Stars
Star Facts: Phecda
Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris), the 6th brightest star in Ursa Major and 85th brightest star in the night sky, marks out the lower left corner of the Big Dipper’s bowl. Along with most of the […]
Month: August 2017
Stars
Star Facts: Merak
Merak (Beta Ursae Majoris) is the 5th brightest star in the Big Dipper asterism associated with the constellation Ursa Major, and the 80th most luminous star in the entire night sky. The star also serves […]
Night Sky
The Night Sky This Month: September 2017
Astronomers use the dates of solstices and equinoxes to delineate the start and end of seasons in a year, and in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn begins with the start of the September equinox, whose dates […]
Sci-Film Reviews
10 Best Time Loop Movies
Time travel is often used as a template for many science fiction films, and once the concept is introduced, it offers a unique and engaging opportunity for great storytelling. Time travel movies generally require a […]
Stars
Star Facts: Alkaid
Alkaid (Eta Ursae Majoris) is a prominent star in the handle of the Big Dipper, an asterism which forms just a small part of the overall constellation of Ursa Major. With an apparent magnitude of […]
Astronomy Lists
Top Deep-Sky Objects in Orion
Orion is one of the oldest recognized constellations and contains two of the brightest stars in the sky, Rigel and Betelgeuse. Since it is visible from both hemispheres, the Orion constellation has also featured prominently […]
Astronomy Lists
Top Deep-Sky Objects in Ursa Major
The constellation Ursa Major is not only the third biggest of all the 88 recognized constellations, taking up an area of 1279.66 square degrees, or 3.10% of the night sky, but it is also one […]
Sci-Film Reviews
10 Greatest Alien Invasion Films
While scientists debate day and night on whether or not alien life exists somewhere in the vast, uncharted universe, it is unanimously clear to Hollywood that movies about aliens invading Earth make for a very […]
Astronomy Lists
10 Interesting Facts about the Oort Cloud
Named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, but sometimes also known as the Öpik–Oort cloud, this hypothetical cloud of small, icy planetesimals is thought to surround the solar system out to a distance of more […]
Astronomy Lists
10 Interesting Facts about the Kuiper Belt
Also known as the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, this structure extends from just beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune to a distance of roughly 50-55 astronomical units from the Sun. Composed primarily of small icy bodies […]