There are still a lot of people who don’t realise that Jupiter has rings. But here they are, illuminated in their full glory! This is an image of a solar eclipse, as it would be seen from the largest of … Continue reading
Iapetus, Saturn’s third largest moon, is a total enigma. For a start, it’s a strange walnut shape. Secondly, it seems to have a surface purely rendered in black and white. It looks a bit like snow on a mountaintop back … Continue reading
I just have to post these. Because they’re gorgeous. These images were posted to twitter a couple of weeks ago by Mike Brown, during an observing run at Keck. First up, this is Uranus, taken with a narrowband infrared filter … Continue reading
This really quite beautiful looking object is the Egg nebula. Also known as AFGL 2688, it’s a pre-planetary nebula. A few weeks ago I was waxing lyrical about how stars die and seed their material back into the cosmos from … Continue reading
Everyone loves star trails, don’t they? Well, these are some of the most wonderful star trails I’ve ever seen – long exposures taken from the cupola window on the International Space Station! Just… wow! Images via NASA_JSC_Photo @ flickr, and … Continue reading
There are a lot, and I do mean a lot, of gorgeous images from yesteday’s transit of Venus flying about the internet right now. I have no doubt more will surface gradually, as images are downloaded from cameras and retouched, … Continue reading
Imagine if you could see in radio waves. Things would appear a lot different to the way they are to you right now. Much of your world would suddenly appear to be made of glass, transparent as far as you … Continue reading
Planet Venus is now transiting the Sun. Right now. Watching something like this live is just incredibly exciting. And thanks to the internet, I can watch this live and hear people talking about it from several parts of the world … Continue reading
Tomorrow, a rather magical astronomical event shall occur. From 05/06 at 23:04 BST to 06/06 at 05:55 BST, Venus will transit the Sun. In astronomy, this is an incredibly rare and rather wonderful occurrence. In fact, this is only the … Continue reading
A supermassive black hole is rather like a gravitational version of the Incredible Hulk. Massive, mean, able to take on anything thrown at it, and virtually unstoppable. While the smaller black holes may form when a massive but otherwise normal … Continue reading
Writing this blog is a labour of love, and one which I evidently need a little encouragement towards on occasion. If you like what I write, the best way to show your gratitude would be to fuel my caffeine addiction and buy me a coffee to say thank you. All coffee donations are gratefully accepted!
Never stop dreaming...
