On August 15, 1977, Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope detected a strong narrowband signal. Upon reviewing the results, Astronomer Jerry R. Ehman wrote, “Wow!” and circled “6EQUJ5” on the printout. The letters indicated intensity, with the “U indicating an intensity 30 standard deviations above background noise. The observatory’s director subsequently described the signal … Read more
Update: This morning’s scheduled launch of Polaris Dawn was scrubbed due to a ground-side helium leak and has been rescheduled for 3:38 AM on August 28th. Polaris Dawn will launch on Tuesday no earlier than 3:38 AM EDT. There is a four-hour launch window and an additional launch window the following day. Despite launching from … Read more
I grew up when Pluto was a planet. But, as you no doubt know, 18 years ago, on August 24, 2006, poor Pluto was downgraded from a regular ol’ planet planet to a dwarf planet. KCRA explains that: the International Astronomical Union voted to strictly define a planet, which ultimately downgraded Pluto from the ninth planet from the sun … Read more
As we have covered previously, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are on day 77 of a planned ten-day mission to the International Space Station. The Starliner launch was given the go-ahead despite a helium leak. The leak was discovered while addressing a different failure that had caused a previous launch to be scrubbed. Starliner … Read more