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
Friday, May 10, there was a lot of discussion on the news, on social media, and on different web sites about storms on the Sun that are unleashing great outbursts of radiation and particles, some of them toward Earth. The fact that we are seeing such “space weather” now certainly makes sense, given that the Sun has an 11-year cycle of greater and lesser activity, with the current maximum …
May 10, 2024
This time I am posting something a bit personal. I am the lead author of a free book that is part of a nonprofit experiment to help students with the costs of college. Here is the news from our publisher: OpenStax, the open textbook publisher based at Rice University, is pleased to announce that its free, openly-licensed introductory textbook, Astronomy 2e, has now been used by more than 1.1 million students. …
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
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 first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular.
November 8, 2023
Saturday Oct. 14 North America will be treated to an eclipse of the Sun.
October 7, 2023
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
Explains a new movie of distant galaxies and remote time from the Webb Telescope.
July 18, 2023
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