Here's a still version of the new map of known exoplanets, or planets orbiting distant suns. It's 4,003 of the known exoplanets discovered as of 2019. Click in to see the video, which presents these exoplanets in sound and light, starting chronologically from the first confirmed detection in 1992. Image via NASA/APOD.
The video - just over a minute long - starts in 1991, when no exoplanets were known, and takes you to 4,003 exoplanets today. That's not the total number known today, by the way. According to the NASA Exoplanet Archive, in the weeks since this video was released, the current number has jumped to 4,031, and counting. Read more and watch.
In a comprehensive test of general relativity near the monstrous black hole at the center of our galaxy, UCLA astronomer Andrea Ghez and her team reported in the journal Science that Einstein’s theory holds up ... for now. Read more.
On August 4 to 6, the moon is a waxing crescent in the sunset direction. Look for it shortly after sunset as day fades to night. The moon will be below Spica - brightest light in the constellation Virgo the Maiden - on August 4, closest to it August 5 and above it August 6. Read more.
Robert Pettengill reports from the busy ACEAP (Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program) annual trip, happening now in Chile. Here's the group in front of the Blanco telescope on Cerro Tololo. Wish we all were there! Image via L. Sparks (NRAO/AUI/NSF). Read more.
