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Andrew Fraknoi

Diagram showing Earth's tilt and the seasons

Saturday, Dec. 21 will be the winter solstice – the shortest day and longest night of the year, with which we mark …

December 19, 2024
Anything can be a UFO (or a threatening drone) if you are bad enough at identifying stuff.

For those of us who, through the years, have been through wave after wave of uncritical and sensational UFO stories in the …

December 15, 2024
Quasar J0529-4351 (artist conception)

You think you ate too much?  No matter how stuffed you were after Thanksgiving (or another celebratory meal), it’s nothing compared to …

November 30, 2024
Cave opening in the Arsia Mons volcano on Mars

Recently, in social media posts, Dr. Pascal Lee of the SETI Institute discussed the intriguing caves on the side of the giant …

November 23, 2024
Where in the sky the comet will be seen in the evenings in Oct. 2024

A newly discovered comet is now faintly visible in our skies soon after sunset, if you have clear skies and a …

October 15, 2024
Eintein

Two upcoming events that may be of interest to you (please pass on to others who may like them): The Osher Lifelong …

September 29, 2024

The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer

July 27, 2024
Map diagram of the likelihood of seeing auroras

Friday, May 10, there was a lot of discussion on the news, on social media, and on different web sites about …

May 10, 2024
Free Astronomy Textbook Used by Over 1 Million Students

This time I am posting something a bit personal. I am the lead author of a free book that is part …

May 4, 2024

A rare eclipse of the Sun will be visible all over North America on April 8th.

March 23, 2024

This year February will have an extra day -- we discuss why?

February 11, 2024
Meteors from the Geminids in 2021

Wednesday evening and Thursday morning (Dec. 13-14) is the peak time for one of the best meteor showers of the year – the Geminids. 

December 10, 2023
The Perseus Galaxy Cluster Seen with the Euclid Space Telescope

The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular.

November 8, 2023
Stages during an annular eclipse

Saturday Oct. 14 North America will be treated to an eclipse of the Sun.

October 7, 2023
A partial eclipse of the Sun

Two eclipses of the Sun will be visible in North America during the 2023-24 school year.

August 19, 2023

We make suggestions for how best to see the 2023 Perseid meteor shower.

August 5, 2023
James Webb Space Telescope Movie

Explains a new movie of distant galaxies and remote time from the Webb Telescope.

July 18, 2023

The Webb Telescope has found a complex building block of life in a galaxy seen just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.

July 4, 2023
The arrow points to the star that exploded

Astronomers have seen a star explode in a nearby galaxy. Such explosions are part of the recycling scheme of the universe.

May 28, 2023
The Earth Beyond the Moon from Hakuto-R

On April 20, the Japanese Hakuto-R spacecraft took a remarkable image of the Earth from orbit around the Moon, showing a …

April 27, 2023
Sample Tube Under Perseverance

What the Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter have been doing on Mars.

April 4, 2023
The Andromeda Galaxy

Check out an Older Hubble Telescope Image that will Leave You Star-struck We astronomers often talk about the vastness of things …

March 17, 2023
Galaxies dominate this view from the James Webb Space Telescope

(And A New Science Fiction Story) Here is a new image that the James Webb Space Telescope people designated their “Image …

February 5, 2023
New Comet ZTF

There is a faint new comet in the sky, on an orbit that took it some 50,000 years to come in …

January 27, 2023

News of a PBS TV program on how first contact with an alien civilization might happen & a link to my latest science-fiction story on the same topic.

January 7, 2023

It's the Winter Solstice, when we experience the shortest day and longest night.

December 20, 2022

Astronomers working with the James Webb Space Telescope have just identified the most distant galaxy ever observed by human eyes. This …

December 3, 2022
A star struggles to be born

One of strongest hopes astronomers have for the James Webb Space Telescope is that it will reveal to us many of …

November 20, 2022

There will be a total eclipse of the Moon visible from all of North America on the morning of Nov. 8th.

