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3 days ago
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Get ready for the 'moon illusion.' July's full moon to appear low in Michigan skies
July's full moon will be the farthest from the sun this year as both the Earth and moon make their orbits, but it also will provide a good opportunity to check out the "moon illusion." The buck moon, set to peak July 10, comes a week after Earth reached its farthest point from the sun in its orbit, according to Live Science. Thus, the July full moon will also be at its farthest point from the sun as well. The moon will appear low in the night sky this week, giving it an unnaturally large appearance known as the moon illusion. "Photographs prove that the moon is the same width near the horizon as when it's high in the sky, but that's not what we perceive with our eyes," NASA says. "Thus, it's an illusion rooted in the way our brains process visual information. Even though we've been observing it for thousands of years, there's still not a satisfying scientific explanation for exactly why we see it." The National Weather Service predicts chances of partly cloudy skies throughout most of the state overnight July 10, with the full moon likely to be visible at moonrise. Look up in the evening sky to see the buck moon, set to appear full July 9 and 10, and visible as it rises above the horizon at night. Here's what to know: How low will the full moon appear? July's full moon will look quite low in the sky after sunset, says. This comes as the sun appears high in the sky during the day following the summer solstice. Also, the rare major lunar standstill sees the sun's gravity impact the moon's orbit in relation to Earth, making it appear especially low. Why does the moon look yellowish near the horizon? The moon tends to have a more yellow or orange hue near the horizon than when it's high overhead, NASA said. "This happens because the Moon's light travels a longer distance through the atmosphere. As it travels a longer path, more of the shorter, bluer wavelengths of light are scattered away, leaving more of the longer, redder wavelengths. (Dust or pollution can also deepen the reddish color)," NASA explained. How did the buck moon get its name? The name buck moon comes from bucks, or male deer, reaching their antlers' full-growth during this season, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. When does the full moon peak in July 2025? The full moon will peak at 4:37 p.m. on July 10, 2025. While high or low clouds are expected in various areas across Michigan overnight July 10, forecasters expect the buck moon to remain visible in most regions in the early part of the night, per the weather service. Is the buck moon a supermoon? No, the buck moon is not a supermoon. What phase of the lunar cycle is the moon in now? The moon is currently in its waxing gibbous phase, at 95% illumination, according to The moon's next phases in July 2025 are: Full Moon: July 10 Last Quarter: July 17 New Moon: July 24 Where can you watch the buck moon in Michigan? Michigan is home to six dark sky state parks, three international dark sky parks and an international dark sky sanctuary. The Alpena area has three Dark Sky Preserves: Rockport State Recreation Area, Thompson's Harbor State Park and Negwegon State Park. In Mackinaw City, Headlands International Dark Sky Park. In Empire, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In Munising, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. In Paradise, the Great Lakes Museum and Whitefish Point Light Station and Tahquamenon Falls State Park. In Port Austin, Port Crescent State Park. In Clayton, Lake Hudson Recreation Area. In Carp Lake, Wilderness State Park. Keweenaw Dark Sky Park in Keweenaw County and Dr. T.K. Lawless Park in Cass County are international spots. And, finally, the Beaver Island State Wildlife Research Area is an international sanctuary. When is the next full moon after July? The sturgeon moon will peak Aug. 9, 2025. Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Moon illusion will make buck moon appear larger as it illuminates Michigan skies Solve the daily Crossword
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4 days ago
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Sun Blasts Powerful X1.2-Class Solar Flare
Watch footage of the Sun unleashing an X1.2-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the fireworks in multiple wavelengths. Footage courtesy: NASA / SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, Helio Viewer | edited by Steve Spaleta Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
17-07-2025
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Celestial slow dance over Kentucky skies to precede July's triple meteor shower
KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — A celestial slow dance will happen Tuesday night in Kentucky skies ahead of a double meteor shower at the end of the month. A post on highlighted how the moon will pass close to Saturn and Neptune on July 16, causing the two planets to be seen together in a pair of binoculars. The trifecta will linger together until the rising sun causes them to vanish from view. Read more of the latest Kentucky news While ordinarily impossible to see with the naked eye, Neptune's bluish hue can be seen just to the upper left of Saturn. In a social media post, Sky Core noted that the best viewing conditions are expected just after 9 p.m. local time. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Kentucky inmate alleged tried to escape, assaulted employees Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tells South Carolina Democrats his record is a red state success story Joseph Lawson asks judge to throw out guilty verdict in Crystal Rogers trial Starting July 17, a roughly 2,000-year-old interstellar light show will kick off, with an expected 20 meteors an hour being possible. The Perseids are expected to run through Aug. 23, peaking around Aug. 12, joining the already active Alpha Capricornids. The following day, the Southern Delta Aquariids will complete the cosmic trifecta, according to the American Meteor Society. The Capricornids and Aquariids are expected to both peak between July 29 and July 30. According to Forbes, bright fireballs are common with the Capricornids, but only five or so shooting stars can be seen per hour. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
17-07-2025
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Astrophotographer captures galactic fireworks near the Seahorse Nebula in eerie deep-space photo
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astrophotographer Greg Meyer has captured a spectacular image of the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946) shining close to the dark shape of the Seahorse Nebula. The majestic spiral arms of the Fireworks Galaxy can be found to the lower right of Meyer's cosmic vista, surrounded by the foreground clouds of a dusty molecular cloud located within the Milky Way. The Fireworks Galaxy's nickname stems from the 10 observable supernovas seen brightening its expanse over the past century; for comparison, our galaxy is only expected to manifest one or maybe two such events over the same period of time. Lurking to the left of the Fireworks Galaxy is the star-forming region Barnard 150 — an enormous cloud of interstellar dust also known as the Seahorse Nebula, due to its striking resemblance to the tiny sea creature. The 'Ghost Bush' open star cluster is also visible to the upper right of the Fireworks galaxy, twinkling with the light of countless gravitationally bound stellar bodies. Meyer chose to frame all three objects in a single shot to create a breathtaking deep space vista. "I don't usually shoot galaxies with a telescope of just 400mm, but showing it in perspective to other objects maybe makes it more interesting as a wider shot," said Meyer in an email to As is often the case with astrophotography, the celestial objects captured in Meyer's portrait aren't anywhere near as close to one another as they appear. For example, the Seahorse Nebula orbits within the Milky Way at a distance of 1,200 light-years from Earth, while the Ghost Bush open cluster lies beyond, an impressive 5,600 light-years from our Blue Marble. The Fireworks Galaxy meanwhile is a staggering 22 million light-years from our planet. TOP TELESCOPE PICK Want to see the Seahorse Nebula? The Celestron NexStar 8SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 8SE review. The light that created this stunning cosmic vista was captured in the pristine skies above northern Arizona over the course of several nights in June earlier this year. Over 17 hours were spent imaging the deep sky objects with a Sky-Watcher Esprit 80mm telescope with a Player One Poseidon M pro astrophotography camera, using a range of filters and peripherals. The data was then post processed using Adobe editing software and Pixinsight. Astrophotographers looking to upgrade their gear should read our guide to the best cameras for capturing the night sky in 2025. We also have a roundup of the top lenses for astrophotography if you're looking for new glass. Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@
Yahoo
14-07-2025
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Experts ask where the center of the universe is
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. About a century ago, scientists were struggling to reconcile what seemed a contradiction in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Published in 1915, and already widely accepted worldwide by physicists and mathematicians, the theory assumed the universe was static – unchanging, unmoving and immutable. In short, Einstein believed the size and shape of the universe today was, more or less, the same size and shape it had always been. But when astronomers looked into the night sky at faraway galaxies with powerful telescopes, they saw hints the universe was anything but that. These new observations suggested the opposite – that it was, instead, expanding. Scientists soon realized Einstein's theory didn't actually say the universe had to be static; the theory could support an expanding universe as well. Indeed, by using the same mathematical tools provided by Einstein's theory, scientists created new models that showed the universe was, in fact, dynamic and evolving. I've spent decades trying to understand general relativity, including in my current job as a physics professor