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Blog postIn this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! Get a good look at today’s topic: the cosmic microwave background! The cosmic microwave background, or CMB, is all around you. Indeed, it’s by far the brightest object in the entire universe, responsible for over 99% of all photons. And it’s a …
Continue reading "Astronomy Jargon 101: Cosmic Microwave Background"
The post Astronomy Jargon 101: Cosmic Microwave Background appeared -
Blog postIn this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! Take a strange trip through today’s topic: wormholes! Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen were the first to realize that wormholes might exist. First you take a normal black hole – you know, a singularity surrounded by an event horizon where nothing can …
Continue reading "Astronomy Jargon 101: Wormholes"
The post Astronomy Jargon 101: Wormholes appeared first on Universe Today.
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Blog postWhen we look into the night sky, we see the universe as it once was. We know that in the past the universe was once warmer and denser than it is now. When we look deep enough into the sky, we see the microwave remnant of the big bang known as the cosmic microwave background. That marks the limit of what we can see. It marks the extent of the observable universe from our vantage point.
The cosmic background we observe comes from a time when the universe was already about 380,000 years -
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Blog postIn this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! I hope you’re sitting down for today’s topic: gravity! Gravity is by far the oldest force. And I mean that in two really wild ways. First off, in our theories of how the four forces of nature work, in the earliest moments …
Continue reading "Astronomy Jargon 101: Gravity"
The post Astronomy Jargon 101: Gravity appeared first on Universe Today.
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Blog postA lack of effective radiation shielding is one of the biggest challenges still to be overcome if humans are to embark on long-term voyages into deep space. On Earth, the planet’s powerful magnetosphere protects us from the deadliest forms of radiation – those produced by solar flares, and galactic cosmic rays arriving from afar – …
Continue reading "Fungi Were Able to Absorb Radiation on the ISS. Could Astronauts Grow Their own Radiation Shields in Space?"
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Blog postIn this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! Today’s topic is almost too hot to handle: Type-1a Supernovae! Let’s say you have a binary star system, which is common enough. Let’s say that one of the stars is bigger than the other (happens all the time), and goes through its …
Continue reading "Astronomy Jargon 101: Type-1a Supernovae"
The post Astronomy Jargon 101: Type-1a Supernovae appeared first on Universe Today.
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Blog postThe latest satellite in the Landsat family of Earth observation spacecraft has collected its “first light” images of our planet. Landsat 9 launched on September 27, 2021 and it continues the nearly 50-year tradition of making critical observations to help with energy and water management, forest monitoring, human and environmental health, urban planning, disaster recovery …
Continue reading "Landsat 9’s First Images are Here"
The post Landsat 9’s First Images are Her -
Blog postThe Hubble Space Telescope has been in ‘safe mode’ since October 23, with all of the science instruments offline and unavailable for observations. However, engineers have now been able to bring one instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), back online, and have restarted its science observations. NASA said engineers are still investigating the issue …
Continue reading "Hubble is Back Online — Partially"
The post Hubble is Back Online — Partially appeared fir -
Blog postIn this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll have a blast learning about today’s topic: Type-II Supernovae! When stars like our sun die, they turn themselves inside out in a gory, grisly display of fundamental elements. Despite the carnage it winds up being a pretty sight, creating the beautiful …
Continue reading "Astronomy Jargon 101: Type-II Supernovae"
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Blog postTwo microphones aboard the Perseverance Rover have recorded “alien” sounds on Mars – the sounds of a human-made spacecraft crunching its wheels on the Red Planet’s surface, or its motors whirring, or blasts from its scientific laser instrument. Perseverance’s microphones have also captured the sounds of another spacecraft – the Ingenuity helicopter – taking flight. …
Continue reading "The Sounds of Mars: Hear the Wind and Crunch of Rover Wheels on the Red Planet"
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Blog postIndoor cat… practicing social distancing. So: the end is nigh and it turns out, instead of fighting zombies and stockpiling ammunition and batteries, were all hoarding toilet paper and hand-sanitizer, and maybe catching up on Netflix. Certainly, all those dystopian tales didnt really prepare us for 2020, and the nutty new reality of the COVID-19 [...]
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Blog postJust. wow. The fascinating sequence of images below has been making its rounds around ye ‘ole web this week. It’s courtesy of the Japanese Space Agency’s Himawari-8 satellite, and shows something pretty remarkable: the contrail from a bolide that exploded over the Bering Sea near local noon off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia on December [...]
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Blog postOn sale now. What’s up in space exploration? We just passed to 60 year mark for the Space Age late last year, with the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union in October 1957. In 60 years, humanity has gone from having a tough time hitting the Moon, to sending spacecraft out of the [...]
