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 …
Category Archives: Astronomy
Voyager 1 is Generating Random-Looking Telemetry Data
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.
Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet on May 19, 1910
On May 19, 1910, the Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet. Prior to the date, using spectroscopy, astronomers detected cyanogen, a very deadly poison in the comet’s tail. This caused panic. French astronomer Camille Flammarion (26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) even claimed that life on Earth would end because of this.
Now we can see the Sagittarius A*: here is the first photo of the Supermassive Black Hole at the center of the Milky Way
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 …
Intermediate black holes: where are they?
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)?
Neptune’s Moon Nereid was discovered on May 1, 1949
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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Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990
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 …
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Halley’s Comet made the closest approach to Earth on April 11, 1986
On April 11, 1986, with about 63 million kilometers (39 million miles), Halley’s Comet made its closest approach to Earth on its outbound journey (while moving away from the Sun).
Fred Hoyle unintentionally coined the term “Big Bang” on March 28, 1949
On March 28, 1949, the English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) unintentionally coined the term “Big Bang”. In fact, Hoyle was thinking the idea that the universe had a beginning to be pseudoscience and he was arguing the universe as being in a “steady-state”. Today’s (March 28) story of …
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The first moon in orbit around an asteroid (243 Ida) was discovered on March 26, 1994
On March 26, 1994, a photo was released showing the first moon discovered be in orbit around an asteroid, 243 Ida. Today’s (March 26) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.
