Tag Archives: the sun

An item on my wish list: See a sunrise from orbit. Earth’s atmosphere scatters out the blue from sunlight. The scattered light makes the atmosphere look blue, but the sunlight has all of its blue photons scattered out from it, giving it … Continue reading →

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Invader Xan | 2 Comments

Solar flair!

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Invader Xan

I’m taking a break from everything else I’m doing, because solar events are awesome. – the Sun has just belched out another big flare, ranking at M7.3. It’s certainly been a turbulent little star recently. The info was tweeted about … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, space | Tagged | 4 Comments

Ablaze

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Invader Xan

The Sun is doing some quite exciting things at the moment. Just the other day, it spat out a X1.7 flare, the first X-class flare this year. Things are likely to stay interesting for a while now too. We’re very … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, physics | Tagged | 7 Comments

Now leaving the Solar System…?

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Invader Xan

There was an interesting tweet from the UK Space Agency yesterday… I have to agree. While it’s difficult to say exactly where the boundary of the solar system lies, it’s certainly true that the cosmic rays which Voyager’s reading seem … Continue reading →

Posted in space, Tech | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Midnight Sun

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Invader Xan

“I have postulated a particle that cannot be detected.” Those were the words uttered by the eminent physicist Wolfgang Pauli in 1930 when he first put forward the idea of the neutrino. Such is the delightful eccentricity of physicists of … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, physics | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Breathtaking

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Invader Xan

This absolutely gorgeous sunspot image was captured and crafted by Mexican astronomer César Cantú. And… seriously just wow. I’m lost for words. There’s just so much in this image that it’s difficult to know where to start. From the amazing detail … Continue reading →

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Significance?

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Invader Xan

In astronomy, the typical way to give the mass of a large object is in solar masses, denoted M⊙. This isn’t an exact measure, but it’s good to a suitable degree of accuracy. For example, Sirius A is about 2.02 M⊙. … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

In Transit

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Invader Xan

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 →

Posted in astronomy, life | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Eclipsed

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Invader Xan

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful eclipse pictures I’ve ever seen. Seriously. It’s just incredible. The detail is breathtaking. The composition is exquisite. It’s been circulating the internet for the past day or so with people saying that … Continue reading →

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There’s something on your face

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Invader Xan

I really love those moments when I see an image that makes me double take and say out loud “Oh wow”. This image caused one of those moments. This photograph is a beautiful beautiful capture of a sunrise over the … Continue reading →

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