What caused the April 5th earthquake? Friday, April 5th, 10:23 in the morning. I’m a late riser, so I’m just waking up, but still in bed and half asleep. Suddenly I hear a rattling. My dog jumps to his feet and starts pacing nervously, and I am wide awake. The bed sways under me, and... Read More
There will be a solar eclipse Monday April 8th, 2024 that will be visible across the United States as well as Mexico, the Caribbean, and Canada. For most of the people reading this, it will be your best opportunity to see a partial eclipse until 2045 and if you’re willing to travel it will be... Read More
The Buckeye state was the bull’s eye for a small earthquake recently. On August 27th at 10:43 pm, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake shook the region near Lake Erie in Ohio. This incident marked the third and most substantial earthquake in just a week, a frequency unusual for this area. While Ohio generally ranks low in... Read More
In the early morning hours of February 6th 2023 a massive piece of the Earth’s crust about 30 miles long suddenly and violently moved about 11ft. This released enough energy to cause the surface of the Earth to shake so much it toppled buildings and destroyed infrastructure. Sadly thousands of people are known to have... Read More
Ah, a late summer evening. The air is still warm even though the sun set hours ago, crickets are playing their nightly symphony as lightning bugs send messages of love to one another, and you’re looking up at a cloudless sky with a bit of humid haze. As you gaze into the darkness you see... Read More
As I write this NASA is preparing to fly the Ingenuity helicopter in the skies of Mars. The Ingenuity helicopter is a “technology demonstration” designed to show that controlled flight is possible in the thin atmosphere of Mars. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ingenuity had to be custom built to make this possible but it was made with... Read More
Don’t miss the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the evening sky on the 21st. Dubbed by some as the “Christmas star”, this rare alignment will occur on the evening of the winter solstice and is visible to the unaided eye. The solstice is the longest night of the year and is a consequence... Read More
In this edition of What’s Up, we will see what interesting objects are in the night sky this month and read about one of the most famous telescopes on earth (or at least it would be one of the most famous if it were actually on this planet). Venus is still looking very prominent in... Read More
Astronomically the start of spring this year was March 19th. Normally the first day of spring falls on March 20th or 21st. This was the first time in 124 years that spring fell so early. The spring equinox is the day that astronomers mark as the first day of spring and it is simply one... Read More
Hello cyberspace, let’s talk about outer space. This is the first in a series of astronomy updates that we are calling “Whats Up” where I will point out interesting things in the night sky and talk a little about space news. Let’s start by pointing out something you may have noticed on clear nights for... Read More