teaching courses on the subject. I know wrapping your head around the idea of an ever-expanding universe can feel daunting – and part of the challenge is overriding your natural intuition about how things work. For instance, it's hard to imagine something as big as the universe not having a center at all, but physics says that's the reality. First, let's define what's meant by "expansion." On Earth, "expanding" means something is getting bigger. And in regard to the universe, that's true, sort of. Expansion might also mean "everything is getting farther from us," which is also true with regard to the universe. Point a telescope at distant galaxies and they all do appear to be moving away from us. What's more, the farther away they are, the faster they appear to be moving. Those galaxies also seem to be moving away from each other. So it's more accurate to say that everything in the universe is getting farther away from everything else, all at once. This idea is subtle but critical. It's easy to think about the creation of the universe like exploding fireworks: Start with a big bang, and then all the galaxies in the universe fly out in all directions from some central point. But that analogy isn't correct. Not only does it falsely imply that the expansion of the universe started from a single spot, which it didn't, but it also suggests that the galaxies are the things that are moving, which isn't entirely accurate. It's not so much the galaxies that are moving away from each other – it's the space between galaxies, the fabric of the universe itself, that's ever-expanding as time goes on. In other words, it's not really the galaxies themselves that are moving through the universe; it's more that the universe itself is carrying them farther away as it expands. A common analogy is to imagine sticking some dots on the surface of a balloon. As you blow air into the balloon, it expands. Because the dots are stuck on the surface of the balloon, they get farther apart. Though they may appear to move, the dots actually stay exactly where you put them, and the distance between them gets bigger simply by virtue of the balloon's expansion. Now think of the dots as galaxies and the balloon as the fabric of the universe, and you begin to get the picture. Unfortunately, while this analogy is a good start, it doesn't get the details quite right either. Important to any analogy is an understanding of its limitations. Some flaws are obvious: A balloon is small enough to fit in your hand – not so the universe. Another flaw is more subtle. The balloon has two parts: its latex surface and its air-filled interior. These two parts of the balloon are described differently in the language of mathematics. The balloon's surface is two-dimensional. If you were walking around on it, you could move forward, backward, left, or right, but you couldn't move up or down without leaving the surface. Now it might sound like we're naming four directions here – forward, backward, left and right – but those are just movements along two basic paths: side to side and front to back. That's what makes the surface two-dimensional – length and width. The inside of the balloon, on the other hand, is three-dimensional, so you'd be able to move freely in any direction, including up or down – length, width and height. This is where the confusion lies. The thing we think of as the "center" of the balloon is a point somewhere in its interior, in the air-filled space beneath the surface. But in this analogy, the universe is more like the latex surface of the balloon. The balloon's air-filled interior has no counterpart in our universe, so we can't use that part of the analogy – only the surface matters. So asking, "Where's the center of the universe?" is somewhat like asking, "Where's the center of the balloon's surface?' There simply isn't one. You could travel along the surface of the balloon in any direction, for as long as you like, and you'd never once reach a place you could call its center because you'd never actually leave the surface. In the same way, you could travel in any direction in the universe and would never find its center because, much like the surface of the balloon, it simply doesn't have one. Part of the reason this can be so challenging to comprehend is because of the way the universe is described in the language of mathematics. The surface of the balloon has two dimensions, and the balloon's interior has three, but the universe exists in four dimensions. Because it's not just about how things move in space, but how they move in time. Our brains are wired to think about space and time separately. But in the universe, they're interwoven into a single fabric, called 'space-time.' That unification changes the way the universe works relative to what our intuition expects. And this explanation doesn't even begin to answer the question of how something can be expanding indefinitely – scientists are still trying to puzzle out what powers this expansion. So in asking about the center of the universe, we're confronting the limits of our intuition. The answer we find – everything, expanding everywhere, all at once – is a glimpse of just how strange and beautiful our universe is. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
