Corey S Powell

Writer, editor, magazine maker, podcaster, procrastinator.

Former editor of Discover and American Scientist magazines. Co-host of #ScienceRules podcast. Invisible Universe on Substack: https://invisibleuniverse.substack.com/

Co-founder of OpenMind magazine.

#science #nature #space #scicomm

Twitter: Corey S Powell (npub10hl…ehqy)
OpenMind: https://www.openmindmag.org
Substack: https://substack.com/@coreyspowell

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coreyspowell_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-08-19 03:35:54

As a kid I was fascinated by Project Mohole, an Apollo-style effort to explore the inner Earth. Now it's happened!
Though in a slightly different way: The JOIDES Resolution ship has drilled 1,268 meters into mantle rocks at the mid-Atlantic ridge, providing an unprecedented look inside our planet.
https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/rocks-recovered-from-mantle-could-reveal-sources-of-volcanoes-and-origins-of-life-on-earth/ #science #earth #nature #history
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/986/584/471/755/086/original/796aa4c85d1a8d6d.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/986/584/643/700/656/original/0c7e095129b4265a.jpg

2024-08-16 14:46:55

There's a hole in the Moon.
And sometime soon we may begin to explore it, study it, and even live in it.
https://eos.org/articles/lunar-lava-tube-revealed-beneath-collapsed-pit #science #nasa #space #astronomy #moon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/972/239/180/646/675/original/ac34a8f5af71f863.mp4

2024-08-14 19:33:27

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Then two days ago, Gong Yurui and Liao Guihe watched as a Perseid meteor aimed a little too low.
The Andromeda Galaxy's secret weapon is distance. It is about 100 quadrillion times as far away as the Perseid meteors, which tends to keep it out of harm's way.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/041/952/241/144/original/3b427b935a980e92.jpg

2024-08-14 19:32:06

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Last year, photographer Jose Pedrero saw a Perseid meteor clip a little above the Andromeda galaxy.
Didn't leave a scratch.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230823.html #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/037/040/231/297/original/e27979755299ed2f.jpg

2024-08-14 19:30:41

A brief history of Perseid meteors attacking the Andromeda galaxy:
In 2016, Fritz Hemmerich caught a Perseid meteor trying (and failing) to spear the galaxy.
https://www.facebook.com/APOD.Sky/photos/perseid-meteor-in-front-of-the-andromeda-galaxycopyright-fritz-helmut-hemmerich/885152348255652/ #space #science #nature #Perseids #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/032/883/644/596/original/8db1a9f704feceaf.jpg

2024-08-10 17:12:20

OMG this shot of a Falcon 9 rocket passing in front of a spot-covered Sun -- just released by photographer John Kraus.
https://www.johnkrausphotos.com/ #science #art #photography
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/938/837/753/778/425/original/9af3c45f54f3f284.jpg

2024-08-10 06:38:52

The Perseid meteor shower peaks in two days. When you watch those shooting stars here on Earth, this is what's happening out in space.
(Follow the link for a very cool 3D interactive view.)
https://www.meteorshowers.org/view/Perseids #science #space #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/936/346/349/715/458/original/e3c86f4e265912f6.png

2024-08-09 06:13:52

Whenever you read one of those breathless stories about some asteroid passing close to Earth, keep in mind that small space stuff hits us. All. The. Time.
This map shows the orbits of things that hit Earth just *yesterday* -- and just over the southern & eastern United States!
https://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/ #space #science #risk #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/930/583/642/925/497/original/6cb3a20ea4313d29.png

2024-08-06 03:20:46

The tail of Comet 13P/Olbers, wagging wildly in the solar wind.
Photos by Dan Bartlett.
https://www.astrobin.com/users/h2ologg/ #space #science #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/912/918/483/195/681/original/73e9535a2bb42e8f.jpg
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2024-08-04 06:54:53

Amazing deep-space image from JWST, showing the "skeleton" of warm dust and gas inside a pair of colliding galaxies.
Processing by Thomas Carpentier
https://www.flickr.com/photos/197464132@N05/53898041283/ #space #science #astronomy #NASA #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/902/436/465/895/065/original/c30cd6378becf5a4.jpg

2024-07-05 15:13:23

NASA's Parker Solar Probe has just affirmed its status as the fastest human object ever built:
On June 29 it hit a speed of 176.46 km/sec, or 394,736 mph. That's equivalent to flying from New York to LA in 25 seconds.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2024/07/03/nasas-parker-solar-probe-completes-20th-close-approach-to-the-sun/ #space #science #nasa #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/734/521/932/049/787/original/fea3a672062e3786.mp4

2024-06-29 17:01:21

This is what an asteroid looks like up close.
Really close.
Through an electron microscope!
First studies of the pieces of asteroid Bennu gathered by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft are out now:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.14227 #space #astronomy #nasa #science #life #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/700/977/541/860/584/original/4e5ccd38e37ab409.jpg

