Controversial Image from SkyAlert Hints at Multiple Santas in the Early Universe

By Nancy Atkinson - December 24, 2009 at 7:45 AM UTC | Cosmology
9santas.jpg

[/caption]

Normally,

SkyAlert

collects and distributes reports of astronomical transients in near-real time, such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, cataclysmic variables and blazar eruptions. You can even get alerts of these events via Twitter or Facebook. But starting this morning, Dec 24, through Dec 25, Skyalert.org will be distributing Santa Sighting Events via

Twitter

and

Facebook

so you can track where in the universe Santa will be. SkyAlert also has some interesting images of where Santa has been -- there's evidence of Santa on the Moon; he may have been flying through the Coalsack Nebula (see below) and that even in the early Universe there may have been multiple Santas.

[caption id="attachment_48476" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Image credit: Don Pettit, ISS Expedition 6, NASA Santa pictures made by Sarah Emery Bunn, Matthew Graham, and Roy Williams"]

[/caption] The Santa stream will be broadcast live on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/skyalert

with the tag #SantaAlert. You can also go to the SkyAlert website's special Santa tracking page, or

Facebook

.

The sky is full of explosions and movement, and SkyAlert is a great way to follow all the transient events taking place. The folks at SkyAlert say the discovery rate of such transients is increasing rapidly as new surveys come online. Visit

SkyAlert

for more information. And enjoy the holidays!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com