solar eclipse 2014

We’ve just received further proof that we are not alone in the universe. Although we didn’t discover alien life, we did discover a new family member: Our Sun’s sister (or brother). Meet HD 162826, a star that emerged from the same cloud of dust and gas as our own shining star. This means that we are composed of the same material, the same star dust, as HD 162826. Ultimately, this is the co

The Earth-Moon system via NASA. It’s comforting to look up at the night sky. The bright stars seem like old familiar friends…the pockmarked Moon is like a steady and unchanging ally. From our perspective on Earth, the universe seems stable and eternal Of course, this isn’t how things really are. In reality, our night sky is in a constant state of flux. Most of you have probably he

During the month of May, I shot Milky Way timelapse in central South Dakota when I had the time, and the weather cooperated. The biggest challenge was cloudy nights and the wind. There were very few nights, when I could shoot, that were perfectly clear, and often the wind was blowing 25mph +. That made it hard to get the shots I wanted. I kept most of the shots low to the ground, so the wind w

On Tuesday, April 29 at 0517 GMT, the moon will begin to eclipse the sun in the first of two total solar eclipses set to happen this year. When the moon is directly between the sun and the Earth, only the edges of the sun will be visible, resembling a “ring of fire.”

The Moon’s orbit about the Earth is not perfectly circular, so that at different times the Moon can be slightly closer or further away than usual. This composite shot shows the progress of an annular eclipse in May 2013. | Jia Hao/The National Maritime Museum The sun will look like a ring of fire above some remote parts of the world next Tuesday (April 29) during a solar eclipse, but most p