Why did NASA and MIT send a copy of the 500 year old Mona Lisa into space? And how can a renaissance painting and a 1960's mathematical theorem help in space communications?
When the Lunar eclipse takes place on Saturday the Moon will appear super-sized and blood red, according to NASA. But you will have to get up early to see it in the US.
NASA has released some of the most detailed images of the Apollo Moon landing sites ever recorded. The image show everything from debris left behind by Apollo astronauts to boot tracks.
The last lunar eclipse viewable in Ireland for another four years occurred earlier tonight. The spectacle lasted for about two hours in total. The Sociable's Darren McCarra captured some of these shots of the 2011 total lunar eclipse from Sliabh Beagh in north Monaghan.
Google has begun live streaming today’s Lunar Eclipse live on its YouTube channel. The search giant has joined with SLOOH, a company that specialises in streaming live space events, to provide a live view with astronomer’s commentary.
The longest total lunar eclipse since 2000 will begin to occur this evening and last until midnight, providing stargazers a rare opportunity to catch this prolonged wonderful spectacle. The eclipse begins at 6.24pm (IST) this evening, although it will not be properly visible until sunset at around 9.55pm tonight, at which stage the moon will turn blood red in colour.
YouTube is celebrating 50 years of manned space flight by premiering a feature length film which recreates Yury Gagarin’s first orbit in outer space. The film combines original audio and video recordings of the flight with HD footage taken from the International Space Station. A new score was written epsessially for the piece by composer Philip Sheppard.
Last night’s full moon was the closest it has been to earth for almost twenty years, a mere 356,575 kilometres away. As a result, the moon appeared 14% bigger and 30% brighter than normal, granting photography enthusiasts around the world a rare opportunity to shoot the moon in such inviting circumstances.
Ireland and the UK will see their first solar eclipse of the new year on Tuesday (4th January). The partial eclipse will be visiable across the British Isles from 8:00am and will last until about 9:30am. At its peak the moon will obscure about 66% of the sun, although the amounts will vary depending on location. The eclipse will also be visible over much of Europe, North Africa and central Asia.
The BBC are broadcasting live over three consecutive nights of “extraordinary astronomical events” from across the UK and further afield. Professor Brian Cox (@profbriancox) and comedian Dara O’Briain (@daraobriain) host the live stargazing events that promise “epic images from observatories around the globe”.