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Moon and Neptune on December 6
The December 6, 2016 moon is near Neptune, only solar system planet not visible at all from Earth to the unaided eye. From some places, the moon will pass in front of Neptune today. Charts and info here.
December 6, 2016
Human ancestor Lucy a tree climber
Lucy lived 3.18 million years ago in what's now Ethiopia. An analysis of high-resolution CT scans of her fossilized skeleton shows she was equipped for climbing trees.
December 5, 2016
Star clusters seen spewing out dust
UCLA astronomers confirm that stars are responsible for producing dust on a galactic scale, a finding that's consistent with long-standing theories.
December 5, 2016
Gravity waves over China
Gravity waves traveling upwards from the lower atmosphere caused this unusual banded structure in airglow above China in late November.
December 5, 2016
Astronomers see giant galaxy being born
The Spiderweb Galaxy - which spans some 3 times the diameter of our Milky Way - is forming inside a cluster of protogalaxies, in a dense soup of molecular gas.
December 4, 2016
See it! Moon sweeps past Venus
The moon passed Venus Friday evening, but there's more to come. Wonderful photos here! Thanks to all who submitted. Keep watching this post for more photos.
December 4, 2016
Moon and Mars closest December 4
Use the moon to find Mars this evening. Bright Venus is nearby. Then watch day by day, as the gap on our sky's dome between Mars and Venus shrinks.
December 4, 2016
The circadian rhythm of our microbes
Like most life on Earth, our gut microbes have their own circadian rhythm. Disrupting that daily routine can be bad - and keeping it in balance can be good - for whole body.
December 3, 2016
Moon, Venus, Mars on December 3
The moon is sandwiched between very bright Venus and fainter, reddish Mars this evening. Watch for them in the sunset direction, shortly after the sun goes down.
December 3, 2016
Mystery of sun’s coronal heating
Exploding "heat bombs" might explain why the sun's upper atmosphere, or corona, sizzles at millions of degrees - hundreds of times hotter than at the surface.
December 2, 2016
