Klaus R. Brasch, Author at Astronomy.com

The Moon as it never was

Klaus R. Brasch — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

In 1874, James Nasmyth and James Carpenter published a remarkable book: The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite. Lavishly illustrated with spectacular images of lunar features based on their own observations and exquisite plaster models, it served as a platform for the authors to advance their views on the nature andContinue reading "The Moon as it never was"

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Get to know the Andromeda Galaxy

Klaus R. Brasch — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The famed Andromeda Galaxy, or M31, draws attention at public star parties not only because it is the nearest major member of the Local Group to our Milky Way, but also because most people are aware that it is set to collide with our galaxy. Some people become anxiously curious about what that collision isContinue reading "Get to know the Andromeda Galaxy"

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Is Earth the only Goldilocks planet?

Klaus R. Brasch — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 18:37:29 +0000

Humans have wondered about life in the universe since antiquity. Early Greek philosophers argued that the cosmos contained “a plurality of worlds.” Today we know that exoplanetary systems are indeed ubiquitous, but the question now is: How common are planets that can support life? In 2000, paleontologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee of theContinue reading "Is Earth the only Goldilocks planet?"

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Taking the search for life to water worlds

Klaus R. Brasch — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 13:57:00 +0000

Humanity has long looked at the stars and dreamed of what kind of life might exist elsewhere in the universe. In their book Extraterrestrials: A Field Guide for Earthlings (Camden House, 1994), popular astronomy author Terence Dickinson and science illustrator Adolf Schaller present a series of alien scenarios in which life as we do and don’t knowContinue reading "Taking the search for life to water worlds"

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A brief history of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, and how to observe them

Klaus R. Brasch — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Douglass discovered a relationship between the sunspot cycle and tree rings, thus establishing the science of dendrochronology. He was also instrumental in founding the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona. Lowell Observatory Archives The four large satellites of Jupiter, discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, have been viewed by more people than any otherContinue reading "A brief history of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, and how to observe them"

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The photographic legacy of Lowell’s Great Refractor

Klaus R. Brasch — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 05:00:00 +0000

The 24-inch Clark refractor was built just before the turn of the 20th century. A renovation was completed in 2015. David J. Eicher Historic Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, is commonly associated with two notable astronomical bodies: Mars and Pluto. Percival Lowell, who was determined to study the Red Planet and its putative canals, establishedContinue reading "The photographic legacy of Lowell’s Great Refractor"

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