June 4 - Listening to Whales

June 4 Listening to Whales by:

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered whales in the world, with only around 350 remaining. Image via NOAA.

'Listening' to save the North Atlantic right whale The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered whale species on Earth. Entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes are their leading causes of death. Scientists from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, have developed a technology that lets machines distinguish between the sounds right whales make and the sounds of other sea-going activities such as shipping, fishing and drilling. The development, announced yesterday, will let the whales be detected before they get too close to large ships, for example. Read more. Webb Space Telescope launch delayed Rumors were swirling and now appear to be true. The James Webb Space Telescope is coming up against yet another delay, albeit a small one in contrast to setbacks over the past 2 decades. Space officials acknowledged at a briefing on June 1 that the launch of the Webb will likely slip from this coming October 31 to mid-November. Read more. Giant planets live in the suburbs Astronomers have released new results in a 30-year census of planetary systems beyond our own. They show that most giant exoplanets aren't close to their parent stars, but instead live in the suburbs of their systems. That's contrary to what astronomers thought when first discovering giant exoplanets in the 1990s. For a while, they thought hot Jupiters - giant planets close to their stars - might be the norm. Now, as astronomer Andrew Howard of Caltech said, “We’re starting to see patterns in other planetary systems that make our solar system look a bit more familiar.” Read more.

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Come to know the Summer Triangle The Summer Triangle is an asterism, not a constellation. It's made of three bright stars in three different constellations. These stars are Vega, Deneb and Altair. We in the Northern Hemisphere can see the Summer Triangle for part of the night at any time of the year. But seeing it in summer is the most fun! It's most prominent in the northern summer season. So, as dusk deepens into night on a warm June or July night, look eastward for this great star pattern. Read more.

Whales make rainbows Here's a collection of photos, and a video, of rainbows made by whales. Atmospheric Optics guru Les Cowley told EarthSky: "These are rainbows made by drops from the whale's blowholes rather than the more usual raindrops." But they are true rainbows, not iridescence like you sometimes see in clouds. Read more. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Subscribe & Support Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription. Want to help support EarthSky? Forward this email to a friend. Share our content via your social media. Consider a donation. Go shopping at the EarthSky Store. Thank you for your support!

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