Month: April 2022

Full moon looms under icon of Paris in incredible photo

NeRD

Moon, meet monument. The full moon of April 17 was caught beneath the notable Parisian landmark, the Arc de Triomphe, by long-time French astrophotographer Thierry Legault. (We’ve featured his work on Space.com numerous times.) “It’s a single exposure: no stacking, no assembling, no tampering . . . as close as possible to the real scene,” Legault said on Twitter. He used a Sigma fp L camera and Sigma Art 135mm/F1.8 lens to achieve the epic shot. The arch was first commissioned by Napoleon I in 1806, following a major victory…

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Here’s where planetary science is going in the next decade

NeRD

The solar system is overflowing with fascinating destinations, but NASA can only operate so many missions. So every 10 years, the agency asks scientists to evaluate the state of planetary science and determine what questions should be the top priorities for the scientific community. Led by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, this massive undertaking is dubbed a decadal survey — and the latest such report is now public, offering a tantalizing look at what space enthusiasts can look forward to in the next decade. “This report sets…

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The Andromeda constellation: Facts, myth and location

NeRD

The Andromeda constellation consists of 16 stars visible in the northern sky. Named by ancient Greeks after the mythological Andromeda princess, the constellation contains the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest full-fledged galaxy to our own Milky Way. Andromeda is one of 48 constellations described by the Ancient Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in 150 AD in his famous work “The Almagest.” Ptolemy’s list was the first official description of constellations, although these stellar groupings had been known to ancient Greeks, Babylonians, Egyptians and other cultures, who frequently saw them as embodiments of…

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What is the coldest place in the solar system?

NeRD

Space is very, very cold. The baseline temperature of outer space is 2.7 kelvins — minus 454.81 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 270.45 degrees Celsius — meaning it is barely above absolute zero, the point at which molecular motion stops.  But this temperature is not constant throughout the solar system. So-called “empty” space — though it is not actually empty — is far colder than planets, moons or asteroids, for example, because there is (practically) nothing to absorb the energy coming from the sun. So, not including regular “empty” space, what…

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