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Why your equinox sun rises and sets due east and west
How is it possible for an equinox sun to rise due east - and set due west - for everyone around the world? How can you visualize it? Illustrations here.
September 21, 2018
Here’s what closed Sunspot Solar Observatory
Federal court documents this week revealed an FBI investigation of a janitor suspected of using Sunspot Solar Observatory's internet connection to send and receive child pornography.
September 20, 2018
Were the 2 Magellanic Clouds once 3?
A new study suggests that the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds - small satellite galaxies to our Milky Way - might have once had a 3rd companion.
September 20, 2018
Supernumerary rainbow over New Jersey
Look slightly inside a bright primary bow, and sometimes you'll see these fringes. Their numbers and spacing can change from minute to minute.
September 20, 2018
See Venus at its brightest
Greatest brilliancy for Venus is a delicate balance between how much we see of its day side, and the changing distance between our 2 worlds. Conditions are now optimum! Venus looms low in the twilight, dazzlingly bright.
September 20, 2018
Life imitates art? Astronomers find Star Trek planet Vulcan
In recent decades, astronomers and Trekkies had fun speculating on what might serve as Spock's home star. Many settled on 40 Eridani A, about 16 light-years away. Now a Vulcan-esque planet has been found for this star!
September 19, 2018
How leaves tell each other about a bug attack
"We often think of plants as being passive and at the mercy of their environment. My jaw literally dropped when I first saw these videos ... They beautifully illustrate how active and complex plants really are."
September 19, 2018
Waxing moon over Amsterdam
The waxing gibbous moon rising over Amsterdam as the sun sets.
September 19, 2018
Elon Musk and SpaceX announce 1st tourist for ‘moon loop’
Musk said Monday from SpaceX headquarters in California that it will send Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa - with a group of artists - on a loop around the moon and back to Earth in 2023.
September 18, 2018
Scientists discover earliest human drawing yet
This month, scientists published their discovery of 73,000-year-old cross-hatchings found in a South African cave. It's now the earliest known drawing and evidence of early humans’ ability to store information outside the human brain.
September 18, 2018
