History
Astronomer Calculates When van Gogh Painted This
One of my favorite paintings is Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh -- for obvious astronomical reasons. But another favorite…
Why Did Copernicus Reject Geocentrism?
Popular science history paints a picture of the Greek geocentric model dominating astronomical thought beginning around the 3rd century BCE,…
An Ancient Stone Found in Italy is an Accurate Map of the Night Sky
You know how some constellations take a little bit of imagination to see? Yes, Leo looks a bit like a…
The Solar Radius Might Be Slightly Smaller Than We Thought
Two astronomers use a pioneering method to suggest that the size of our Sun and the solar radius may be…
Penn State SETI Symposium Opens with Commemoration of Dr. Frank Drake
This year's Penn State SETI Summit kicked off with a a lecture on how history will remember SETI pioneer Frank…
The Historic Discussion of Ptolemy’s Star Catalog
From the time of its writing in the 2nd century CE, Claudius Ptolemy’s Almagest stood at the forefront of mathematical…
Based on the JWST Controversy, NASA is re-Evaluating the way it Names Spacecraft
In a surprise twist, NASA has suggested it will reexamine its naming policies, due to the controversy surrounding the JWST.
Scientists Find an Ancient Stellar Catalog Written by Hipparcus Hidden in a Medieval Tome
Spectral imaging reveals the Hipparchus astronomical catalog was much more precise than we thought.
‘The Clocks are Telling Lies:’ A New Book from Universe Today Writer Scott Alan Johnston
Scott Alan Johnston (that's me!) joined the Universe Today team just over a year ago. Since then, I've written over…
We Might Know Why Mars Lost its Magnetic Field
Mars is a parched planet ruled by global dust storms. It's also a frigid world, where night-time winter temperatures fall…