Mental Floss

ASTRONOMY

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He sat on his heliocentric theory of the universe for 30-some years, and only published his ideas on his deathbed.

Galileo Galilei in an oil painting by an Italian painter, 18th (?) century.

Galileo Galilei, the father of modern astronomy, probably never dropped anything off the leaning tower of Pisa, and he didn't actually invent the telescope. But he did change history with his discoveries about the cosmos.

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The next supermoon will light up skies on Tuesday, February 19. This one will be a snow moon, a full moon that comes only at this time of year.

NASA

In 2004, the rover Opportunity landed on Mars. Originally intended to serve a mere 90-day mission, the rover instead beamed back scientific discoveries for more than a decade—and now its groundbreaking mission is over.

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Few space stations want a body stinking up the place. Fortunately, there's always the garbage room.

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Though it's freezing on its surface, primitive life might be lurking somewhere below.

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Don't miss the first meteor shower of 2019.

A blood moon as seen from Sydney, Australia on July 28, 2018

Here's when to see it.

Adrian Cadiz, U.S. Air Force

The mathematician laid the groundwork for technology we all use today.

An artist's rendering of the dwarf planet Eris

Eris was once thought to be larger than Pluto.

Noam Galai, Getty Images

America's preeminent badass astrophysicist turns 60 years old today.

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It's a question scientists have been asking for more than 400 years.

Galileo Before The Papal Tribunal by Robert Henry. Hulton Archive, Getty Images

The letter may solve a centuries-long mystery.

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The hapless dwarf planet got demoted in 2006, but some stubborn scientists are still lobbying for reinstatement.

ESA/Hubble, NASA, A. Simon (GSFC) and the OPAL Team, J. DePasquale (STScI), L. Lamy (Observatoire de Paris)

The phenomenon is not limited to our planet.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The spacecraft will use a robotic arm to scoop up a sample of Bennu and then return it to Earth.

NASA

Huge news for future Moon explorers.

Earth as captured from near the lunar horizon by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2015.

Let's review why and how we've known for at least 2300 years that the Earth is round.

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Your education shouldn't end when you graduate.

ESO, A. Müller et al.

The baby planet is a few times bigger than Jupiter.