2024-06-11 22:36:29

I'm sad to report the death of Ed Stone, the NASA scientist who was the heart & soul of the Voyager program. Spending time with him for my Discover magazine profile was a highlight of my career.
I did my best to capture the experience:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/voyager-the-man-behind-the-mission #science #space #nasa #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/600/372/000/918/725/original/294f3b7a8a68141c.jpg

2024-05-12 07:17:51

Aurora colors come from atoms that are trying to shed some of their energy.
In very thin air, oxygen survives in a delicate, high-energy state that emits green light. In denser air, atomic collisions knock oxygen to a lower-energy state that emits red. Nitrogen is a robust emitter that glows bright in even lower, denser layers of the atmosphere.
Beautiful science.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial #aurora #science #space #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/426/885/465/022/882/original/3e3395cb3f71e308.jpg

2024-05-12 07:08:34

So many beautiful aurora photos going around right now. Wonder where those amazing colors come from? Here's a helpful breakdown.
When you split up the light of a typical aurora, it looks like this.
Many colors from just nitrogen & oxygen!
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial #aurora #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/426/854/924/021/976/original/39aabe0d481d362d.jpg

2024-04-26 06:58:41

Our galaxy seems to be full of "rogue" planets wandering alone between the stars.
A new observation from NASA's TESS space telescope hints that these dark worlds might hugely outnumber the normal (?) planets, like Earth, that bask in the warmth and light of a sun.
https://astrobiology.com/2024/04/searching-for-free-floating-planets-with-tess-i-discovery-of-a-first-terrestrial-mass-candidate.html #space #science #astronomy #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/336/219/105/114/367/original/4a1311a9baaebbbc.jpg

2024-04-17 17:00:25

Powerful eruption occurring now at Ruang volcano in Indonesia's North Sulawesi Province. Hundreds evacuated so far.
Photos show the lava flow, huge ash cloud, and volcanic lightning.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-evacuated-after-indonesias-ruang-volcano-erupts-2024-04-17/ #volcano #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/287/625/981/626/085/original/e7bea874ba04690a.jpg
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2024-04-17 03:23:55

I'm so excited about this upcoming space mission.
NASA has just confirmed that the Dragonfly octocopter will launch in July, 2028. When it arrives, it will spend at least two years flying over the organic-rich sands of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/News-and-Resources/news/20231128.php #space #science #nasa #life #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/284/411/061/043/472/original/6f091a5ab8282654.mp4

2024-04-15 16:14:22

Two space questions I hear a lot:
- Is Betelgeuse about to explode?
- When we see things happening "now" in deep space, didn't they really happen a long time ago?
I decided to answer them both together (and threw in a bonus discussion about false precision).
https://quanta.quora.com/Betelgeuse-is-642-5-light-years-away-the-light-we-see-from-it-is-642-5-years-old-How-do-Scientists-know-it-is-going-to-6?ch=10&oid=1477743753967765&share=6c715101&srid=u5Hxq&target_type=answer #science #space #astronomy #education
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/276/116/983/526/139/original/bd6c7a4cff4f6e58.webp

2024-04-13 00:01:18

The astronauts aboard the ISS were amazed by the April 8 solar eclipse, just like the rest of us, and went crazy snapping photos from orbit.
They got some amazing views of the Moon's shadow sweeping across southern Canada & Maine, seen from 420 km (261 miles) above: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/with/53645140833 #space #eclipse #space #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/260/965/738/741/060/original/221e8b78d1eb7135.jpg
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2024-04-07 16:03:37

Eclipse news from 3,246 years ago:
The earliest well-established observation a solar eclipse was recorded on March 5, 1222 BCE. It was inscribed in a clay tablet from Ugarit, a city in modern-day Syria.
https://theconversation.com/archeoastronomy-uses-the-rare-times-and-places-of-previous-total-solar-eclipses-to-help-us-measure-history-222709 #space #science #astronomy #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/230/779/949/653/926/original/facb34f68335bc4e.jpg

2024-04-04 15:58:43

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Since this matters so much to you: sunsets are eclipses. Done.
I'm all in favor of having more people pay attention to the beauty of nature. If it helps to them that sunsets are actually solar eclipses, I'm all for it.

2024-04-04 15:49:14

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Show me the dictionary! 😉

2024-04-04 15:03:28

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The entire Earth backlit by the Sun, with light streaming through the atmosphere all around the limb? No.

2024-04-03 14:42:14

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Seeing the complete circle of the Earth is what makes it into a very different type of event, I'd say.

2024-04-03 03:19:16

Only three humans have ever witnessed an eclipse of the Sun by the *Earth*. It happened while the Apollo 12 crew was returning home from the Moon, on November 21, 1969.
Fortunately, the astronauts filmed the moment so you can share in the experience.
https://archive.org/details/Apollo1216mmOnboardFilm [at the 4:50 mark] #space #science #nasa #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/205/117/193/590/250/original/31dbc332736a38a1.mp4