A small telescope on rocky ground at blue hour.

October 18, 2026 · 9 min

The stars that blink like lighthouses

A careful count of stars that brighten and fade gave us a ruler for the far sky.

Free

Because

A short letter every Sunday: one discovery about the sky, and the steps that led to it.

2,800 readers

Free, and you can leave any time

One email every Sunday. Unsubscribe any time.

More posts

  • Neptune, found with a pencil

    Uranus kept drifting off its path, so two people worked out where an unseen planet had to be.

    Oct 25, 2026 · 8 min read

  • Measuring the distance to a star

    Look at a star in January and again in July, and it shifts a tiny amount. That shift is a distance.

    Oct 17, 2026 · 8 min read