Record breaker! Milky Way's most monstrous stellar-mass black hole is sleeping giant lurking close to Earth (Video)

 Hey, Space Placers!

Get all the information on this exciting discovery.

There will be more black holes found, that is for sure!

Sky Guy in VA

FREE EBOOK FROM NASA ON THE "DARK UNIVERSE"

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As described by NASA:

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new downloadable e-book in the Hubble Focus series, called “Hubble Focus: The Dark Universe.” This e-book highlights the mission’s recent discoveries about two mysterious components of our universe, known as dark energy — an unexplained cosmic pressure that’s speeding up the universe’s expansion — and dark matter, an invisible substance detectable only by seeing how it gravitationally influences visible matter.

A highly enjoyable and informative read!

Sky Guy in VA

New Horizons finds evidence for 2nd Kuiper Belt

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Only 5 earthly spacecraft are headed out of solar system, into interstellar space. These are the Pioneers 10 and 11, Voaygers 1 and 2, and New Horizons. This image shows their approximate trajectories. Image (not to scale!) via NASA/ Johns Hopkins APL/ SwRI.

• The New Horizons spacecraft, launched in 2006, achieved historic flybys of Pluto in 2015 and Arrokoth in 2019, making it the fastest spacecraft ever sent from Earth.
• Chief scientist Alan Stern here provides an update, highlighting unexpected discoveries of dust impacts, an extended Kuiper Belt or even a second one, and outlines plans for future exploration.
• Its long-term mission goals include reaching the heliosphere’s termination shock and venturing into interstellar space, using its modern instrumentation to complement the findings of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft.

Read more about this exciting story from the far reaches of our KNOWN solar system. New Horizons is probing the distant unknown and can continue to do so for decades.

Sky Guy in VA

NASA VIEW OF THE SOLAR ECLIPSE

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The Moon's shadow, or umbra, is pictured covering portions of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the American state of Maine in this photograph from the International Space Station as it soared into the solar eclipse from 261 miles above. NASA

Back in VA after 12 days and almost 5K miles.

Here is the link to see what NASA saw across the country on April 8th, 2024.

Next two total solar eclipses are in '26 and '27. I plan to be at sea for both.

Sky Guy in VA

CLOUDS BUST TOTALITY IN THE SKY

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Did you see the solar eclipse today?

Click link for pics

185 moon shadow chasers Camp Riverview converged in this enchanting western section of Texas next to the Frio River to see 4 minutes 27 seconds of totality. Alas, we saw the moon gobbling up the sun during breaks in the clouds - known as sucker holes - but did not see totality in the sky. We DID see the moon's shadow turn off the daylight in a big way as the temp dropped and the birds went silent.

FIrst Bite

The moon starts to swallow up the sun.

Bye Bye Sunspot

A large sunspot is about to be covered by the moon.

Night Night

A Butterfly Under the Moon's Shadow.

Seconds From Totality

Sun almost covered by the moon.

Lights Out

Totality's darkness is evident with Venus in the center of the picture.

Daylight's Back

Totality has ended and the sun returns. 

Sky Guy in TX

BIG DAY TOMORROW - SOLAR ECLIPSE ACROSS THE U.S., MEXICO, CANADA

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Will Millions See Comet Pons-Brooks During Totality?

The Comet is the fuzzy ball in the center

iPhone Camp Riverview, TX

Greg Redfern

Made it to Cancan, TX as have clouds.

Check the links to get the very latest on the eclipse:

https://wtop.com/

https://eclipse.aas.org/

WISHING CLEAR SKIES FOR MILLIONS!

BE SOLAR SAFE!

Sky Guy in TX

April 8 solar eclipse maps are wrong along the edges

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Greetings from Yukon, Oklahoma! Enroute to Albuquerque, NM today.

Yesterday at a Visitor's Center in Arkansas they has eclipse information as Little Rock which is near the location, is in the path of totality, The very nice ladies in the Center said they were going to be at 98%.

They were kind enough to give me two of their state issued eclipse glasses!

Speaking of eclipse, be sure to read this story about how eclipse maps need modifying for the very edges in some place along the path of totality. This is due to a new value for the diameter of the Sun.

On a very somber note I visited the site of the Alfre P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, where 168 innocent people were killed by a domestic terrorist bomb April 19, 1995. It is a quiet, sacred place and shows what hate does and the healing power of love and remembrance.

Sky Guy in OK