Category Archives: Science

There’s a Solar Eclipse Tomorrow!

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

In case you’ve been living under a rock, there is a total eclipse of the Sun tomorrow, and it’s going to cross the entire continental United States! A solar eclipse is a once in a lifetime event. Any given location … Continue reading →

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Kepler-1625b I: The First Exomoon…Maybe

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

So, the big science news of the day is the potential discovery of the first known “exomoon”—that is, a moon orbiting an extrasolar planet. (Scientific paper here.) Scientists have been looking for such moons for years, only to turn up … Continue reading →

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Days 3 and 4 at the #AAS230: Galaxies, Supernovae, and Space Weather

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

The famous Crab Nebula supernova remnant. The AAS Conference has concluded, but there’s still a lot of exciting science going on. Here are the big stories from the final day and a half. Sadly, I missed the first talk on … Continue reading →

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Day 2 at the #AAS230: Warm Jupiters, Human Spaceflight, and Other Stories

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Artist’s rendition of the mysterious Planet Nine. The second day of the AAS Conference has concluded with still more fascinating tales from the world of astronomy. We begin with the tale of the Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which concluded … Continue reading →

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Day 1 at the #AAS230: Dark Matter, Colliding Planets, and More

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

The famous Bullet Cluster, the first clear proof of dark matter. The AAS Conference is underway today with the first round of talks from all branches of astronomy. For us astronomers, the biggest events are probably the plenary sessions, where … Continue reading →

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Blogging the #AAS230

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

As you may already know, I’m a professional astrophysicist, and for astrophysicists, the biggest event of the year is the biannual conference of the American Astronomical Society, usually known as the AAS (that’s “Double-A-S” for you non-astronomers). Now, the winter … Continue reading →

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Gravitational Waves Found at Last

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Alex R. Howe

One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity. It was a radical new idea that overturned Newton’s theory of gravity and said things got much more complicated when you were near a massive object. Strange as … Continue reading →

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Planet 9 Follow-Up

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Alex R. Howe

Where it is, where it came from, and why there’s a chance it’s not there at all. Last week, I wrote about the not-quite-discovery of a ninth planet in our Solar System (and I don’t mean Pluto), way, way beyond … Continue reading →

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Planet 9: A New Planet in Our Solar System?

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Alex R. Howe

“In my day, Pluto was a Planet!” said everyone over the age of…15 or so. Pluto was demoted from planet status ten years ago (a decision I do agree with–see here), and now we only have eight planets–or do we? … Continue reading →

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The Wild Chemistry, Geology, and Everything Else of Pluto

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Alex R. Howe

I just got back from the American Astronomical Society’s winter conference, and let me tell you, there was a lot of great science going on there, but I wanted to focus particularly on the latest findings about Pluto. Pluto’s geology … Continue reading →

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