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Posts by
Deborah Byrd
No Earth-like atmosphere for Proxima b
It's the nearest exoplanet and in its star's habitable zone. But a new study suggests radiation from its star would drain an Earth-like atmosphere 10,000 times faster than on Earth.
August 1, 2017
Big Dipper to Polaris, Mizar, Alcor
Use the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star. Then notice the two stars Mizar and Alcor in the Big Dipper’s handle.
August 1, 2017
Moon near star Antares on August 1
Antares is a red star in the south each summer. It was considered the Fire Star of the ancient Chinese.
August 1, 2017
Storm moving in
Niccole Kowalski said she witnessed this rainbow on Saturday, forming over the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, while a storm was moving in.
July 31, 2017
Sun halo with 2 contrail shadows
The sun is casting shadows of an aircraft contrail downwards onto thin cirrus haze layers below. Higher above, ice crystals in cirrus clouds have created a 22-degree halo around the sun.
July 31, 2017
More life keys in Titan’s atmosphere
Scientists expand their knowledge of the stew of ingredients in the atmosphere of Saturn's large moon Titan, and contemplate whether Titan has cooked up life.
July 29, 2017
We are galaxy stuff
A new study - based on supercomputer simulations - reveals that each one of us may be made in part from matter that passes from one galaxy to another.
July 27, 2017
Venus and the Pleiades before dawn
Venus - the brightest planet - is in the east before dawn now. Chirag Upreti caught Venus on July 22 over Acadia National Park in Maine. The dipper-shaped cluster above it is the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters.
July 27, 2017
How many distant comets?
Mysterious long-period comets might be more common - and bigger - than astronomers thought. Studies like this one will help reveal what kind of hazard they might pose.
July 25, 2017
Haze on Saturn’s horizon
Spectacular recent image from the Cassini spacecraft, now in its Grand Finale year around Saturn, taken from just above Saturn's cloudtops, showing haze on the planet's horizon.
July 25, 2017
