Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
The TL;DR; best possible answer to the extragalactic planets question is “Probably yes”. The degree of fuzziness in the above answer reflects the complexity of what was done and the degree of certainty that surrounds the conclusion reached. We can’t go with “yes”, nor can we go with “No”, but instead the best we have … Read more
There has quite appropriately been an abundance of news and excitement regarding the first observation of gravitational-waves from a pair of inspiraling neutron stars. Most media outlets have been covering it, for example … Washington Post – Scientists detect gravitational waves from a new kind of nova, sparking a new era in astronomy The Guardian – … Read more
Putting both Dark Matter and also Dark Energy aside, if you look at everything we can see, all the galaxies, then it has been rather clear that a lot was missing, or to be a tad more precise, had not actually been observed. How was that known? Well, basically what should be there had been … Read more
While in Oregon in the high desert to chase the eclipse I setup my camera and telescope and took a few quick shots to ensure all was in working order. Note that within the above picture, the day before the eclipsec Sun 20th Aug 2017, there are a few sunspots visible – I’ve circled them. … Read more
There is an old joke that goes as follows. A few guys in a bar are boasting about the progress that their various nations are making in space … A Russian guy boasts, “Next year we will put a man on the Moon“. An American boasts, “That’s no big deal, we have done that. Next year we will … Read more
I must admit that sometimes the daily tabloids go so overboard that the pure absurdness of it all becomes quite entertaining. Last Saturday the UK’s Daily Star was announcing that the sun had a hole and so we were all doomed … Well yes, a typical tabloid headline. It might indeed be an article about a coronal … Read more