Tag: exoplanets
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CANCELLED! 2026 Awards Dinner
Jun 10 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EDT The Mandarin at The Centre on Barton 1223 Barton St E Hamilton ON L8H 2V4 Click For tickets Join us for the 2026 Awards Dinner 🌌, an evening to recognize the volunteers, observers, and educators who keep astronomy thriving at RASC Hamilton Centre. Your registration helps support…
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Frank Drake – Listening for Life Among the Stars
Frank Drake’s groundbreaking work in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) reshaped humanity’s perspective on the possibility of life beyond Earth. A visionary astronomer and physicist, Drake developed foundational tools and frameworks that continue to guide efforts to detect signals from other civilizations. His famed Drake Equation provided a mathematical framework for estimating the likelihood…
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The Sumerians and the Invention of Time
Around 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) developed a system of timekeeping that still shapes our lives. Their sexagesimal system, based on the number 60, gave us the familiar divisions of 60 minutes per hour and 60 seconds per minute. Why 60? • Sixty divides evenly by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15,…
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Venera 9 – First Images from the Surface of Venus
Launch Date: June 8, 1975 🇷🇺 (Soviet Union) A Landmark in Venus Exploration In the mid-1970s, the Soviet Union was leading the charge in exploring our planetary neighbor, Venus. Venera 9 was a pioneering mission that achieved two historic firsts: it became the first spacecraft to orbit Venus and the first to return images from its surface. This…
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Virginia Louise Trimble: Astrophysicist, Historian, and Advocate for Astronomy
Virginia Louise Trimble, ranked 29th on this list, is a distinguished astrophysicist and historian of astronomy. Her broad-ranging contributions span the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the universe, alongside a remarkable dedication to chronicling the history and sociology of astronomy. Born on November 5, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, Trimble’s career exemplifies intellectual…
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Norman H. Broadhead: Hamilton Centre RASC President (1940–1941)
Early Life and Professional Career Norman H. Broadhead was an accomplished professional in Hamilton’s industrial community. By the mid-1920s he was working for a prominent Hamilton manufacturer (C. W. Meakins & Sons Ltd., a brush-making firm) in a managerial or accounting role. In 1926, he authored a technical article titled “Brush Manufacturing Costs” for the National Association of…
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Mariner 10 – First Spacecraft to Visit Two Planets
Launch Date: November 3, 1973 🇺🇸 (NASA) Planetary Society A New Chapter in Planetary Exploration Just months after Pioneer 11’s launch, NASA sent Mariner 10 into space. It became the first mission to use a gravity assist maneuver, flying past Venus before heading to Mercury—and making three close flybys of Mercury between 1974 and 1975. Time and Navigation+3Wikipedia+3HISTORY+3 Mission…
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George Ellery Hale – The Builder of the Modern Observatory
George Ellery Hale transformed astronomy by pioneering the development of large-scale observatories and instruments that revolutionized the way scientists explored the cosmos. Hale’s vision and leadership were instrumental in establishing world-class facilities like the Yerkes, Mount Wilson, and Palomar Observatories, where groundbreaking discoveries about the Sun, stars, and galaxies were made. His innovations in solar…
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Why Do Solar Flare Videos Look So Fast?
When you see videos of the Sun from NASA or the European Space Agency, the solar flares and explosions seem to happen in just a second or two. It looks like giant loops of fire are shooting out faster than anything we’ve ever seen. But this isn’t what really happens. The videos are sped up.…
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Pioneer 11 – Blazing a Trail Past Jupiter and Saturn
Launch Date: April 5, 1973 🇺🇸 (NASA) Following in the Wake of a Trailblazer Less than 13 months after Pioneer 10 launched toward Jupiter, NASA sent its twin spacecraft, Pioneer 11, on a similar mission. But Pioneer 11 didn’t stop at Jupiter. Instead, it became the first spacecraft ever to visit Saturn, venturing deeper into…
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Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar – Mastering the Life Cycles of Stars
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar made groundbreaking contributions to astrophysics, revolutionizing our understanding of the structure and evolution of stars. His work on stellar dynamics, black holes, and white dwarfs provided crucial insights into the ultimate fate of stars. Chandrasekhar’s discoveries, such as the Chandrasekhar Limit, formed the foundation of modern astrophysics, earning him a lasting place among…