Who could forget this image? It's the first direct image of a black hole, in the galaxy M87, released in April 2019. This long-sought image provided the strongest evidence to date for the existence of supermassive black holes and opened a new window onto the study of black holes, their event horizons, and gravity. Image via Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. Read more.
We hope your last few days of 2019 are wonderful! We'll be back in your inbox on a daily basis in early January. Happy New Year!
From the first landing on the moon's far side to the first direct image of a black hole, here’s a quick roundup of stories our readers enjoyed most in 2019. Read more.
The Dog Star Sirius - brightest star in the night sky - reaches its highest point in the sky around midnight every New Year's Eve. For this reason, it might also be called the New Year's star. Read more.
The illuminated part of a crescent moon points to the sun. To find the point on the horizon where the sun went down, draw a straight line from one horn of a crescent moon to the other. Then from the middle of that line, between the horns, draw a 2nd straight line perpendicular to the 1st and extend it toward the horizon. Doing this each time you see a crescent moon will help you understand moon phases. And it'll add to your perception of yourself as a person standing on a world in space. Read more.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Wait, what? Aren't the moon and Venus evening objects now? It's true most of us will see them in the west after sunset. But Dr Ski in the Philippines caught the pair on Sunday morning, in a daytime sky, east of the sun. See Venus? It's in the upper left of the photo. Dr. Ski wrote: "The daytime moon and Venus 3 hours after conjunction. The waxing crescent is now east of the planet. I tried many different exposure values to get the right contrast with the bright sky. This was the only image where clouds appeared ... BTW, it's a challenge, but you can see Venus in the daytime with the unaided eye." Thank you, Dr Ski! To see many glorious images of last night's close pairing of the moon and Venus, go to EarthSky Community Photos.
