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Posts by
Deborah Byrd
Despite the full moon, comet Lemmon!
This faint comet - Comet C/2019 U6 (Lemmon) - is headed toward its perihelion, or closest point to the sun, on June 18. It's currently visible from the Southern Hemisphere, via strong binoculars, with a dark sky.
June 5, 2020
Farewell, Venus
Photos - taken through telescopes, or with other optical aid - from the EarthSky community. The brightest planet Venus is now in a thin crescent phase as viewed from Earth. Venus will go between us and the sun on June 3.
May 31, 2020
Markarian’s Chain of galaxies
Markarian's Chain forms part of the Virgo galaxy cluster. When viewed from Earth, the galaxies lie along a smoothly curved line. Armenian astronomer Benjamin Markarian discovered these galaxies' common motion in the early 1960s. American astronomer Fred Espenak captured this image.
May 24, 2020
Have you seen Venus and Mercury? Photos here
Wow! Thanks, everybody, for the wonderful Venus and Mercury photos! These 2 worlds have been nearest each other this week for all of 2020. A selection of photos from our community here, and many more at EarthSky Community Photos.
May 22, 2020
One of Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids has a comet-like tail
Trojan asteroids orbit 60 degrees ahead of and behind Jupiter, in its wide orbit at 5 times Earth's distance from the sun. Now the 1st Trojan asteroid has been found with a comet-like tail.
May 21, 2020
Crescent Venus, moon, sun
Three crescents - Venus, the moon, the eclipsed sun - all at about the same phase.
May 21, 2020
Global warming is making hurricanes stronger
As Earth gets warmer, hurricanes are expected to get stronger. A study of 40 years of satellite data suggests it's already happening.
May 20, 2020
Tropical Cyclone Amphan
Tropical Cyclone Amphan on May 19, 2020, on approach to eastern India and Bangladesh.
May 19, 2020
Why is Earth’s magnetic north pole drifting so rapidly?
The location of Earth’s north magnetic pole appears to be controlled from deep within Earth by 2 competing blobs in the magnetic field. One is under Canada, and the other is under Siberia. “The Siberian blob is winning," according to scientists.
May 19, 2020
This isn’t a triple rainbow
It's what's called a reflection rainbow, which can be caused by sunlight beaming upward after reflecting from wet sand or calm water, in this case the water of Puget Sound.
May 17, 2020
