Bob Berman

New York

Columnist and Contributing Editor at Astronomy Magazine

Host at WAMC, Northeast Public Radio

Articles

The lion, the moon, and a fading planet

3 weeks ago | wamc.org | Bob Berman

1 of 1 — strange universe 6-1.png Markus Horn On Sunday night, June 1, enjoy an easy and beautiful sky show: a crescent Moon pairs with two bright stars—one blue-white, one orange. The star just below the Moon is Regulus, the brilliant heart of Leo the Lion, once known as “Qalb” and later named by Copernicus. To the Moon’s right, the orange glow of Mars adds a planetary touch, though it’s dimmer now, sitting on the far side of its orbit.
The no-death cosmic model

1 month ago | hudsonvalleyone.com | Bob Berman

At Memorial Day parties last weekend, I saw many faces I’d known from a half-century ago when I first moved here. All were in their 70’s or beyond. No doubt, some must be contemplating their mortality. So it would seem a good time to offer a very different view of the cosmos, the no-death model, which has a scientific basis despite having not yet generated much awareness.
The brightest star in leo

1 month ago | wamc.org | Bob Berman

1 of 1 — strange universe 5-25.jpg NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team This month look up for a colorful celestial display! Just find the crescent moon in the western sky—sitting in a line with orange-hued Mars and pale blue Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. Together, they create a striking trio of white, orange, and blue—a patriotic parade in the night sky. Tune in to hear when the magic will happen.
The natural glow of night skies

1 month ago | wamc.org | Bob Berman

1 of 1 — STRANGE UNIVERSE.png NASA / iss065e213109 As we enter the moonless phase of the month — ideal for stargazing — it’s worth noting that even the darkest rural skies aren’t truly black. Natural skyglow, made up of airglow, Zodiacal Light, scattered starlight, and the unresolved shimmer of our galaxy, keeps the night subtly illuminated. During this period of solar maximum, the upper atmosphere glows more intensely, making the phenomenon even more striking.
Are we destined to be forever stuck on planet Earth?

1 month ago | hudsonvalleyone.com | Bob Berman

That’s a question pondered for centuries: How to permanently leave our world. A cannonball fired upward always returned. With a greater explosive charge and a higher speed, the shell went farther. If aimed sideways, it would start to fall around our planet’s curving surface, extending its travel distance. It wasn’t hard to figure out what speed an object would need to leave permanently. It was 6.9 miles per second. This is Earth’s escape velocity.
Mars meets the Moon

2 months ago | hudsonvalleyone.com | Bob Berman

Coming up this Saturday night, May 3, the fat crescent Moon will hover next to the famous blue star Regulus. As the brightest luminary in the entire zodiac and the main star of Leo the Lion, the ancient Persians considered it one of the “four royal stars.”The Babylonians, 4,000 years ago, knew that only six bright stars could ever appear next to the Moon or planets. So when it happens, like it will do spectacularly this Saturday, it’s definitely worth a look. It wasn’t always known as Regulus.
A Milky Way collision

2 months ago | wamc.org | Bob Berman

1 of 1 — strange universe .png NASA/ ESA/The Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA) Time to explore a radical new idea shaking up our understanding of the cosmos: what if dark matter doesn’t exist at all? Some European astronomers propose that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies may have already collided once in the distant past—a theory that challenges long-held beliefs about gravity and the mysterious dark matter thought to hold galaxies together.
Lunar cycles and holidays

2 months ago | wamc.org | Bob Berman

1 of 1 — 04252c3f-69c2-474e-b754-afd9d6b8d3f1.jpg NASA/Bill Dunford For centuries, the full moon guided calendars and celebrations — and its legacy lives on. This weekend, we explore how lunar cycles still determine the timing of some holidays. Ever wonder why Easter moves around or why there's always a full moon during this time. It all comes down to ancient rules and celestial rhythms that still shape our holidays today. Strange Universe planetLunar EclipseNASA
Special Moons - Hudson Valley One

2 months ago | hudsonvalleyone.com | Bob Berman

For countless centuries, the Full Moon had great importance. One reason was the lack of artificial lights, which made travel perilous unless a bright Moon was out. Moonlight mattered until the 19th century. Now, few of those festivals and lunar calendars still remain. But one of them unfolds with last weekend’s Full Moon. Passover and Easter’s changing dates start out simple enough. Easter is the Sunday following the first Full Moon on or after the spring equinox, and that’s this Sunday.
The sky's brightest star

2 months ago | wamc.org | Bob Berman

1 of 1 — SU 4-13 NASA.jpg NASA/CXC/U.Texas/S.Post et al, Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF – su 4-13 When darkness first falls these nights, the sky’s brightest star hovers in the west. This is the planet Jupiter. And just above it is a truly awesome object. It’s the twisted remains of one of the greatest start explosions. Tune in to hear how it could possibly be reached and what exactly happened. Strange Universe GalaxiesJupiterplanet