Tag: supernova

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Free Astronomy Magazine – May-June 2023 Issue Available For Reading And Download

Above: Domaine du Météore ("Meteor Domain" Winery) in the department (a term used here to define a governmental region) of Hérault in the south of France, the bucolic post-aftermath of what is believed to be one of a number of impact craters in the region. Photo by Frank Brenker, Goethe University Frankfurt.

The most recent issue of Free Astronomy Magazine (May-June 2023) is available for your reading and downloading pleasure at www.astropublishing.com (and facebook).

This issue features a tale of astronomical history (and maybe resolution with recent scientific work) that you can experience for yourself beyond simply taking the photons in (a rarity in astronomy). Discussing what is quite arguably an impact crater put to excellent, excellent use in France, one take-away from this cover story about Le Clot Crater is the reminder of how weather and plate tectonics work to slowly but surely reshape Earth's surface (check out the moon in binoculars for the alternative). This discovery of a more recent impact and its current use are both nice catches (both by the Earth and by the scientists who recognized the oddity of the topography and geology of the area).

Besides the usual excellent original work by our leader Michele Ferrara, this issue is a clear indicator (at least, to the tastes of Michele in selecting content to feature and present) of the way in which the James Webb Space Telescope has made a massive impression (no pun intended) on the work other organizations are writing up and highlighting for public consumption. Much, much more featuring to follow (how does one keep track of all this stuff?!).

Browser-readable version (and PDF download): www.astropublishing.com/3FAM2023/

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Free Astronomy Magazine – July-August 2020 Issue Available For Reading And Download

Above: Featured background from the article "A supernova or Sagittarius – which should we thank?" A graphic reconstruction of our galaxy, made on the basis of NASA images, by Nick Risinger (and available in various sizes and formats from commons.wikimedia.org).

The most recent issue of Free Astronomy Magazine (July-August 2020) is available for your reading and downloading pleasure at www.astropublishing.com (click the link to go directly to the issue).

July-August 2020 includes a selected survey of astronomical content of local and cosmological interest from NASA/ESA, ESO, ALMA, as well as three feature articles from our fearless leader/editor Michele Ferrara. The feature articles in this issue discuss:

  1. "All the planets of Proxima Centauri" – the science for this article was quite literally being published as the article itself was being put together, about as fast a processing of journal-article-to-magazine as one can do while putting others together.
  2. "A supernova or Sagittarius – which should we thank?" – I've mentioned in many lectures that our own Sun is either the second or third stellar inhabitant in our vicinity, with a local supernova sparking the formation of it and our Solar System way back when. Recent studies indicate that other events 5-ish billion years ago might have instigated the events that lead to "us."
  3. "The principle of mediocrity and the habitability of galaxies" – lump this use of the word "mediocrity" with the scientific use of the word "theory," please. It is a joy to know that fundamental debates are being had in the astronomy and astrophysics literature and that there remains plenty, plenty yet to know for those pondering their futures in STEM.

For those wanting a quick look at what the issue has to offer, the Table of Contents is reproduced below.

The web browser-readable version: www.astropublishing.com/4FAM2020/

Jump right to the PDF download (15 MB): July-August 2020