Colorful and bright, this streaking fireball meteor was captured in a single exposure taken at Purple Mountain (Tsuchinshan) Observatory’s Xuyi Station in 2020, during planet Earth's annual Perseid meteor shower. The dome in the foreground houses the China Near Earth Object Survey... Continue Reading →
Hummingbird bills — their long, thin beaks — look a little like drinking straws. The frenetic speed at which they get nectar out of flowers and backyard feeders may give the impression that the bills act as straws, too. But... Continue Reading →
There are moments in life when reality blurs into the intangible, when a glance can carry the weight of a touch, and the unseen becomes more vivid than the visible. It was in such a moment that I felt his... Continue Reading →
Researchers have linked a specific type of body fat to the abnormal proteins in the brain that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease up to 20 years before the earliest symptoms of dementia appear, according to a study being presented today... Continue Reading →
Jupiter looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope images. Both were captured last year on November 17 from Singapore, planet Earth, about two weeks after Jupiter's 2023 opposition. Climbing high in midnight skies the giant planet was a mere 33.4 light-minutes from... Continue Reading →
A shadow falls where light once played,Dreams dissolve, their colors fade.The heart, once buoyed by hope's embrace,Now bears the weight of an empty space. The promise of dawn, a gilded lie,Clouded by doubts that veil the sky.Each step, a stone,... Continue Reading →
This month, Venus dazzles as the "Evening Star," Jupiter reaches its brightest for the year, and the Geminid meteor shower peaks under challenging moonlit skies. Skywatching Highlights All Month – Planet Visibility: Mercury: Visible very low in the southeast just before... Continue Reading →
One of the most identifiable nebulas in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula,... Continue Reading →
Beneath the moon’s pale, grieving glow,Where shadows stretch and whispers grow,Lies the ghost of what we used to be,A love now lost to memory. Your laughter lingered in the air,A fleeting warmth, a fleeting care.Now silence reigns where songs were... Continue Reading →
Scents of Science 