DID You KNOW ?

03/07/2025

Earth is now 94.5 million miles from the Sun!

Earth reaches aphelion – its farthest point from the Sun this year – at 4 pm EDT (8 pm GMT) on July 3.

We’ll be about 94.51 million miles (152.09 million km) from our star. That’s roughly 1.67% farther than average. Despite this distance, much of the planet is experiencing summer. That’s because seasons are caused by Earth’s axial tilt, not how close we are to the Sun.

It’s a subtle point in our orbit, but a reminder of the elegant mechanics of our orbit. Earth will make its closest approach to the Sun again on January 4, 2026, during perihelion.

06/03/2025

The Life of a Star is a Constant Battle Against Gravity 🏋️‍♀️

A star’s entire existence is a delicate balancing act between two opposing forces:
1️⃣Gravity: Constantly pulling inward, trying to collapse the star.
2️⃣ Pressure: Generated by the intense heat in the core, pushing outward.

This balance, known as hydrostatic equilibrium, is what keeps a star stable.

For most of its life, a star burns nuclear fuel in its core, producing the heat and radiation needed to counteract gravity. This phase is called the main sequence, where stars like our Sun spend billions of years shining steadily.

But this balance won’t last forever. As the star runs out of fuel, gravity begins to win. Some stars go through a desperate attempt to generate more heat with less-efficient nuclear reactions. But eventually, the fuel is gone, and the star collapses under its own weight, leading to its final fate as a white dwarf, neutron star, or even a black hole.

Every star in the night sky is lockedin this battle – some just beginning their journey, others nearing the end.

The next time you look up, remember: Sometimes, the ones that shine the brightest are the ones fighting the hardest.

Learn more: https://public.nrao.edu/radio-astronomy/star-life-and-death/

📸 Credit: NASA, Night Sky Network

06/03/2025

06/03/2025

The yellow structure is the Laniakea supercluster, which contains about 100,000 galaxies.
The red dot in the image is the Milky Way galaxy which contains approx. 100 billion stars...

13/05/2020