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Blog postWishes: on sale now! Quick: what are you wishing for this coming Christmas day? Here’s a funny but true story: I almost opted not to read and review this week’s book selection. And not for the reason that we do (albeit rarely) turn books down, as in we’re leery of giving prospective pseudoscience non-fiction books [...]
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Blog postOn sale now. What might the ecology of Earth look like in a post-apocalyptic world? We recently read a science fiction tale that tackled this precise question. We’re talking about Keepers by Brenda Cooper, out now from Pyr Books. Book 2 in the Project Earth saga, Keepers looks at a world with a dichotomous face, [...]
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Blog postOn sale now. There. We said it. So, you think you know Sir Isaac Newton? Some of the most fascinating tales of science and history lurk in the footnotes, down the tiny side avenues and rabbit holes that most traditional biographies only hint at. Rittenhouse passed out during a transit of Venus. Tycho had his [...]
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Blog postOn sale now. Love maps? Looking for something a bit unconventional and unique? We recently finished a fascinating compendium of the world as it never was, and lands that were thought to be. We’re talking about The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps by Edward Brooke-Hitching, out from Chronicle Books. The [...]
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Blog postLong Live the Legion… Credit: The CW. Been watching Supergirl lately? We’ve just about made it through Season 3 on ye ole Netflix, through the story arc featuring the battle against Reign and the Blight. Along with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl is one of the best superhero sagas in the CW Arrowverse. I really [...]
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Blog postSeen in Lewes, Delaware… photo by author. I had to stop. As we always love to say, astronomy and history is where you find it, even in a graveyard in Delaware beside the road. The Delaware coast is an unlikely birthplace for modern American science. But back in the mid-18th century, it was the site [...]
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Blog postOn sale on September 18th, and available for pre-order now. One of the most amazing science fiction series in recent years now has an exciting new installment. We’re talking about Searching for the Fleet, the latest chapter in the Diving Into the Wreck saga by Kristine Kathryn Rusch out September 18th, 2018 from WMG Publishing. [...]
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Blog postOur second telescope: a 60mm refractor. (note the 8-track player in the background!) It’s true: we destroyed our first telescope before its first night out. Flashback to the summer 1977, and our ninth birthday. Returning home from church, I was greeted by a shiny new Newtonian reflecting telescope, lovingly assembled by my Mom in my [...]
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Blog postOn sale August 7th! Ready for the best of the best? Every year, one of the biggest and best reads that we look forward to are the Nebulas. Not only are these tales a great read, but they also serve as a fine look at the state of modern science fiction, a cross-sectional look at [...]
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Blog postBeware of the “Pacman Moon…” It’s true: I once slept through an eclipse. Well, OK. I didn’t sleep all the way though. Hard to believe, there was a phase of my life where I didn’t eagerly await every occultation and conjunction. Like many skywatchers who return to amateur astronomy later in life, an early interest [...]
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Blog postEarth and the Moon in transit as seen from Pluto. Credit: Starry Night. What sorts of celestial scenes would you witness, if you could magically sit on some far flung space rock? An interesting upcoming alignment was recently brought to our attention by our friends over at Earth & Sky and astronomer Anne Verbiscer at [...]
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Blog postOur current travel gear: ready for an upgrade? The circle is nearly complete. Late last year, we took on a book project presented to us by Fraser Cain over at Universe Today. Numerous edits, rewrites and deadlines later, the book out from Page Street Publishing this October is nearly now on autopilot. I do want [...]
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Blog postCosmic Watch screen grab. Who wouldn’t want your very own Earth and Solar System to play with? Recently, we reviewed the Cosmic Watch App. This application (available for Android and Iphone for $4.99 US)… released last year gives you a unique outside looking in view of the apparent sky along with the planets, Moon, Sun [...]
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Blog postOn sale now! Solving a crime is never easy… especially in space. This week’s scifi review marries up two time-honored fictional genres: the mystery/police procedural, and sleek cyber-punk. We’re talking about Blood Orbit by K.R. Richardson, out now from Pyr Books. In a Mike Hammer meets Blade Runner move, Blood Orbit delivers on the goods. [...]
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Blog postAn Eagle, ready for launch. Credit: ITC Entertainment. Remember the 1970s? We recently found a vein of free episodes on ye ole YouTube of one of our childhood favorites: Space:1999. For those of you who aren’t old enough to remember, let me explain the good old/bad old days of science fiction and the vast intellectual [...]
Titles By David Dickinson
The Backyard Astronomer’s Field Guide: How to Find the Best Objects the Night Sky has to Offer
Jul 21, 2020
$9.99
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The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing the Cosmos: Everything You Need to Know to Become an Amateur Astronomer
Oct 23, 2018
$14.99
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Hardcover
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