The Sky Tonight Update: Leonids Meteor Shower

The Leonids is an average shower, producing up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001.

The Sky Tonight Update: September Equinox

The September equinox occurs at 19:11 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Science On Why Hurricane Ida Stayed So Strong For So Long

Hurricane Ida remained a hurricane for 16 hours after it made landfall on Sunday, Aug. 29. It remained a major hurricane (Category 3 or above) for six hours of that time. So, how did Idea have such staying power?

The Sky Tonight Update: Perseids Meteor Shower

The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862. The Perseids are famous for producing a large number of bright meteors.

A winter solstice Christmas Star will soon be on the horizon.

You might’ve noticed two bright points of light setting along the western horizon just before the sun sets.  Over the past couple of months, they seem to have been getting closer and closer together.  These are not stars, but planets: Jupiter and Saturn. 

OSIRIS-REx: Playing Tag with an Asteroid

Let’s talk about OSIRIS-REx, the spacecraft that landed on an asteroid, collected a sample, and then lifted off to bring it all back home to us on Earth. It’s pretty incredible that we were able to navigate 200 million miles away from Earth to an asteroid in orbit around our sun, land on it, and then lift off again. So, here’s some information about this historic event.

How to Spot Comet NEOWISE Before It’s Gone For 6,800 Years

Now is a great time to catch a comet in your night sky.  It’s called Comet NEOWISE and if you miss it now you won’t be able to see it again for some 6,800 years.  Observers in the Northern Hemisphere are hoping to catch a glimpse of this object before it zips away at the end of July.

How Would a Viral Outbreak Be Handled in Space

As Covid-19 spreads across the globe, it’s interesting to think about how NASA would handle a viral outbreak in space.  In fact, there have been rare occasions that astronauts have fallen ill while on a mission.  The question is, how did NASA handle these situations, what’s changed since then, and how will this affect future missions in space?

The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 19:18 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Wolf Moon because this was the time of year when hungry wolf packs howled outside their camps. This moon has also been know as the Old Moon and the Moon After Yule.

Why Neil Armstrong Got to Be the First Man on the Moon

Fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong became the first man to ever walk on the moon.  Since that date, July 20, 1969, the moon has become the subject of much debate and scientific analysis.  From what Neil Armstrong first said as he took those initial steps to conspiracy theories about hoaxes, few historical events have captured the interest in mankind quite like the Apollo 11 moon landing.  However, a few facts about this event have remained obscure through time.