"Because Alpha Centauri is so close, it's our first stop outside our solar system. There are almost certain to be small, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri A and B."
This rover has been exploring Mars for 14 years. It and its solar panels recently survived winter darkness and are now facing a possible planet-wide dust storm in 2018.
Our lunar calendar shows the moon phase for each day of the coming year. Also ... check out the new colors and designs of our EarthSky Cares Tees. A percentage of proceeds collected will be donated to select organizations.
This is an analemma. It's a way of depicting the height of the sun's path across our skies throughout the year, and it also tells us the difference in time as measured by the clock and the sun. As it turns out, in December, a day - a whole cycle of day and night, for the entire globe - is about half a minute longer than the average 24 hours.
Green flashes are best seen over ocean horizons like this one, and, this time, the California wildfires did something helpful. December 13 photo by Chris Mannerino in San Diego.
