#astronomical phenomena

[lionofchaeronea]

Woodcut depicting the Great Comet of 1744, aka Chéseaux's Comet or Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux, as seen from Lausanne, Switzerland. Illustration by an unknown artist for The World of Comets, by Amédée Guillemin (author) and James Glaisher (translator), published in London in 1877.

[archivist-crow]

On this day:

MOON COLLISION: THE CANTERBURY EVENT

On the night of June 18, 1178, in Canterbury, England, five monks witnessed an astronomical marvel. It was the Sunday before the feast of St. John the Baptist when the small group, sitting outside watching the skies, saw the upper horn of an east-facing crescent moon seem to split in two. From the split erupted a blaze, which shot out sparks, hot coals, and fire into the atmosphere around the heavenly body. The eyewitnesses saw the moon begin to "throb like a wounded snake" before resuming its normal appearance. The throbbing and shaking of the moon in its orbit happened over a dozen times, the flames "assuming various twisting shapes at random and then returning to normal. Then after these transformations the moon, from horn to horn, that is along its whole length, took on a blackish appearance."

The men reported the event, giving oaths on their honor, of its truth, to Gervase of Canterbury, the famous medieval chronicler. Gervase recorded the collision in his famous illuminated manuscript the Chronicle of Gervase, which documented astronomical phenomena, as well as the ongoing affairs of state and church.

Eight hundred years later, space scientist Dr. Jack Hartung, of the State University of New York, was also impressed with the monks' testimony. Chancing upon a scientific book that referenced Gervase's report of the event, Hartung worked out the impact point and approximate size of a crater created by such a collision. Giordano Bruno, a fifteen-kilometer (9.3-mile) crater on the moon, fits his calculations.

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

[planetariumhub]

Unveiling the Cosmic Remnant: Exploring the Crab Nebula (M1)

Credits: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University) Among the fascinating remnants of stellar explosions, the Crab Nebula, also known as Messier 1 (M1), stands as a testament to the immense forces that shape our universe. Located in the constellation Taurus, this celestial spectacle has captivated astronomers and enthusiasts alike for centuries. In this article, we embark on a…

[tmarshconnors]

Alone in space, I drift amidst an ocean of stars, a solitary voyager in the cosmos. The vast emptiness surrounds me, a silent symphony of solitude. With each passing moment, the weight of isolation presses upon my heart. In this boundless expanse, I yearn for the familiar comforts of Earth, for the laughter and warmth of companionship. Memories of loved ones dance like distant constellations, distant and unattainable. Yet, as I gaze upon the universe's grandeur, a realization dawns—the majesty of the unknown, the uncharted frontiers. My journey may be solitary, but it is a privilege to witness the universe's secrets, alone but not without purpose.

[stone-cold-groove]

Our moon’s violent past.

[thewitfire]

The Dance of Celestial Lights: Astronomical Phenomena

The Dance of Celestial Lights: Astronomical Phenomena. #CelestialLights #AstronomicalPhenomena #spacenews #news #sciencenews

The Northern Lights: A Symphony of Natural Brilliance The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are a celestial ballet of light dancing across the night sky, primarily seen in the high latitude regions around the Arctic and Antarctic. This spectacular natural phenomenon is a result of collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the Earth’s atmosphere. These…

[conjcosby]

Stardate: 2024.4.8 ▫ Happy Eclipse Day everyone, I personally won't be seeing it but my spirit is there. ☀🌙 #Sun #TheSun #Moon #TheMoon #Eclipse #SolarEclipse #SolarEclipse2024 #HappySolarEclipse #HappyEclipseDay #EclipseDay #AstronomicalEvent #AstronomicalPhenoma #Sky #Sunset #Dawn #Nature #Tranquility #Reflection #PicOfTheDay #PictureOfTheDay #PhotoOfTheDay #PostOfTheDay #POTD

[theblackknightofworcestershire]

Cannot BELIEVE I got to see the Northern Lights!!! In Missouri!!!! Insane!

I've never ever seen it before, it was INCREDIBLE, it covered the whole sky with pink and green, it was so bright at the height of it looked like twilight!

[dromaeo-sauridae]

If you'd like some promethea q's, I am curious abt how the ppl in promethea interpret eclipses (as in they think the gods themselves are peering down at them or is it just considered a cool but unknown spectacle. or even common spectacular depending on how often it happens, if that makes sense)

I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT… (not inspired by a recent event definitely)

so with promethea its kind of weird? cuz of the whole deal with ouranos + double suns + double moons so i think full eclipses would be WAY rarer than on earth, maybe an eclipse with 1 sun + 1 moon would be about as common as on earth? but a double eclipse would be super rare.

also for the people who live under the shadow of ouranos, they deal with the affect of eclipses for extended periods of time every single day and would probably be less likely to freak out or think the world was ending? or maybe they would still because its not happening at the time theyre used to.

ok jfc i need to focus on *promethea* not all of cassandra. for the prometheans they have kind of a… idk what the word would be, like a cultural memory of what happened during cinder’s imprisonment (which included the suns going out) so it would probably be associated with very bad things happening, as for explicitly what people would do *during* an eclipse i dont have the bandwidth to fully flesh that out rn, but regardless of what part of promethea ur from, one or both of the suns going out is definitely terrifying

[tophatandboots]

Pretty sure if I'd stayed up all night I wouldn't have noticed a glass of essentially wine across an hour

But apparently waking up at 4am makes it land like a sledgehammer

Have fun everyone, I'm going to eat some cheese and then go back to bed.

[newtsoftheworldunite]

Peer review of @mooncustafer's tag:

#it's here on a student co-op program

After all this is presumably within @mooncustafer's area of expertise.

i’m so glad earth only has one moon, if there were more i’d have to pick a favorite and that sounds too emotionally taxing to even fathom

[planetariumhub]

The Majestic Eagle Nebula (M16): Unveiling the Stellar Sculptor

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) In the depths of the cosmos lies a breathtaking celestial masterpiece known as the Eagle Nebula, or Messier 16 (M16). Located in the constellation Serpens, this nebula has captivated astronomers and stargazers with its stunning beauty and unique features. In this article, we will embark on a journey to explore the enigmatic Eagle…

[tmarshconnors]

Alone in space

Alone in space, I drift amidst an ocean of stars, a solitary voyager in the cosmos. The vast emptiness surrounds me, a silent symphony of solitude. With each passing moment, the weight of isolation presses upon my heart. In this boundless expanse, I yearn for the familiar comforts of Earth, for the laughter and warmth of companionship. Memories of loved ones dance like distant constellations, distant and unattainable. Yet, as I gaze upon the universe's grandeur, a realization dawns—the majesty of the unknown, the uncharted frontiers. My journey may be solitary, but it is a privilege to witness the universe's secrets, alone but not without purpose.

[tinyredlawyer]

If only Clay were here to see this...

[vague-flirting]

October is going to be super spooky and fun!! Here are a couple great resources to learn more about the (very) partial lunar eclipse on October 28th: EclipseWise.com, EarthSky 🌑🍂🎃