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EarthSky

EarthSky

The EarthSky team has a blast bringing you daily updates on your cosmos and world. We love your photos and welcome your news tips. Earth, Space, Human World, Tonight.

Geminid meteors to peak this weekend

Posted by in Tonight | 6 mins ago
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The shower is best around 2 a.m., but watch from late evening until dawn. The best morning is likely December 14. Mornings leading up to it might also offer some meteors as well, in the rich and reliable Geminid shower.

Come to know the Pleiades, or 7 Sisters

Posted by in Tonight | 3 weeks ago
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At this time of year, for all of us around the globe, the Pleiades star cluster culminates – reaches its highest point in the sky – around midnight.

What’s the birthstone for November?

Posted by in Human World | 1 month ago
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Happy birthday November babies!  Your birthstone, the topaz, can be blue, pale green, yellow, pink, red, purple, brown and even black.
Bumpy, multi-colored ball.

Tycho supernova

Posted by in Today's Image | 2 months ago
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New image of the Tycho supernova remnant from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Thin orange blob stretched across a black background.

Spiral galaxy in profile

Posted by in Today's Image | 2 months ago
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Hubble Telescope view of a spiral galaxy – called NGC 3717 – oriented sideways.

Zoom in on the Ghost Nebula

Posted by in Astronomy Essentials | Space | 2 months ago
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Nebula IC 63 – in the direction of our constellation Cassiopeia – is slowly dissipating under the influence of ionizing ultraviolet radiation from a hot, luminous variable star known as Gamma Cas.

Why leaves change color in fall

Posted by in Earth | 2 months ago
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The vivid yellows and oranges of autumn leaves are there throughout spring and summer, but hidden.

a big ball, blue around the outside and pink in the middle.

New insights on Venus’ cloud-tops and super-rotation

Posted by in Space | 2 months ago
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Why does Venus’ upper atmosphere circle the planet in just 4 Earth-days, while the planet itself takes 243 Earth-days to spin once? Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft probed the mysterious “super-rotation” of Venus’ clouds.
Graphic showing whereabouts of Akatsuki spacecraft in orbit.

Venus to take center stage in October 2020 observation campaign

Posted by in Space | 3 months ago
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Launched in 2018, the BepiColombo mission will have the first of its 2 encounters with Venus – while on its way to Mercury – in October 2020. Coordinated observations at that time will involve 2 spacecraft and multiple ground-based telescopes. 

Learning to live on the moon … underwater

Posted by in Today's Image | 3 months ago
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Astronaut teams practice living and working on the moon in the pool at at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab.