Astronomy

On Columbus Day, remember Abraham Zacuto, the Jewish astronomer history forgot - opinion

In 1935, the International Astronomical Union formally adopted the name Zagut for a lunar crater honoring Abraham ben Shmuel Zacuto. Modern astronomy has, literally, written his name on the Moon.

|ByRABBI SHLOMO PEREIRA/JTA
Portrait of Abraham Zacuto, by Eulogia Merle (2011).
Stargazing in the Negev Mountains

The Perseid meteor shower is back: All the best places to watch shooting stars in Israel

One of the most impressive celestial shows of the year reaches its peak on August 12. But here’s a tip: Shooting stars can also be seen in the days before and after the peak.

|ByZIV REINSTEIN
The Indian, Kachchhi/Gujarati, document.

Researchers decode 200-year-old Red Sea navigational chart, revealing lost seafaring secrets

The document, dated to the late 18th or early 19th century, is illustrated with images of ships and religious buildings. It depicts more than 180 islands, along with reefs, landmarks and flags. 

|ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM
Earendil-1

Selling light after dark: Satellite designed to reflect sunlight to Earth approved by FCC

The Earendil-1 satellite, created by startup Reflect Orbital, contains a thin-film reflector that can direct “abundant sunlight” to specific locations at specific times, including night time

|ByDANYA SAPERSTEIN

ESO scientists capture new stunning image of stellar nursery

The nebula in question is known as the Sh2-54 nebula and is one of the many awe-inspiring cosmic structures located within the tail of the snake constellation Serpens.

JANUARY 4, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Sh2-54 nebula in the infrared with VISTA.

Christmas Eve: Spot Mercury, Venus and the Moon without binoculars

Stargazers can look forward to seeing Mercury and Venus, as well as the moon that orbits around our planet, without binoculars or a telescope.

DECEMBER 23, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
The planet Venus

'Hot Jupiter' alien planet spiraling to its doom around aging star - study

The discovery will serve as a "celestial laboratory for years to come" and will help astronomers better understand tidal dynamics.

DECEMBER 19, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
An artist's concept of the Kepler-1658 system. Kepler-1658b, orbiting with a period of just 3.8 days, was the first exoplanet candidate discovered by Kepler.

Israeli scientist helps discover the universe's first stars - Cambridge study

Astrophysicists managed for the first time to statistically characterize the first galaxies in the universe.

DECEMBER 4, 2022ByJUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
The first full-color image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary apparatus designed to peer through the cosmos to the dawn of the universe, shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, known as Webb’s First Deep Field, in a composite made from images at different wavelengths.

New space observatory helps solve mystery involving enormous black holes

Using data from the recently deployed Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) orbiting observatory, researchers were able to answer more unexplained questions.

NOVEMBER 23, 2022ByREUTERS
The IXPE spacecraft, at right, observes a blazar, a black hole surrounded by a disk of gas and dust with a bright jet of high-energy particles pointed toward Earth, called Markarian 501 in an undated illustration

World's first disabled astronaut named by European Space Agency

The announcement came as ESA appointed a new set of astronauts for the first time since 2009 after whittling down 22,500 valid applications.

NOVEMBER 23, 2022ByREUTERS
European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts pictured inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tampa, Florida, US, May 6, 2022

Most energetic gamma-ray burst confirms Israeli researchers' predictions

Gamma-ray bursts are a phenomenon in which a massive amount of X-rays and gamma rays are emitted within seconds in a single pulse or in multiple subsequent pulses.

NOVEMBER 18, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
The GRB221009A burst as recorded about an hour after the first one was documented by the SWIFT telescope

South Africa's new ground station to help NASA track space flights

Close to key communication and transport infrastructure, the remote site was chosen due to its geographic location with clear skies and low radio interference.

NOVEMBER 8, 2022ByREUTERS
NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) with the Orion crew capsule perched on top, stands on launch complex 39B as rain clouds move into the area before its rescheduled debut test launch for the Artemis 1 mission at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US September 2, 2022.

Behavior of star clusters challenge Newton's laws of gravity

Data from open star clusters seems to fit better with an alternate theory of gravity.

OCTOBER 30, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Pleiades, an open cluster consisting of approximately 3,000 stars at a distance of 400 light-years (120 parsecs) from Earth.

Scholars find a piece of first ever star map in medieval scroll in Egypt

The piece of the Star Catalog is believed to have been written by Hipparchus with surprising accuracy.

OCTOBER 29, 2022ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Stars in the night sky.