I’m at a loss for words. These poor people in Mayotte had so little to begin with, and Cyclone Chido has left them with almost nothing. It’s now a race against time to find casualties/victims…#CycloneChido #Mayotte pic.twitter.com/BldcoVqIDx — Volcaholic ? (@volcaholic1) December 16, 2024 Cyclone Chido devastated the French island of Mayotte, between Madagascar and … Read more
Friday, December 20Now that the evening sky is Moon-free, it’s time to aim for fainter targets, including 12th-magnitude Comet 333P/LINEAR. Located in far northern Cygnus, close to where that constellation’s border meets those of Cepheus and Draco, LINEAR sits some 8.4° northeast of magnitude 3.8 Kappa (κ) Cygni tonight. The comet is roughly halfway along … Read more
Sundial at Adler Planetarium in Chicago. A sundial can be used to measure the interval from one solar noon to the next. Earth’s longest days, from noon to noon, happen in December. Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). What is a day? You might casually talk about a day as a period of daylight. … Read more
We have our best views of Mars only once every 2 years. And that time is fast approaching! Watch a replay of our livestream for more information about Mars. Mars can appear bright or faint in our sky. 2024 has been mostly a faint year, but Mars has been steadily brightening, and it’s very noticeable … Read more
Every year, you can ring in the new year by going out at midnight and finding the dazzling star Sirius, sometimes called the New Year’s Star. In 2025, Sirius will be joined by the bright planets Jupiter and Mars. And of course, the bright constellation Orion the Hunter makes them easy to find. You can’t … Read more
For the latest on Parker Solar Probe, watch the livestream above at 12:15 CST (18:15 UTC) on Friday, December 20, 2024, with EarthSky founder Deborah Byrd and heliophysicist C. Alex Young of NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, co-author of EarthSky’s daily sun news update. Join us in marveling at a spacecraft that can touch the sun! … Read more
View larger. | This elevation map depicts the South Pole-Aitken basin on the moon. It is the moon’s largest crater. The lowest regions are in blue and purple. A new study suggested the crater is more circular in shape than scientists previously thought. Image via NASA/ GSFC/ University of Arizona. The South Pole-Aitken basin is … Read more
Alexandra E. Petri wrote an interesting article about a humpback whale, published in The New York Times on December 12, 2024. She describes a male humpback whale that traveled three oceans, during the years 2013 to 2022. This whale has now broken the record for the longest documented distance yet traveled by a humpback. The … Read more
In 1971, the Soviet Mars 3 lander became the first spacecraft to land on Mars, though it only lasted a couple of minutes before failing. More than 50 years later, it’s still there at Terra Sirenum. The HiRISE camera NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter may have imaged some of its hardware, inadvertently taking part in what … Read more
“2001: A Space Odyssey” offered more questions than answers, and the movie’s ambiguous and metaphysical final act has subsequently been debated for well over half a century. But 40 years ago, in December 1984, a movie sequel had a decent stab at explaining some of the mysteries Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic — with its psychedelic … Read more