albert Einstein’s prediction of the bending of light by the gravity of the Sun, one of the components of his general theory of relativity, could be tested by …
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has technical problems, it is generating random-looking telemetry data, and as a result, the spacecraft doesn’t know where it is.
On May 12, 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an international collaboration capturing images of black holes, announced the first-ever image of the Sagittarius A*, the Supermassive Black Hole at the center of the Milky Way. After the image of the nearby elliptical galaxy Messier 87’s (M87’s) supermassive black hole, also revealed by the EHT …
Super-sized black holes appeared surprisingly early in the Universe and it seems every galaxy has one at its center. But how? And where are the intermediate-sized black holes (intermediate black holes)?
On May 1, 1949, Neptune’s Moon Nereid was discovered by the Dutch astronomer and planetary scientist Gerard Kuiper, who is the eponymous namesake of the Kuiper belt. Nereid is also named Neptune II because it is the second moon of Neptune to be discovered. It is also the last satellite of Neptune to be discovered …
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On April 24, 1990, Hubble Space Telescope was launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) from the space shuttle Discovery (STS-31). It orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 350 miles (560 kilometers). For comparison, the International Space Station (ISS) maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 205 and 270 miles (330 and 435 …
Continue reading “Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990”
