Monthly Stargazing Calendar for February 2012
The best chance to see Mercury will be from February 20 to March 12. The planet will, from our point of view, have moved far enough from the Sun's glare to be visible shortly after sunset. Mercury will reach greatest elongation from the Sun on March 5, reaching a relatively bright magnitude of about -1.
Antennae Galaxies – Astronomy Picture of the Week
This beautiful image of two colliding galaxies has been released by NASA's great observatories. The Antennae galaxies are located about 62 million light-years from Earth. They take their name from the long antenna-like "arms," which were produced by tidal forces generated in the collision.
How to Compress Images Without Affecting Quality
If you have your own blog, then you probably have run into the issue of having images that are too large in file size. Such images unnecessarily waste a lot of bandwidth, which can cost you a lot of money if you are running your own blogging platform such as Wordpress.org on a paid web hosting plan.
15 Things You Didn’t Know About Outer Space [Infographic]
Since the dawn of history, outer space has always caught the imagination of people across the continents and different cultures. However most of what we currently know about space has been discovered since the beginning of the space age over half a century ago.
Dark Matter Map in Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689 – Astronomy Picture of the Week
This image represents the inner region of galaxy cluster Abell 1689 and the distribution of dark matter around it. Abell 1689 is an immense cluster of galaxies located 2.2 billion light-years away. Dark matter cannot be photographed, but its presence can be inferred by observing the light from background galaxies…
Top Tech Trends of 2011 [Infographic]
The year 2011 brought many changes to the tech industry. Such tech trends as group buying, geolocation apps, or tablets revolutionized the whole industry. Other major tech trends include cloud computing and cloud based productivity apps, online video in enterprise, online Q&A, crowdfunding, and mobile photo sharing apps.
Monthly Stargazing Calendar for January 2012
On the night of January 3 to 4 the Quadrantids meteor shower will peak. It is an above average shower, with up to 40 meteors per hour at the peak. The near first quarter moon will interfere with the show a little at first, but it will set shortly after midnight, leaving dark skies for what would then be a good show.
Cheetah Sitting on a Rock
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large feline living in most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is the fastest running animal on Earth with a top speed between 112 and 120 km/h. Unfortunately it is an endangered species. This cheetah was photographed in the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve in South Africa by James Temple.
Monthly Stargazing Calendar for December 2011
On December 10 we will witness a total lunar eclipse. The best viewing location will be in the Asia-Pacific region, but the eclipse will still be visible throughout most of Europe, eastern Africa, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and North America. Unfortunately the eclipse will not be visible in South America.
Golden Toad
The golden toad was a small, shiny, bright toad, only 5 centimeters long on average for an adult specimen. Unfortunately the species is now extinct, but it was once abundant in a small region of high-altitude tropical forests, about 30 square kilometers in area, above the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Monthly Stargazing Calendar for November 2011
This month we are expecting the flyby of Asteroid 2005 YU55. On November 8th, it will make a close approach to the Earth at 0.85 lunar distances. It has a diameter of about 400 meters so unfortunately it is too small to be visible to the naked eye.
The Future of the Automotive Industry
A survey conducted in the UK has revealed that 65% of motorists are planning on buying a more environmentally friendly vehicle the next time they are looking to purchase a brand new car. The majority of respondents blamed rising fuel prices for this decision; with a further 5% of stating that they had been forced off the road altogether.