An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small moons orbiting the planet Saturn.  That brings the total number of moons known around the ringed planet to 274, breaking all planetary records. Jupiter, the runner-up, has “only” 95 moons; our planet Earth has one.  Moons are more common around the […] The post 128 New Moons Found Around Saturn appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.

On January 1, 1925, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, astronomer Henry N. Russell read a paper contributed by a young astronomer named Edwin Hubble (who was too junior to earn a trip across the country from the California observatory where he worked.)  In this paper, Hubble announces that he […] The post Celebrating the Centennial of Galaxies January 1 2025 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.

Saturday, Dec. 21 will be the winter solstice – the shortest day and longest night of the year, with which we mark the beginning of the winter season in the Earth’s northern hemisphere.  It’s interesting to note that the planets Venus and Jupiter do not have seasons like the Earth does.  The sunshine any spot […] The post Dec. 21 is Winter Solstice — Why We Have Seasons on Earth appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.

For those of us who, through the years, have been through wave after wave of uncritical and sensational UFO stories in the media, the current obsession with (and jumping to unwarranted conclusions about) mysterious drones seems all too familiar.  As before, untrained observers, even government officials, are describing things in the sky without having much […] The post Drone Madness: Here is the Antidote appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.