Scott MacNeill's Columns
- The Only Home We've Ever Known
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Entry Date: Jun 5, 2017
Published Under: Scott MacNeill's Columns
On February 14, 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan directed the Voyager 1 spacecraft to turn around and capture a photograph of the Earth from a distance of 3.7 billion miles. The captured photograph is the famous Pale Blue Dot image. I recently revisited the... more
- Viewing The International Space Station
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Entry Date: May 25, 2017
Published Under: Scott MacNeill's Columns
Periodically throughout the year, the International Space Station (ISS) becomes visible in the evening sky, offering up stunning opportunities to view bright nightly passes for a few weeks. The ISS orbits planet Earth once every 93 minutes at a 51.6° ... more
- Welcome Spring
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Entry Date: Mar 18, 2017
Published Under: Scott MacNeill's Columns
This morning - Monday, March 20th at 6:28 a.m. EDT, the Ecliptic, which is the path the Sun takes through the sky, will intersect with Earth's celestial equator. This intersection is the Vernal Equinox which will mark the end of winter and the start of... more
- Seven Earth-like Planets - 40 Light Years Away
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Entry Date: Feb 27, 2017
Published Under: Scott MacNeill's Columns
On Wednesday, February 22nd the discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting a red dwarf star that resides 40 light years distant, was announced. Though we frequently hear about Earth-like exoplanet discoveries, this one is the first time we have ide... more