Looking Up by Bob Eklund

Bob Eklund has had a lifelong love affair with the sky, having been raised by a grandfather working at a major astronomical observatory in Wisconsin. For many years he has helped the Mount Wilson Observatory with their public education and outreach programs. Bob is the author of a book of poetry and essays about astronomy, First Star I See Tonight. Following a corporate career as an editor and business communicator, he now assists local residents with their business and personal writing/editing/proofreading needs. See www.bobeklund.com.

A Cold Super-Earth in Our Neighborhood

November 15, 2018 0

An international group of astronomers, involving the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg, has succeeded in detecting a planet around Barnard’s star, which is only six light-years away. The planet has just over …[READ MORE]

Astronomers Unveil Growing Black Holes in Colliding Galaxies

November 8, 2018 0

Peering through thick walls of gas and dust surrounding the messy cores of merging galaxies, astronomers are getting their best view yet of close pairs of supermassive black holes as they march toward coalescence into …[READ MORE]

NASA Retires Kepler Space Telescope, Passes Planet-Hunting Torch

November 1, 2018 0

After nine years in deep space collecting data that indicate our sky to be filled with billions of hidden planets — more planets even than stars — NASA’s Kepler space telescope (https://www.nasa.gov/kepler) has run out …[READ MORE]

NASA’s Juno Mission Detects Jupiter Wave Trains

October 25, 2018 0

Massive structures of moving air that appear like waves in Jupiter’s atmosphere were first detected by NASA’s Voyager missions during their flybys of the gas-giant world in 1979. The JunoCam camera aboard NASA’s Juno mission …[READ MORE]

NASA’s Fermi Mission Energizes the Sky with Gamma-Ray Constellations

October 18, 2018 0

Long ago, sky watchers linked the brightest stars into patterns reflecting animals, heroes, monsters and even scientific instruments into what is now an official collection of 88 constellations. Now scientists with NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space …[READ MORE]

MASCOT Lands Safely on Asteroid Ryugu

October 11, 2018 0

The near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, located approximately 120 million miles from Earth, has a new inhabitant: On 3 October 2018, the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) landed on the asteroid and began to work. The lander …[READ MORE]

Early Birth and Strange Chemistry: BepiColombo Mission to Mercury

October 5, 2018 0

A month before the planned launch of the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury, two new studies shed light on when the innermost planet formed and the puzzle of its chemical composition. The findings are …[READ MORE]

Origami Opens Up Smart Options for Architecture on the Moon and Mars

September 28, 2018 0

Origami and high-performance textiles are transforming architecture plans for smart human habitats and research stations on the Moon and Mars. Initial field tests of the MoonMars project’s origami prototype have been presented at the European …[READ MORE]

Exploring Strange New Worlds: “Star Trek” Planet Vulcan Found, New Planet Could Be Spock’s Home World

September 20, 2018 0

Among the TV series Star Trek’s many charms are its rich universe of characters and planets. Now, the Dharma Planet Survey, in a new study led by University of Florida (UF) astronomer Jian Ge and …[READ MORE]

Legacy of NASA’s Dawn, Near the End of Its Mission: Reveals Solar System Time Capsules, Breaks Engineering Barriers

September 13, 2018 0

NASA’s Dawn mission is drawing to a close after 11 years of breaking new ground in planetary science, gathering breathtaking imagery, and performing unprecedented feats of spacecraft engineering. Dawn’s mission was extended several times, outperforming …[READ MORE]