Clik here to view.
March 7 – Star Light, Star Bright
Today’s Factismal: A single solar flare can release as much energy as 10,000,000 50 megaton bombs; that’s 500 times the total number of nuclear weapons on Earth. If you’ve ever seen Star Wars, then you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
April 24 – I Spy
Today’s Factismal: The Hubble Space Telescope has made over 1,000,000 observations in the 24 years it has been in orbit. It is rare to have a failure turn into a success. And it is even rarer to have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
May 15 – The Ides of Kepler
Today’s Factismal: The Kepler Satellite has discovered more than 960 planets circling stars as far away as 8,800 light years! There is good news out of NASA. Last year, the last spare reaction wheel...
View ArticleClik here to view.
June 16 – See Spot Run
Today’s Factismal: The black dot of a sunspot is actually brighter than moonlight; it only appears dim because the rest of the Sun is so bright! The Egyptians saw the Sun as a giant ball of poop being...
View ArticleClik here to view.
July 4 – A Blinding Flash!
Today’s factismal: There are 30 supernovae every second in the Universe but only eight of them have ever been close enough to see with the naked eye. Almost a thousand years ago, astronomers across the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
August 1 – In The Dark
There are two rules in science that every researcher soon learns: what you don’t see is as important as what you do see and a paradox means that you are on the edge of learning something amazing. In...
View ArticleClik here to view.
August 9 – Analemma Dilemma
Gathering data for an experiment often takes a lot of patience and work. But the results can be astonishing, as Peter and Mary discover in this week’s Secret Science Society adventure. Peter was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
September 18 – Round And Round She Goes
Today’s factismal: We’ve been able to prove that the Earth was round for nearly 2,400 years. We’ve been able to prove that the Earth rotates for just 162 years. One of the more frustrating things in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
September 28 – Raise Your Hand!
Today’s factismal: Contrary to armchair astronomers, Betelgeuse doesn’t mean “armpit of the giant”. If you look into the sky tonight, you’ll see one of the world’s most easily recognized...
View ArticleClik here to view.
October 7 – This Little Light Of Ours
Tomorrow’s factismal: Tomorrow morning people on the East Coast of North America will be able to see both the Sun and the lunar eclipse at the same time! Eclipses are one of the wonders of our world....
View ArticleClik here to view.
October 22 – Against The Fading Of The Light
Today’s factismal: The last solar eclipse of 2014 takes place tomorrow evening at 3:30 PM EDT (assuming that you live in Alaska). If you live anywhere in North America, get ready! You won’t want to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
December 21 – Standing Still
Today’s factismal: The winter solstice has been celebrated for at least 10,000 years. Today is one of the more interesting days in the year. It is the day in which the Sun stops its apparent southward...
View ArticleClik here to view.
January 2 – Glowing With Pride
Today’s factismal: Citizen scientist Terry Lovejoy has discovered five comets, one of which can be seen tonight! If there’s one thing an astronomer likes better than dark nights, it is citizen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
January 4 – Simply Saturn
Today’s factismal: The Cassini probe has been orbiting Saturn since June 30, 2004. Sending a robotic probe to a planet is never easy. It can take ten years to get the plan approved, another decade to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
January 9 – Dark Sky, Bright Worlds
Today’s factismal: The Gemini South Telescope has imaged four planets circling a star 130 light years away! It is no secret that these are exciting times for astronomers and planetologists. For the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
February 8 – Shining Bright
Today’s factismal: Most stars aren’t visible because they are too small and too cool. If you think about stars, you probably think of those pretty lights in the night sky. But if you are an astronomer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
February 27 – Look! Up In The Sky!
Today’s factismal: 600 trillion trillion particles from the Sun hit the Earth every second! We all know and love the Sun. Powered by fusion, it gives off light which warms the Earth and powers the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
March 3 – Moon Madness
Today’s factismal: 3753 Cruithne does not orbit the Earth. Of late, there have been a lot of blog posts (even, sadly, on supposedly “science oriented” websites) claiming that Earth has a “second moon”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
March 31 – What’s Up Doc?
Today’s factismal: The shortest total eclipse of the Moon in a century will happen on Saturday morning. Quick – what are you doing way too early on Saturday morning? If your answer was “sleeping”, then...
View ArticleClik here to view.
April 10 – Cluster Crunch
Today’s factismal: There are about 5,000 galaxies (including the Milky Way) in the Virgo Supercluster. There is a poem by Jonathan Swift that goes like this: The vermin only teaze and pinch Their foes...
View Article