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Awesome Astronomy

Riding on a Giant Radio Telescope

Riding on a Giant Radio Telescope

Tom Scott got to experience very special tour of Australia’s Parkes Radio Telescope. Not only did he get to see the technology behind the long-standing telescope, he was allowed to walk on its massive dish and take a ride on it as it tilted and changed angles. Because the dish is so enormous, Tom had a hard time keeping his bearings.

133 Days on the Sun

133 Days on the Sun

This incredible footage from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is about as we’re going to get to the Sun. The 59-minute time-lapse was stitched together from 133 days of extreme-ultraviolet imagery the probe captured of the Sun’s corona between August 12 and December 22, 2022.

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Asteroid Launcher

Asteroid Launcher

Feeling gloomy? Things could be worse. An asteroid could smash into your house. Neal.fun’s Asteroid Launcher simulates the approximate impact of an asteroid slamming into the Earth in a location of your choice. The website lets you select a type of asteroid and adjust its diameter, speed, and impact angle.

Cleaning + Recoating a Giant Telescope Mirror

Cleaning + Recoating a Giant Telescope Mirror

Geek out as a team of scientists remove the old coating and apply a new one to the mirror from the Air Force Research Lab’s huge Advanced Electro-Optical System telescope. The process must be performed from time to time to ensure the telescope remains functional in its job of tracking low-earth satellites and ballistic missiles.

Earth and Space Coloring Book

Earth and Space Coloring Book
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Want a real coloring challenge? Grab this book which features 35 amazing full-color images captured by NASA, side-by-side with coloring outlines based on the photos. Add a set of two-tone space colored pencils and you’ve got a great gift for any astronomy fan.

Laser-Cut Orrery

Laser-Cut Orrery
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Dreipunkt’s flat-pack wood kit lets you build your own orbital model of the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. As you move its lever, each astronomical body rotates relative to the others, as an arrow indicates the date on which they take up those positions. From Laserdeko, who has all kinds of nifty laser-cut stuff for sale.

Which Planet is Closest?

Which Planet is Closest?

We all learned the positions of the planets from some chart on the wall in grade school. But as CGP Grey reminds us, planets rotate in elliptical orbits at varying speeds around the sun, meaning that the answer isn’t quite as simple as you thought – depending on the question you’re actually asking.

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Analog Sky Space Binoculars

Analog Sky Space Binoculars

This kit lets you view the night sky not with one eye, but two, for sharper, brighter, and more comfortable stargazing. It can be ordered as plans only, optics and hardware only, as a BYO 3D printing kit, or a kit with pre-printed parts. In 2022, they’ll also open source the build plans. There’s also a large, assembled model, but it’s much pricier.

The Moon in 4K

The Moon in 4K

Using data captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA was able to replicate the view that Apollo 13 astronauts saw on the far side of the moon back in 1970, but in razor-sharp 4K resolution. There are a variety of views depicted, including the trajectory of the astronauts as they came around the moon.

The Moon is a Door to Forever

The Moon is a Door to Forever

Amateur philosopher and space enthusiast exurb1a reminisces about the history of lunar exploration, from the Apollo missions through NASA’s plans to return to the moon in the 21st century. Along the way, you’ll learn a thing or two about the moon’s origins, its relationship to Earth, and more.

50 Things to See in the Sky

50 Things to See in the Sky
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Astrophysicist and author Sarah Barker teamed up with illustrator Maria Nilsson to create this great book for beginner stargazers. It offers up informative details and viewing tips for things you can glimpse when you look up with off-the-shelf binoculars or a telescope. The glow-in-the-dark book cover is a nice touch.

What If Earth Had a Second Moon?

What If Earth Had a Second Moon?

The Earth’s lone moon is very important to the way the world works, affecting everything from the ocean tides, to the regularity of our seasons and the length of our days. But what would happen if another similar asteroid got pulled into the Earth’s orbit? SciShow explores some of the potentially serious implications.

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Planetary Blocks

Planetary Blocks

The always awesome Chop Shop Store teamed up with The Planetary Society to create 20 wooden blocks, each featuring a planet, dwarf planet, or moon from our solar system, and printed with useful data. They’re also offering space-themed add-ons like posters, tees, and stickers. Shipping starts 11/2019.

Star Size Comparison

Star Size Comparison

Don’t feel small and insignificant enough today? Here, watch this. 3D graphics expert Álvaro Gracia Montoya of MetaBallStudio puts the size of the Earth and our Sun into perspective alongside some of the other stars and planets in the universe.

Ancestral Nights

Ancestral Nights

We love the perspectives in the latest vid from Harun Mehmedinovic and Gavin Heffernan of the Skyglow Project. Here, they offer a glimpse into what our evenings might have been like if we had lived with the ancient Anasazi. Bonus: an appearance at 1:03 by something bloody good.

Stellar Nurseries

Stellar Nurseries

The eye-popping visuals in Teun van der Zalm’s short film were inspired by a term astrophysicist Carl Sagan coined. “…a place where stars are born. They condense by gravity from gas and dust until their temperatures become so high that they begin to shine.”

A Year Along the Geostationary Orbit

A Year Along the Geostationary Orbit

Filmmaker Felix Deirich used data and imagery from Japan’s Himawari-8 meteorological satellite to produce a truly hypnotic time-lapse film of the Earth, captured over the course of a year. Watch in awe as clouds swirl, and storm systems materialize and move across the globe.

Acme Globes

Acme Globes

Acme Globes’ sweet spherical maps roll smoothly in any direction on ball bearings integrated in a handmade cork or birch base. Magnets at the poles allow it to spin on its axis like a regular globe too. Each 14.75″ globe features a map of the stars on the inside, and Kickstarter backers get a bonus 4″ moon globe.

Polaris Enamelware

Polaris Enamelware
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Best Made Co. and illustrator Ross MacDonald present a limited-edition series of enamel-coated steel dinnerware, featuring a rich blue backdrop and constellation imagery, inspired by the night sky while camping out. Available in mugs, plates, and bowls, each sold in sets of two.

Kurzgesagt: Strange Stars Explained

Kurzgesagt: Strange Stars Explained

Kurzgesagt takes on one of the most bizarre and terrifying objects in the universe: neutron stars. Formed when certain giant stars collapse, neutron stars are made of strange matter, which are theoretically “perfectly stable.” And that’s where Physics and English disagree.

A Timelapse of the Entire Universe

A Timelapse of the Entire Universe

We usually tune in to Melodysheep’s YouTube channel to listen to his songs, but this time, he’s brought us something even more compelling – a 10-minute review of the last 13.8 billion years, with narration by Brian Cox, Carl Sagan, and David Attenborough.

Nissan Navara Dark Sky Concept

Nissan Navara Dark Sky Concept

Nissan’s UK division worked with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build this special Navara pickup, which tows an observatory-grade telescope to the darkest corners of the planet, providing amazing views of the night skies anywhere the truck can go.

7-Year Solar Time-lapse

7-Year Solar Time-lapse

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has been capturing high-def images of our sun for more than 7 years. Here’s footage captured by two of their systems – the larger one showing visible light, the smaller one showing extreme UV light, and the line graph displays sunspot activity.

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