First Crescent Designs

Why are whales big, but not bigger? | EarthSky.org How did whales that feed on tiny prey evolve into the largest creatures on Earth? And why don't they get even bigger?

Explained! Enceladus’ enigmatic tiger stripes | EarthSky.org How did the so-called tiger stripes - huge parallel cracks - form in the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus? A new study from the Carnegie Institution for Science provides some answers.

Chennai engineer helped find India’s Vikram lander, which crashed on the moon | EarthSky.org In September, India hoped to become the 4th nation to soft land on the moon successfully with its Chandrayaan 2 mission. Moments before touchdown, the mission's Vikram lander crashed. Now the lander has been found again.

Young moon and 3 planets after sunset | EarthSky.org Check out the picturesque scene in the west after sunset on November 27, 28 and 29, 2019. The young moon will sweep past 3 planets - Venus, Jupiter and Saturn - wow!

Will you see this week’s meteor outburst? | EarthSky.org Lucky observers will likely catch a very brief outburst of alpha Monocerotid meteors this Thursday night (or Friday morning). Astronomers say the meteors will fall at a rate of 400 meteors per hour at the peak, or several meteors per minute. The key is … you've got to be at the right place, at exa...

Hubble captures a dozen galaxy doppelgangers | EarthSky.org The distant galaxy in this image is nicknamed the Sunburst Arc. It's been lensed into multiple images by a massive, intervening galaxy cluster. A recent study revealed that the 4 bright arcs in this Hubble image contain 12 images - cosmic doppelgangers - of the galaxy, which is 11 billion light-year...

Pleiades star cluster, aka Seven Sisters | EarthSky.org The Pleiades star cluster - aka the Seven Sisters or M45 - is visible from virtually every part of the globe. It looks like a tiny misty dipper of stars.

Did an asteroid collision cause abrupt Earth cooling? | EarthSky.org What kicked off a rapid cooling on Earth 12,800 years ago? Some geologists believe a fragmented comet or asteroid collided with Earth and caused the change. Read more from a scientist whose fieldwork at a South Carolina lake adds to the growing pile of evidence.

Humpback whale population on the rise | EarthSky.org After a near-miss with extinction, a population of humpback whales in the South Atlantic has rebounded.

New telescope to ‘see inside’ hot Jupiter exoplanets | EarthSky.org Exoplanets - worlds orbiting distant suns - are very, very far away. Astronomers are learning what some might look like, and what's in their atmospheres. Soon - for the first time - a new telescope will be able to

10 amazing places for year-round stargazing | EarthSky.org The stars are accessible to everyone, but where can you get the most from the night sky? Here are 10 great dark-sky places - mostly in the U.S. but also in Australia, New Zealand and Chile - for skywatching and stargazing.

International Observe the Moon Night is October 5 | EarthSky.org International Observe the Moon Night is a worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration, celestial observation, and our cultural and personal connections to the moon. In 2019, it comes on October 5. Here's how to join in.