Exploding meteor ‘booms’ over Pennsylvania on New Year’s Day

Observations from GOES-16 shows a flash that was later determined came from an exploding meteor on Jan. 1, 2022. (Image credit: Twitter/NWSPittsburgh) A meteor hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere exploded over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on New Year’s Day (Jan. 1). Just before 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT) on Jan. 1, people in Pittsburgh heard what sounded like … Read more

James Webb Space Telescope team taking a rest day before sunshield tensioning begins

To celebrate the new year, consider taking a day to rest. That’s what the team managing the complicated process of deploying the James Webb Space Telescope are doing, taking Saturday (Jan. 1) off. Work will resume on Sunday (Jan. 2), according to an agency update. The pause comes after a long day on Friday (Dec. … Read more

The Convoluted History of The Modern Western Calendar

For something that’s meant to lend order to our lives, the modern Western calendar has a messy history. The mess, in part, comes about because of the difficulty of coordinating the orbits of celestial bodies with the cycles of day and night, and the passage of the seasons.   The year measured by the earth’s … Read more

Track Santa as he delivers gifts around the world on Christmas Day

Impatient children can pass time waiting for their Christmas presents by tracking Santa as he proceeds with his annual deliveries across the globe in a simulation by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). It has already become a tradition for NORAD, in cooperation with private companies Analytical Graphics (AGI) and Cesium, to follow Santa … Read more

SpaceX lofts Turkish communications satellite to orbit in 2nd Falcon 9 rocket launch of the day

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched its second rocket in less than 24 hours on Saturday night (Dec. 18), delivering a Turkish communications satellite into orbit before capping off the successful mission with a landing at sea.  A 230-foot-tall (70 meters) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 here at Cape Canaveral … Read more

Diabetes: Night-shift workers who eat only during the day may lower risk of type 2 diabetes

People who work overnight are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, but the risk may be reduced by eating only between 7am and 7pm Health 3 December 2021 By Clare Wilson A night-shift worker using a metal cutter on a subway line in Ankara, Turkey Mustafa Kamaci/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images People who work night shifts … Read more

Pictures from space! Our image of the day

Space can be a wondrous place, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it! Take a look at our favorite pictures from space here, and if you’re wondering what happened today in space history don’t miss our On This Day in Space video show here!  Space station crew poses for family portrait with Japanese space … Read more

On This Day in Space! Dec. 9, 2006: 1st Swedish astronaut launches to the space station

On Nov. 10, 2013, Europe’s GOCE satellite fell to Earth. GOCE is short for Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer. Its mission was to map Earth’s gravitational field. GOCE did this for four years. Then it ran out of fuel.   Controllers weren’t sure where GOCE would fall back to Earth or linger in … Read more