Blog Posts by Subject: Astronomy

This recommended reading list includes classic and recent pictures books, and comics created mostly by Asian Pacific American authors and illustrators - great for young readers ranging from babies and toddlers to elementary school students.

With a Super Blue Blood Moon appearing in the sky on January 31, we look back at an innovative astrophotographer who produced stunning moon photos in 1865.

The total solar eclipse which crossed from Alaska to Texas spurred many to make the trip West. Dr. Henry Draper assembled a group who watched the eclipse from the railroad outpost of Rawlins, in the Wyoming Territory.

For Americans in the post-Civil War years, the most iconic images of the cosmos were largely the work of one man: Étienne Leopold Trouvelot (1827-1895), an artist and amateur astronomer who produced incredible images of the heavens.

At the Andrew Heiskell Braille & Talking Book Library, we’re always discovering new ways for patrons with all kinds of vision to explore information. As New Yorkers prepare for the upcoming solar eclipse on August 21, here are a few ways to experience this rare event and other celestial phenomena in an accessible way.

For this week's New York Public Library Podcast, we're proud to present Nathaniel Kahn discussing powerful telescopes, weird science, and the innocence of scientists portrayed in his latest film.

From exploding stars to colliding galaxies, the photos from Hubble make us aware of the staggering immensity of the universe. The glimpse of eternity that these sublime images offer can arouse anxiety, even terror.

Drawing as a form of inquiry... groundbreaking graphic designers... The U.S. a safe haven for Nazis... 1,000 years of visualizing the cosmos... a moment-by-moment account of Hurricane Sandy... the era of great American songwriting... the evolution of the painted nail...

The lost tribe of Coney Island... building the Statue of Liberty... a culinary history of America in 100 bites... the sinking of refugee ship The Wilhelm Gustloff during World War II... a close-up of the planet Mars... forgiving, remembering, and forgetting in personal and political contexts... a road trip through presidential libraries... curious New York activities... what online data can tell us about ourselves... reducing inequality in the 21st century... the history of New York's mass transit systems between 1940 and 1968... tales from a world traveler...

Have you been captivated by Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, the recent follow-up to Carl Sagan's seminal documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage? Me too. While the engaging style would likely draw in high school and perhaps middle grade students, it might be a bit too advanced for the younger crowd, despite some amazing visuals and animations. But why wait to introduce them to basic concept of the world, nay, cosmos they live in? History, nature, and the scientific method can really activate an imagination, stimulate curiosity, and provoke inquiry.

I've always been fascinated by the possibility of traveling backwards and forwards in time, and scientific opinion is still divided on whether or not such a thing is even theoretically possible. Noted physicist Stephen Hawking seems to believe in the possibility of time-travel, but only forward, no backward time travel according to his work

The LIVE from the NYPL program featuring Richard Holmes in conversation with Paul Holdengräber was off to a rocky start last night; the technology controlling the microphones kept malfunctioning. Mr. Holmes joked that it probably had "something to do with homeland security." This prompted a few chuckles from the crowd. When the microphone started acting up again twenty minutes later, Richard commented, "this gives new meaning to [part of] the subtitle of the book; ‘the Beauty and Terror of Science.'" At this point, he had the audience roaring with laughter.