A scholar of early Christian literature writes that religious theories around celestial events are part of a larger human pattern to find meaning. And they go back thousands of years.
There’s a chance Nishimura might brighten unexpectedly – but it’s a slim one.
The Herschel Museum in Bath, England, has a new display of a handwritten draft of Caroline Herschel’s memoirs.
Internet Archive Book Images via Wikimedia Commons
Kris Pardo, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Astronomer Caroline Herschel’s work discovering and cataloging astronomical objects in the 18th century is still used in the field today, but she didn’t always get her due credit.
The newly discovered comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is anticipated to be spectacularly bright late next year. But it’s important to temper our expectations.
Skies in the Northern Hemisphere have been graced by a rare, green comet. Now, it’s our turn to look for it in Australia – but the view will be dimming rapidly.
Didymos (bottom right) and its smaller moonlet Dimorphos (center) were the targets of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test.
NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test successfully showed that it is possible to crash a spacecraft into a small asteroid. Whether the approach could save Earth from a future threat remains to be seen.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test is the first planetary defense experiment ever attempted.
NASA/JHUAPL/Steve Gribben
Crashing the 1,340-pound DART probe into the small moonlet orbiting the asteroid Didymos should redirect its trajectory – and could be a model for how to save Earth in the future.
The 1833 Leonid Meteor storm, as seen over Niagara Falls.
Edmund Weiß (1888)
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland and Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute
Could the Tau Herculid meteor shower put on a spectacular show next week? Only time will tell.
An Eta Aquariid meteor (centre) along with comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in the background, photographed during the 2020 Eta Aquariid shower.
Photo by Jonti Horner
You might think lots of meteorites ultimately come from comets. Turns out, you’d be wrong, according to a new study that tracked meteors hurtling through the sky to find out where they came from.
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland and Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute
A poor start for meteor showers in 2021 but things get better with a possible spectacular surprise later in the year. Here’s your guide on when and where to look to catch nature’s fireworks.
The comet SWAN was spotted in January by an ESA/NASA satellite. It is currently passing overhead and is visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
Christian Gloor/Flickr