Dark Matter’s “Nightmare Scenario” Looks More Likely Than Ever
Our great hope is that today’s indirect, astrophysical evidence will someday lead to successful direct detection. What if that’s impossible?
Astronomy
The Ring Nebula Has an “Iron Bar”
The Ring Nebula in Lyra, also known as Messier 57, is the most famous planetary nebula in the sky. It’s also one of the most imaged and studied objects of its class. But when Roger Wesson (Cardiff University, UK) and his colleagues analyzed a series of spectra taken between May and June 2023, they found something completely new: An oddly shaped “bar” of ionized iron gas that crosses the nebula roughly from west to east along the elliptical ring’s major axis.
Astrophotography Special Interest Group
Chief Astronomer Chuck Wraith is organizing an astrophotography special interest group within the BPAA membership.
Planetarium Shows in January
Planetarium Shows at Battle Point Observatory. Shows offered at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm on the following Saturdays in January – 3 (12:30 show only), 17, and 31.
The Winter BI Parks And Rec Catalog Is Here— And We’re In It!
We’re teaming up with Parks and Rec once again for out-of-this-world classes! Introduction to Astronomy 101 (ages 16+) is back with another fantastic lineup of classes to get you off to a great start in astronomy.
BPAA Member Perk: Astrospheric
Have you heard about Astrospheric? It’s an important weather forecast tool for North American astronomers and astrophotographers, and an expanded version is available for free to BPAA members!
NASA Completes Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Construction
NASA’s next big eye on the cosmos is now fully assembled. On Nov. 25, technicians joined the inner and outer portions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the largest clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Set to launch by May 2027, the spacecraft will study mysteries of the cosmos while also testing the Coronagraph Instrument, a new technology designed and built by JPL.
NASA’s Hubble Reveals Largest Found Chaotic Birthplace of Planets
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have imaged the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed circling a young star. For the first time in visible light, Hubble has revealed the disk is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, with wisps of material stretching much farther above and below the disk than astronomers have seen in any similar system.