Science

How to watch glowing fireballs in Bay Area skies this week

How to watch glowing fireballs in Bay Area skies this week

By chance, Wednesday’s new moon leaves California skies completely dark, setting the stage for one of the best sky shows of the year. If the weather cooperates, astronomers recommend staying up all night: The Perseid meteor shower peaks this week from the evening of Wednesday, August 12 to the early morning of Thursday, August 13. … Read more

The stunning fireball Perseid meteor shower twinning with the solar eclipse

The stunning fireball Perseid meteor shower twinning with the solar eclipse

Sign up for our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our free IndyTech newsletter. Subscribe to our free IndyTech newsletter. The spectacular Perseid summer light show is back, and it might be better than ever. The stunning meteor shower will peak Wednesday night into Thursday morning and coincides with a … Read more

In 1859, a solar storm now called the Carrington Event induced currents so strong in North American telegraph lines that operators disconnected their batteries and kept sending messages on the geomagnetic current alone, while auroras lit up the sky over Cuba and Hawaii

In 1859, a solar storm now called the Carrington Event induced currents so strong in North American telegraph lines that operators disconnected their batteries and kept sending messages on the geomagnetic current alone, while auroras lit up the sky over Cuba and Hawaii

En la mañana del 2 de septiembre de 1859, los operadores de telégrafos a lo largo de la línea de Boston a Portland desconectaron sus baterías, observaron cómo se apagaban los terminales cubiertos de ácido y continuaron enviando mensajes de todos modos. Los cables llevaban una corriente que el cielo empujaba a través de ellos. … Read more

Total solar eclipse Aug. 12, 2026 live updates — 1 day until totality

Total solar eclipse Aug. 12, 2026 live updates — 1 day until totality

2026-08-11T08:10:01.994Z Tomorrow is the day! Are you ready? After years of anticipation, the wait is almost over. Tomorrow, the moon’s shadow will cover the Earth, causing a total solar eclipse in parts of Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain. But you don’t have to be in the path of totality to enjoy the event. Millions more … Read more

The stripes on Perseverance’s parachute were mostly there so engineers could see how the canopy was oriented, but the pattern also hid a message in binary, and the internet decoded it within hours of the landing — a motto, and a set of coordinates pointing at a spot on Earth

The stripes on Perseverance's parachute were mostly there so engineers could see how the canopy was oriented, but the pattern also hid a message in binary, and the internet decoded it within hours of the landing — a motto, and a set of coordinates pointing at a spot on Earth

A parachute about 70 feet wide has to open faster than the speed of sound in the thin air of Mars. When the first images appear, you will need to quickly answer a simple question: is the canopy positioned as it should or is it crooked? A white parachute is much less useful for that. … Read more

Perseid meteor shower: California astronomer on best peak viewing time

Perseid meteor shower: California astronomer on best peak viewing time

The Perseid meteor shower streaks across the Bay Area sky in August 2020, as seen from the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. The annual summer extravaganza will peak Wednesday night through Thursday. Courtesy of Rick Taft A dazzling summer meteor shower will peak on a moonless night this week, lighting up the night … Read more

In 2017, a young woman glanced at a solar eclipse for only a handful of seconds, and days later doctors found the exact shape of the eclipse burned into the back of her eye. What she began drawing to describe her ruined vision matched that shape almost perfectly.

In 2017, a young woman glanced at a solar eclipse for only a handful of seconds, and days later doctors found the exact shape of the eclipse burned into the back of her eye. What she began drawing to describe her ruined vision matched that shape almost perfectly.

The eclipse of August 21, 2017 was, in the specific sense that interests astronomers, a normal eclipse. It was complete in a narrow strip of the continental United States, from Oregon to South Carolina, and partial in the rest of the country. However, public interest in him was extraordinary. Tens of millions of people bought … Read more

Australian researchers fitted five magpies with GPS trackers to map their movements, but the birds began removing one another’s harnesses within minutes, turning a failed trial into an unexpected observation of cooperation

Australian researchers fitted five magpies with GPS trackers to map their movements, but the birds began removing one another’s harnesses within minutes, turning a failed trial into an unexpected observation of cooperation

Queensland researchers equipped five Australian magpies with small GPS trackers, hoping to map their movements and social relationships. The flock had other plans. Within about ten minutes, an untagged adult female was using her beak to work the harness of a juvenile. The tracker went off. Nearby, another magpie was helping a second bird marked … Read more