Kelly Kizer Whitt

Wisconsin

Editor and Writer at EarthSky

Author of Solar System Forecast, A Different Sky, etc. Editor & writer at https://t.co/OIGlcnhxgK. Xwd puzzle creator. Mastodon: @[email protected]

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Articles

Proposed NASA cuts to space science: “Staggering”

6 days ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Human World By now you’ve probably heard about the overall drastic cuts to science proposed by the Trump administration. This weekend, the buzz is centered on the NASA science program. This is the program that sent the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond, for example, and found thousands of exoplanets, or distant worlds outside our solar system. NASA released details of its new budget – indicating which missions would be cancelled – on Friday, May 30, 2025.
See the best Milky Way photos of 2025 here

1 week ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Today's Image The 2025 Milky Way Photographer of the Year awards are here! Sponsored by Capture the Atlas, company co-founder and chief photographer Dan Zafra will sit down with EarthSky’s Dave Adalian at 12:15 CT (17:15 UTC) on Monday, May 26. Dan will walk us through 5 of the best winning skyscapes from the 8th annual contest winners. And he’ll give us a few pointers for making our own Milky Way works of art. Join us!Looking up has never felt more important.
THE NIGHT SKY OVER SAUK COUNTY COLUMN: Mars becomes a lone jewel in the evening sky

2 weeks ago | wiscnews.com | Kelly Kizer Whitt

June starts out the month with a crescent moon beside Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion, with reddish Mars not far away. Mars is the only planet in the evening sky for the first half of June, because Jupiter has sunk too close to the sun’s glow by the horizon to spot. Mars glows like a pretty ruby from a dark-sky location. Watch Mars’ motion in June as it gets closer to Regulus. The pair will be in close quarters for a handful of nights, starting on June 14.
Can Dyson spheres be stable? New research says yes

2 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Space Science matters. Wonder matters. You matter. Join our 2025 Donation Campaign today. How would advanced alien civilizations power their massive technological needs? Astronomer Freeman J. Dyson proposed the idea of orbiting solar collectors to harvest the energy of a star. This Dyson sphere, as it came to be known, has become a popular device in science fiction. But Dyson spheres have a fatal flaw; they are unstable against gravitational forces and would eventually get torn apart.
New minor planet found in the distant solar system

2 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Space Looking up has never felt more important. Please donate to help EarthSky keep bringing the sky to your screen. On May 21, 2025, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center added a new object to their list: 2017 OF201. This is likely the largest new object found in our solar system since the minor planet 2014 UZ224, which the IAU recognized in 2016.
See the Chinese rocket that surprised aurora watchers

2 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Today's Image On the evening of May 16, 2025, many stargazers were looking northward for the aurora. As the EarthSky sun team reported, earlier in the week the sun had fired off some X flares, and the northern lights danced for observers at higher latitudes. But aurora watchers also saw an unusual bright streak cutting across the sky. While the source of the streak was a mystery for a few hours, some finally put together the pieces of the puzzle and pinpointed a Chinese rocket as the cause.
Fire season gets an early start in Canada and Minnesota

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Earth We’ve never needed good science more than we do right now. Support EarthSky in 2025 and help us keep it going strong. The state of Minnesota, along with the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, are seeing an early start to fire season this year. Hot, dry and windy conditions have set the stage for wildfires. So far, the wildfires have led to the loss of structures, evacuations and the tragic deaths of two people in Manitoba.
Big cities are sinking in the US. Is yours one?

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

No hype. Just real science, powered by real people. That’s you. A study of the 28 most populous cities in the United States found they are all sinking. These cities are home to some 34 million people, or about 12% of the total U.S. population. Researchers at Virginia Tech said on May 8, 2025, that in 25 of 28 cities, at least 65% of the land is sinking. The major cause of the sinking is groundwater extraction.
Myanmar earthquake: Is this the first fault rupture on film?

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Earth A security camera captured the moment of the Myanmar earthquake of March 28, 2025, when the ground split as one plate slid past the other. Video via 2025 Sagaing Earthquake Archive. This may be the first fault rupture ever caught on video. On March 28, 2025, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the southeast Asian country of Myanmar. And a security camera for GP Energy Myanmar was rolling, capturing the moment when the Earth split.
Supermassive black hole roaming the darkness between stars

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Kelly Kizer Whitt

Space Science matters. Wonder matters. You matter. Join our 2025 Donation Campaign today. We know of supermassive black holes as the beasts that lie at the cores of galaxies. But NASA said on May 8, 2025, that scientists have found a wandering supermassive black hole, offset from the center of its galaxy. This supermassive black hole is about 1 million times the mass of our sun. Scientists spotted it when it ate a nearby star, ripping it to shreds and releasing a burst of energy in the process.