Altruism is an expression of concern for the welfare of others without any obvious benefit or motivation on the part of the individual expressing the concern. It is actually quite difficult to find examples of true altruism in the psychological sense, as many acts which are perceived as altruistic actually carry psychological rewards. In humans, helping others generally results in a feeling of...
Addictions can be to almost anything you do, whether you realize the addictive pattern or not. It is so easy to become and addictive personality as your life poses challenging and your brain and body respond, seeking instant gratification. Which of these things are you addicted to? substances … medication … smoking … food … dramas … overspending … work … technologies … texting … talking … working...
Man has always looked to the skies for answers … as if a celestial blueprint that tells the story of humanity’s journey in time and space. Creation myths connect god with the heavens, often the constellations, sometimes with a link to ancient aliens who came to Earth to seed humanity and will one day return. As the millennia progressed, so too did the use of telescopes to find answers...
aurus is the second sign of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for Bull. The sun passes through this constellation from mid-May to late June; therefore its best observed in the early wintertime. The red star alpha Tau, called Aldebaran, represents the glowing eye of the bull and white star beta Tau, called El Nath is thought to be the pushing horn. The open cluster of the Hyades forms the head. The...
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. Supernovae (plural) are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months. During this short interval a supernova can radiate as much energy as the Sun is expected to emit over its entire life span. Several large stars within...
The Sun is the closest star to Earth. The Sun is a huge mass of hot, glowing gas. The Sun is a huge mass of hot, glowing gas. The strong gravitational pull of the Sun holds Earth and the other planets in the solar system in orbit. The Sun’s light and heat influence all of the objects in the solar system and allow life to exist on Earth. The Sun is an average star its size, age, and...
People look at the sky for many reasons. For the Astronomer it’s a journey filled with endless possibilities. For the Cosmologist it’s about creation and what lies beyond. There’s mythology linked with the constellations, folklore, history, and archaeoastronomy that link humanity to the heavens, as if it is all connected by a sacred geometric stream of consciousness. Some love...
A space tornado is solar windstorm and is exponentially larger and more powerful than conventional tornadoes on Earth. They are also thought to produce the aurora borealis phenomenon. Tornadoes on Earth are formed by the atmosphere and sometimes having precipitation, while space tornadoes are formed by magnetic fields and with plasma. Space tornadoes are made up of plasmas, consisting of...
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects bound to it by gravity, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Of the many objects that orbit the Sun, most of the mass is contained within eight relatively solitary planets whose orbits are almost circular and lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic...
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of -1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name “Sirius” is derived from the Ancient Greek Seirios (“glowing” or “scorcher”). The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris. What the naked eye perceives as a single star is actually a...