Greetings, fellow Denver Astronomical Club members. I hope that the end of our rainy streak has enabled you to get out under relatively clear night skies and enjoy some long-overdue stargazing. I missed the spectacle of Mercury being higher in the sky than Venus, heading back outdoors apparently just a minute or two after Venus set.… Continue reading.
Gravity is one of the most fundamental things in physics. Everything and everyone has gravity. The more massive something is, the more gravity it has. When you jump into the air, Earth’s gravity brings you back down.… Continue reading.
By Mark Laurin
David Chandler has been an avid sky watcher for decades, and an active member of the Denver Astronomical Society. He’s also famous for inventing the Night Sky Planisphere, a ubiquitous star-finding tool that astronomers around the world use to spot stars and constellations in the night sky.
Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources
Ingenuity – The Mars helicopter Ingenuity completed its planned five test flights. The final one of these included landing at a new site that it had not touched before (though it took images of the site during its previous flight), and climbing to a record altitude of 33 feet.… Continue reading.
The night before last, a comet named Palomar (actually known as C (for comet)/ 2020 T2 Palomar) was gliding near one of the most beautiful clusters of stars in the entire sky. It was parading about at about magnitude 11, which means that for my oldish eyes, it would be too faint to see.… Continue reading.
Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources
Black Hole Magnetic Field – In 2019, astronomers unveiled the first ever picture of a black hole, or more precisely, the material surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy M87.… Continue reading.
Many of you have made my day by replying to my May 4 all-member email, for which I am very grateful. Some had questions, some respond to specific requests for feedback and involvement, and others wanted to express their feelings about the unwelcome cancellations and changes that are the result of the coronavirus pandemic and the public health safety measures that had to be instituted.… Continue reading.