October 24, 2022
Two galaxies with the spiral in front of the elliptical

An image combining information from the Webb and Hubble telescopes shows a pair of contrasting galaxies and holds promise for future studies.

October 9, 2022
A giant star forming region is revealed by the Webb in new light.

Astronomers working with the James Webb Space Telescope recently unveiled a beautiful new image of one of the largest and most …

September 14, 2022
Jupiter from the Webb Telescope

The giant planet Jupiter is shown in remarkable detail from the giant James Webb Space Telescope. The powerful northern and southern lights are easily seen in this image.

August 24, 2022
James Webb Space Telescope image of the Cartwheel Galaxy

The James Webb Space Telescope has taken an intriguing image of a cosmic accident victim — a large galaxy that was …

August 2, 2022
Jupiter in the Infrared showing its rings

Soon after the scientists working with the Webb telescope released their gorgeous images for public consumption, they also started making available …

July 26, 2022
Death-shroud Nebula

The James Webb Space Telescope reveals two stars at the center of a nebula that is a kind of death shroud around them.

July 18, 2022
Five galaxies in infrared light

We are looking at a brand new picture of five galaxies (islands of billions of stars), four of which actually hang …

July 15, 2022
A star nursery in the constellation of Carina

Among the new James Webb Space Telescope images just released is this stunning view of a region where new stars and …

July 13, 2022
The first James Webb Space Telescope image

NASA has released the first image from the Webb Telescope and Einstein would be very pleased. The image shows a dense …

July 11, 2022

Recently, I was a guest on the Forum talk show on the San Francisco Bay Area public radio station, KQED, and …

July 7, 2022
A new Hubble image of a giant cluster of stars

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a wonderful new image of a huge cluster of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. …

June 4, 2022

Some specialists in comet and meteor science are predicting that we COULD have a new, never-before-seen meteor shower on the night …

May 27, 2022

An international team of astronomers, working in the collaboration known as the Event Horizon Telescope, has announced the first image of …

May 12, 2022

On Sunday evening, May 15th, there will be a very nice total eclipse of the Moon visible from the U.S. (and …

May 1, 2022

I am tickled to report that one of my science-fiction short stories, about using a black hole to escape the pain …

April 20, 2022

NASA announced this week that their archive of confirmed “exoplanets” — planets going around stars other than the Sun — now …

March 31, 2022

February 18 was the anniversary of the discovery of Pluto (in 1930), and thanks to the efforts of the outreach staff …

February 19, 2022

Astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments, announced today that they had seen something never before observed in a …

January 14, 2022

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to many astronomers the space observatory of the next decade. I am happy to report …

December 28, 2021
A lunar eclipse in 2014

1. What Is Happening?             On Thursday evening Nov. 18 and Friday morning Nov. 19, an almost total eclipse of the …

October 27, 2021
The Pleiades by David Lane

Explore the Universe in a Fun, Non-credit Class On-line for People Over 50 Come explore such cosmic sights as: NASA’s new …

September 14, 2021

This Wednesday evening and Thursday morning (Aug. 11-12), there will be one of the better meteor showers of the year for …

August 6, 2021

I am happy to report that “Flash Fiction” magazine in England today published my very short, astrobiology-theme story “I Swallowed a …

July 24, 2021

  There will be a nice and conveniently timed total lunar eclipse (where the Moon goes dark) during the evening of …

January 3, 2019

NASA’s InSight lander on Mars has sent back its first “selfie” — a great mosaic of 11 images, taken by the …

December 20, 2018
lunar eclipse, eclipse of the Moon,

On Wednesday morning, January 31, residents of North America (and particularly those on the west coast) will experience a rare triple event: …

January 26, 2018
Full Moon, Lick Observatory

     By a cosmic coincidence, the first day of 2018 will have a nice full Moon in the evening. And …

December 30, 2017

Astronomers around the world have been observing a small but fast object that gives every indication of coming from some other star …

December 6, 2017
Andrew Fraknoi, Author at Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources