Of the grand order of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales regularly hunted by man. To the Nantucketer, they present the two extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. As the external difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; and as a head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod's side.
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Exploring the Universe
with Andrew Fraknoi
We review what's coming in the sky and in space exploration for 2026
January 10, 2026
Dec. 21 is the winter solstice. We explain what this means and how the seasons come about.
December 18, 2025
I am teaching a new Zoom course on the mysterious world of the atom, with lots of visuals and no math. It’s a six-week class for retired people: Join me for a richly illustrated tour of the atomic world that lies beneath our everyday conception of reality. Using historical anecdotes, analogies from everyday life, thought experiments, and touches of humor, we’ll explore atomic theory from the Greeks to today, and …
September 20, 2025
For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may be of interest. There is a good discount if you register before Aug. 10. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific Presents: Eyes on the Cosmos: Cutting Edge Instruments and Ideas in Astronomy On Zoom, August 21, 2025 A non-technical symposium for astronomy educators, astronomy enthusiasts, and students at all levels. We …
August 7, 2025
Astronomers unveiled first pictures from the amazing Rubin Observatory, which is getting ready to take the deepest, widest movie of the entire sky.
June 24, 2025
Friday is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. We explain why.
June 16, 2025
View this email in your browser A Change of Pace from Astronomy News As you may know, I have been writing science-fiction stories based on good astronomy as my retirement project. After a good number of rejections from the finest sci-fi magazines the world over, I am now finding some success. My ninth and tenth stories were published, by coincidence, in the same month, and I wanted to give you …
June 1, 2025
An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small moons orbiting the planet Saturn. That brings the total number of moons known around the ringed planet to 274, breaking all planetary records. Jupiter, the runner-up, has “only” 95 moons; our planet Earth has one. Moons are more common around the worlds in our solar system than anyone previously thought — as of this spring, we …
April 8, 2025
There will be a total eclipse of the Moon visible in the Americas the night of March 13-14
February 13, 2025
On January 1, 1925, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, astronomer Henry N. Russell read a paper contributed by a young astronomer named Edwin Hubble. In this paper, Hubble announces that he has been able, for the first time, to measure the distance to some spiral-shaped “nebulae” (nebulae were fuzzy things in the sky — their nature was an unsettled question, as was their location.) …
December 29, 2024
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