After several years of off and on blogging, I’m still trying to figure out what to put in this blog. I tried to make it an astronomy news blog, and posted every day for about 2 years. This certainly improved my writing and forced me to think quickly when writing content, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I tried other content, but I found that I wasn’t passionate about non-astronomy things. It needs to be a space blog, but not a recycling of news and explaining concepts. In the past few years, posts have been few and far...
If you actually had the ability to see X-Rays, the world around you would look pretty boring. Actually it would be invisible, since nothing around you gives off X-rays. You might be able to see an imaging device if you live or work near a medical office, but that’s about it. If you looked at the night sky, you would see many interesting sources of X-Ray light, mostly from active black holes in our own galaxy and beyond. Recently a high-resolution scan of the Andromeda Galaxy revealed a plethora of sources, showing where black holes and neutron stars are feeding...
A couple of weeks ago, using the Subaru Telescope, astronomers from the Carnegie Institution for Science discovered the newest dwarf planet of our solar system, which may end up claiming the title for most distant dwarf planet. The object, which isn’t even confirmed as a dwarf planet yet, is called V774104. It resides a distance of 2-3 times that of Pluto, around 9 Billion Km. It is expected to be a little less than half of Pluto’s size, and it may have a highly eccentric orbit, bringing it closer to the Sun over it’s multi-century trip around the solar system. “That’s...
Let me start by saying I despise the term ‘Supermoon.’ So much so that I refuse to use it throughout the rest of this article. The sad reality is that the term draws a crowd. It aggrandizes the event to the point where people who normally wouldn’t take notice are paying attention, which ultimately is a good thing, as long as they learn the science that goes along with it. So here I am to teach the science, and show that the Lunar Eclipse visible across Canada this Sunday evening will be a gorgeous event to watch and participate in, especially with the increased brightness of the...
Over the next week or so I’ll be posting highlights of my summer trip to Canada’s maritime provinces with my girlfriend Kate. We had a blast, and love to have adventures and experiences in new places. This is our story of the things we did and what we thought of them. Today was day 2, which involved a long drive mixed with sightseeing and sunshine. Day 2: The Sun greeted us in the morning, and we had a lovely breakfast next to the coldest air conditioner ever, seriously I could see my breath, it was glorious. Some other travelers enjoyed...
Astronomy is a science that is always associated with the sky, and rightly so. But since the beginning of modern science there have been discoveries made on Earth that teach us about the formation and evolution of the Universe. As telescopes become more powerful and allow us to look deeper into space, the technology to simulate outer-space conditions here on Earth has grown significantly. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a powerful tool called the Z machine generates quick high-energy pulses of electricity, which can be used to generate X-rays and Gamma rays to be used in experiments. Outside of astronomy, the...
Fitting it should fall on a Monday – so we should call this a motivation Monday post. This won’t be about me per se. I’m not going to spend two hours writing about my life, expecting you to read every minute detail and be captivated. The truth is, even though its been interesting and even hilarious at times, I haven’t really lived a life that’s any more captivating than anyone else’s. I’ve had fun, and I’ve taken risks, and I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve loved and lost time and time again. Even though every single person can say the same,...
A set of questions I get from kids and adults alike while doing my Astronomy in Action planetarium shows consists of the following: Does the Universe have an end? How big is the Universe? Where is the center of the Universe? What is the ‘Observable Universe?’ How is it different from just saying ‘the Universe?’ First of all, let me say that it is really hard to imagine the Universe as it is, even with a solid understanding of large-scale Physics. This is because there is no analogy in our lives, no reference point in our everyday experience. It’s very...
When a large meteorite collides with the Earth, it can be travelling upwards of 40 Kilometres per second. This collision releases a huge amount of energy, which can vaporize rocks and create interesting and unique geological structures. For decades, scientists have been debating the existence of a rare type of crystal called Lonsdaleite, which is associated with impacts. Strange small crystals were discovered in Arizona in the 1950s around an ancient impact crater called ‘Canyon Diablo.’ It led some scientists to believe that the mineral had mechanical properties similar to diamond, but that it was structurally superior. If it existed in a pure form...
As the Canadian Winter approaches and our country goes into collective hibernation, we start to remind the world how cold it gets here, and that the tourist season is in July. Still, we Canadians are proud of our hardiness and we will welcome you with open arms if you decide to visit in January. Still, if you look at a population map of Canada, we mostly live in the southern 10% of our country’s latitudes. There are thousands of square kilometres of open wilderness to explore. We want to be warm, but we also love our home country. Many Canadians...
