by Gordon | May 24, 2011 | Interstellar space
In 1974, a radio message, written by Carl Sagan, was sent to the Globular cluster, M13, in the constellation of Hercules. Since the cluster is 25,000 light years away, a reply by return of post cannot be expected for another 50,000 years. If it wasn’t a joke, it was a...
by Gordon | May 24, 2011 | Solar system
Just as the Sun and Earth were created together in the same vortex, so will they vanish together in the same apocalypse. The destinies of the Sun and Earth are bound together. And that’s why it’s time to get to know our partner better. And that’s why NASA has sent up...
by Gordon | May 24, 2011 | Solar system
Mercury whips round the sun in only 88 Earth days but spins on its own axis at such a leisurely pace that it takes 176 Earth days to complete one Mercury day. As the sun rises over the bleak and blistered surface, it appears 3 times larger than on Earth and 11 times...
by Gordon | May 24, 2011 | Culture and astronomy
The Dogon people live in the deserts beyond Timbuktu. They believe that they have come from a planet orbiting a small dim star which in turn orbits Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and clearly visible this month in the eastern sky after sunset. An extraordinary...
by Gordon | May 24, 2011 | Interstellar space
Stars are thermonuclear fireballs so massive that as the energy is being blasted out, the core is collapsing under its own gravitational weight. For millions or billions of years, the two forces are balanced in a fearsome equilibrium. Sirius, our brightest star, is in...