The Astronomical World of Harry Potter part 4: Hermione and Ginny

Last year, we had a series of three blogs dealing with the astronomical world of Harry Potter.  Not only did we looked at how some of the characters in the Harry Potter series got their names from the Roman, Greek, & Norse mythologies, but how those mythologies played into the develop of their respective characters.  If you missed it, we covered Draco, Luna, Dumbledore, Fenrir, Sirius and Bellatrix.

So, what about two of Harry Potter’s most trusted friends: Hermione and Ginny?

Ninth Planet May Exist

 

An artist’s impression of a possible ninth planet. It would be quite large — at least as big as Earth — with a thick atmosphere around a rocky core. CreditCalifornia Institute of Techonology

 

 Caltech scientists Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown make the case for Planet Nine, a giant planet tracing a bizarre, highly elongated orbit in the outer solar system.

The Great Planetary Alignment of 2016

Break out the binoculars because on Wednesday, Jan. 20, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will all be visible in the sky at the same time.  If you miss it tomorrow night there’s no need to fret, the spectacle will still be visible for the remainder of the month.

The Most Violently Explosive Supernova so Far Detected

Supernovae are some of the brightest events that happen in space.  However, in recent decades scientists have discovered a rare new class of blasts known as superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), or “hypernovae” to some.  The new discovery was spotted last June by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN).  At its peak, the new supernova known as ASAS-SN-15lh outshone our entire Milky Way galaxy by 50 times.

Cosmic Highlights of 2016

Now that 2015 has come and gone we can look back on some of the more notable astronomical events: March brought the total eclipse of the sun that could be viewed in the North Atlantic, and in April there was the total eclipse of the moon which could be viewed primarily on the Pacific edge of US and Canada.  Well, 2016 is here and the folks at Universe2Go have provided a nice infographic for all the upcoming astronomical events that you should be keeping an eye on.

Artist Creates Entire Known Universe in a Single View

Pablo Carlos Budassi recently unveiled a new illustration based on almost incomprehensible logarithmic maps created by Princeton University.  It shows the entire known visible universe. Though it is not a true map, it should be considered a “visualization showing fields of view” of the entire observable universe.