21 concepts: Astronomical factoids to have at your fingertips
Consider Andromeda: When our sister galaxy’s one trillion stars collide with us in four billion years, no stars will make contact and nothing bad will happen.
All posts by Bob Berman
Monday’s transit of Mercury: The year’s biggest sky event?
Monday, Nov. 11: It lasts over seven hours, with the middle of the transit happening at around 10:30 a.m., when the Sun isn’t too low. The Mid-Hudson Astronomy Association will set up the correct instruments.
Why water is life
Since cold air can hold just one-thirtieth as much water vapor as very warm air, the substance we breathe is becoming desiccated.
The NAO now: And the dark side of night
This setup typically lets cold polar air pour into the Northeast, and can set the stage for early snowstorms.
International Observe the Moon Night can be unforgettable
Saturday, October 5: There’s even a backup plan in case of clouds. Saturn and the Moon will be just as nice one night earlier and for several nights later, though they won’t be next to each other any other evening. If you have any kind of telescope, this weekend is the time to drag it out.
September halos: Ring wraiths in the sky
Halos are the poor person’s Weather Channel: a time-honored harbinger of bad weather.
Is summer over? Depends whom you ask
Some say summer ends in a few days. Others say we have a few more weeks. A look at those and other ways to reckon the seasons.
Perils of space
Project Apollo had a million things that could have gone wrong.
Sons of Apollo
As for the “first-born son has a higher chance for success” notion, the Apollo astronauts would seem to support such a thesis strongly, since 27 of the 29 were eldest sons.
In search of natural darkness
In our 21st century, more than half the world’s population lives in an urban environment, with natural nocturnal darkness a phenomenon many only read about. But we who live in a rural setting still mostly enjoy the natural night and its splendors. Still, there’s dark and then there’s really dark.