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Posts Tagged ‘Earth’

Hello Helios

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , , on July 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Apologies for being ever so slightly behind the times on this, but we just (as in yesterday!) experienced aphelion. That’s right, on June July* 6th at 1:30pm EDT, the Earth and all of its inhabitants (that’s us!) were 152,087,775 kilometers or 94,502,962 miles away from our favorite life-giving ball of fire.

Perihelion and Aphelion 2026

The Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical path, which means that there is one point on the path closest to the Sun and one point that is farthest away from the Sun.

And in case you were wondering: Aphelion: Earth is as far away from the sun as it ever gets. So why is it so hot?

(* edited because it’s July now, somehow; catch up, brain! And on a related “really far away from the Sun” note, we just watched Project Hail Mary and thoroughly enjoyed it:) 

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Photo by Andrey Câmara on Unsplash

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Let Yourself Chill

Posted in Other, Science!, tagged , , , , , , on June 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

A storm rolled through today and now strong winds gust through the trees, making me more than usually aware of the weather. Which is why this bit of magic caught my eye.

Hypnotic Film Transforms Satellite Data Into Stunning Film

At first glance, Water World looks more like a painting than satellite imagery. Deep teal and silver clouds swirl slowly across a darkened sky, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. But every formation seen in the film genuinely existed above Earth, recorded in remarkable detail by a weather satellite orbiting roughly 22,000 miles above the equator.

The article goes into more detail on the how and the why, or you could just put the video onscreen and let yourself chill.

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Photo by Billy Huynh on Unsplash

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It’s That Time!

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Today is the day, folks, when our friendly neighborhood astronauts make their (hopefully trouble-free) return to our home planet. 

As we wait for splashdown, anticipated to be just after 8pm EDT tonight, here is an interactive look at What’s Inside NASA’s Mission Control.

And to save you from tracking down one of the many (many) space-themed Artemis links I’ve put up over the past couple of days, you can watch tonight’s homecoming here starting at 6:30pm EDT!

NASA’s Artemis II Crew Comes Home (Official Broadcast) | NASA+

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NASA Crescent Earth Over Lunar Horizon

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Earth in an Hour

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , on November 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

All of history in an hour? Amazingly, yes. And if you’d like to know more, I recommend  A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

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Photo by Venti Views on Unsplash

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Live Streaming Planet Earth

Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

ISS HD Live Streaming Earth
Sometimes the cameras are off, but when they aren’t… wow.

Viewing Notes:

Black Image =  International Space Station (ISS) is on the night side of the Earth.
Gray Image = Switching between cameras, or communications with the ISS is not available.
No Audio = Normal. There is no audio on purpose. Add your own soundtrack.

For a display of the real time ISS location plus the HDEV imagery, visit here: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ForFun/HDEV/

On watching orbital sunrise, from NPR:

Circling Earth at 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) every 92 minutes, the crew members aboard the International Space Station “experience 15 or 16 sunrises and sunsets every day,” NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Project Office describes.

“The whole station glows with the light of dawn,” Canadian astronaut and former ISS commander Chris Hadfield told NPR in a recent interview. “You can see the dawn come across the world towards you.”

“Then you go back to work and wait another 92 minutes, and it happens again. It’s not to be missed, and I tried to watch as many sunrises and sunsets as the work would allow,” he said.

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