Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
So you're carrying a ball of anti-matter across Engineering, and you trip. What happens?

I mean *before* the catastrophic explosion that vaporizes you and everything around you.

Does the anti-matter ball fall down... or up?

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:55 AM - Sep 28, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
1
2
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
There will come a day when I don't have to debunk astrology AGAIN but that day will never come so, like astrology, this post has no premise.

https://badastronomy.subst...
11:06 AM - Sep 26, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Yesterday, pieces of an alien object from space came to Earth, landing in the Utah desert... and scientists are thrilled.

After all, it's not every day we get pristine pieces of an asteroid for us to study!

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:05 AM - Sep 25, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
4
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Tonight is the equinox! But I bet it doesn't mean what you think it means!

Let me equisplain.

https://www.scientificamer...
09:24 AM - Sep 22, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
4
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Can you guess what these are?

(Hint: They're stars!)

Yes, seriously. This is a super cool bit of astrophotography — find out all about it at (you guessd it) my newsletter:

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:46 AM - Sep 21, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
0
2
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
At some point, not long after the Universe itself was born, the very first stars ignited and lit up the cosmos.

We may now have indirect evidence of their existence.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:08 AM - Sep 19, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
7
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Some personal stuff today, plus a pretty cool pic of finding an Indian spacecraft needle in a gigantic lunar regolith haystack.

Also: Damn, but I hate anti-science conspiracy crap.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:36 AM - Sep 18, 2023
Avatar
0
1
1
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Did you know that human-made satellites are actually pretty easy to spot in the sky?

https://www.scientificamer...
11:31 AM - Sep 15, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
4
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Newly posted OpEd for sciam.bsky.social, in which I am angrily disgusted at Apollo Moon landing deniers, and how they play into the greater conspiracy theorist mindset destroying our country.

https://www.scientificamer...
11:56 AM - Sep 14, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
14
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Quite a bit going on here:

The Lucy space mission sees its first asteroid target!

I'm doing a live NASA panel next week about the upcoming eclipses!

And I'm home. Finally.

The scewp:

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:00 AM - Sep 14, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
8
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
I am so, so, SO done with Twitter.

https://badastronomy.subst...
09:16 AM - Sep 12, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
5
13
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
I do so love a mind-melting cosmic photo of galaxies just mercilessly whacking into each other and creating fantastic structures.

And hoo boy do I have one for you today.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:12 AM - Sep 11, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
6
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites, oh my!

https://www.scientificamer...
09:47 AM - Sep 08, 2023
0
0
0
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Paid subbies to me newsletter get another moving update and how wet it is here, as well as a news roundup and a weird video about…otamatones.

https://badastronomy.subst...
09:56 AM - Sep 07, 2023
0
0
0
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Oh YEAH you wanna look at this MIND-BLOWING JWST pic of a fantastic SPIRAL GALAXY or else I will RANDOMLY CAPITALIZE words some more

https://badastronomy.subst...
11:04 AM - Sep 05, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
18
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
JWST looked at the closest supernova in 400 years and what it saw was... weird. Like, *really* weird.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:21 AM - Sep 04, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
3
7
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Hey! What color is the Sun?

I bet you just pictured it as yellow in your head. But guess what.

https://www.scientificamer...
10:20 AM - Sep 01, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
5
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Paid subbies to my newsletter can learn about how long asteroids usually last on the "potentially hazardous" list. It's an antidote to the execrable doomcriers who write clickbait crap whenever a near-Earth asteroid is discovered.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:25 AM - Aug 31, 2023
0
0
0
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
You can watch actual video using real images of an alien planet orbiting its host star 630 trillion km from Earth!

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:28 AM - Aug 29, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
2
10
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
A new comet might - *might* - be a showstopper in a few weeks. Read all about it here!

https://badastronomy.subst...
11:11 AM - Aug 28, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
5
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Red vs. Blue: Ever wondered why stars are different colors?

SCIENCE!

Well, that and temperature. Here, let me 'splain:

https://www.scientificamer...

[may require signup at SciAm but it's free!]
10:36 AM - Aug 25, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
9
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
This is really weird: Despite being 4.5 *billion* km from the Sun, Neptune's clouds wax and wane with the solar magnetic cycle!

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:17 AM - Aug 22, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
4
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Come hear me talk about Saturn in Boulder this weekend!

And in the meantime, feast your brain on this extremely cool pic of a galaxy getting twisted into taffy by an interloper.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:14 AM - Aug 21, 2023
Avatar
0
0
1
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
OH NOES

MERCURY IS IN RETROGRADE NEXT WEEK!!!

What does this mean for you?

(hint: nothing)

https://www.scientificamer...

☿ 🔄
10:27 AM - Aug 18, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
5
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
" Recalculating. Stay on Lunar highway 47 for 6 kilometers, then take a slight left at Clavius crater. Your destination will be on the right."

https://badastronomy.subst...
09:50 AM - Aug 17, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
All natural disasters are personal.

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:07 AM - Aug 15, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
I just checked a graph that shows the Perseids rate over time, and even tonight there should be a decent showing, maybe 20 per hour. If you want to go for them and have clear skies try getting up before dawn (around 3ish) to look.
08:58 PM - Aug 14, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
5
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
Self promo time: A reminder that the 25% off sale on subscriptions to my newsletter ends tonight! Sign up now for more astronomy and science and opinions and sometimes stories and jokes!

https://badastronomy.subst...
12:03 PM - Aug 14, 2023
0
0
0
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
This gawt-dayum *amazing* JWST image of the iconic Ring Nebula is leaving me with more questions than answers. That's how you know it's SCIENCE

https://badastronomy.subst...
10:58 AM - Aug 14, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
14
Philip Plait
@PhilPlait
A
The Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend! Here's what you need to know to watch (and understand!) this terrific and fun celestial event:

https://www.scientificamer...
12:19 PM - Aug 11, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
2
14
loading...