Observing at the Northern Hemisphere started as early as December 6, when one meteor every hour or so could be visible. During the next week, rates increase until a peak of 50-80 meteors per hour is attained on the night of December 12/13. By December 18 meteor shower
Before 1979, there were less than a dozen known sungrazing comets. As of December 2012, we know of 2,500. Why did this number increase? With solar observatories like SOHO, STEREO, and SDO, we have not only better means of viewing the sun, but also the comets that
The Earth never sleeps. The night is nowhere near as dark as most of us think. In fact, Earth is never really dark; it twinkles with lights from humans and nature. Away from human settlements, light still shines – wildfires and volcanoes rage, oil and gas wells burn
NASA scientists have announced entry of Voyager 1 in a new region in deep space, which they’re calling a magnetic highway for charged particles; presumably the last leg of Voyager mission’s journey. In this region, magnetic field lines of sun are found connected to
With quite regular intervals of about 27 days which Sun takes to make full rotation circle, the Sun alternates between an active hemisphere with relatively many sunspots , and a hemispheric “face” that is pretty much void of these dark blemishes. For as long as it
This weekend the International Space Station will turn itself to position ESA’s SOLAR instrument for a better view of the Sun. This would be the first time ISS has changed attitude for scientific reasons alone.SOLAR instrument was installed on ESA’s Columbus
If you’re planning to skywatch this December, this video will take you through some of the notable objects in the sky this month, including a meteor shower, large asteroids in the asteroid belt, and an array of constellations.Video courtesy of Space.comBeginning in
The solar cycle (or solar magnetic activity cycle) is the periodic change in the sun’s activity (including changes in the levels of solar radiation and ejection of solar material) and appearance (visible in changes in the number of sunspots, flares, and other
New data from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft suggest that there’s plenty of ice on Mercury’s polar regions. Given its proximity to the Sun, Mercury would seem to be an unlikely place to find ice. But the tilt of Mercury’s rotational axis is almost zero — less than one
On November 28, 2012 the moon will slide through the Earth’s pale outer shadow or penumbra, resulting in a penumbral lunar eclipse. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves between the Sun and Moon but the three celestial bodies do not form a perfectly
