Dan Brandon
Author's posts
Mar 22
Hubble at 30: Three Decades of Cosmic Discovery
By: David Prosper The Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 30th birthday in orbit around Earth this month! It’s hard to believe how much this telescope has changed the face of astronomy in just three decades. It had a rough start — an 8-foot mirror just slightly out of focus in the most famous case of …
Jan 21
Betelgeuse and the Crab Nebula: Stellar Death and Rebirth
By: David Prosper What happens when a star dies? Stargazers are paying close attention to the red giant star Betelgeuse since it recently dimmed in brightness, causing speculation that it may soon end in a brilliant supernova. While it likely won’t explode quite yet, we can preview its fate by observing the nearby Crab Nebula. …
Nov 25
The Messenger Crosses the Sun: Mercury Transit 2019
By David Prosper Did you know that there are two other objects in our skies that have phases like the Moon? They’re the inner planets, found between Earth and the Sun: Mercury and Venus. You can see their phases if you observe them through a telescope. Like our Moon, you can’t see the planets in …
