When astronomers see something in the universe that at first glance seems like one-of-a-kind, it's bound to stir up a lot of excitement and attention. Enter comet 2I/Borisov. This mysterious visitor from the depths of space is the first identified comet to arrive here from another star. We don't know from where or when the comet started heading toward our Sun, but it won't hang around for long.
Telescopes around the world have been watching the fleeting visitor. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided the sharpest views as the comet skirts by our Sun. Since October the space telescope has been following the comet like a sports photographer following horses speeding around a racetrack. Hubble revealed that the heart of the comet, a loose agglomeration of ices and dust particles, is likely no more than about 3,200 feet across, about the length of nine football fields.
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California has 1 million solar roofs. Are 1 million batteries next? - Los Angeles Times
For Clovis Unified School District outside Fresno, the economics of solar power have been too good to pass up.
And for the solar industry, the district's investments in sun-generated electricity have helped fuel a milestone 14 years in the making.
Clovis Unified has installed solar systems covering parking lots and play areas at 47 of the 52 school sites it operates — and more installations are planned. Five high schools also have lithium-ion batteries, which store energy for use after the sun goes down.
Water common -- yet scarce -- in exoplanets -- ScienceDaily
The most extensive survey of atmospheric chemical compositions of exoplanets to date has revealed trends that challenge current theories of planet formation and has implications for the search for water in the solar system and beyond.
A team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, used atmospheric data from 19 exoplanets to obtain detailed measurements of their chemical and thermal properties. The exoplanets in the study span a large range in size -- from 'mini-Neptunes' of nearly 10 Earth masses to 'super-Jupiters' of over 600 Earth masses -- and temperature, from nearly 20 degrees Celsius to over 2000 degrees Celsius.
China Starts Search for Habitable Planets Outside Solar System – Thatsmags.com
In an announcement that sounds much like the plot of a science fiction film (here's looking at you, Interstellar ), China's leading space exploration conglomerate has confirmed that they are planning to launch a spacecraft to hunt for habitable worlds outside of the solar system.
On Thursday, General Manager Yuan Jie at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp told 500 students at Beijing's Beihang University that China plans to start hunting for potentially habitable exoplanets by the end of the next decade. (Exoplanets, for the unaware, are planets located outside of our solar system.)
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Big volcanic bump unlike anything seen before found on the moon
A view of the moon through a telescope showcases the many well-preserved craters and dark lava plains on our close celestial companion.
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Sometime after the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago, a projectile slammed into Earth's youthful moon and formed the 620-mile-wide basin known as the Crisium basin. No one knows exactly when this impact happened, but for decades scientists have been trying to solve the puzzle as part of a larger debate over whether the moon and, by proxy, Earth endured a period of frenzied meteor bombardment in their early histories.
OSIRIS-Rex - Bennu Asteroid - Asteroid Samples
From four proposed landing sites—Nightingale, Osprey, Sandpiper, and Kingfisher—researchers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Arizona have chosen Nightingale for the primary sample site and Osprey as a back-up site.
"Those two were really neck and neck down to the wire," said the mission's principal investigator Dante Lauretta, of the University of Arizona, in a December 12 press conference at the American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco.
Physics - Focus: New Spaceship Sail Self-Centers
To snap close-up photos of planets outside our Solar System (exoplanets), some researchers are proposing the use of a fleet of “light sails” propelled by powerful Earth-bound lasers. A new experiment has demonstrated a possible sail design that uses diffraction gratings, rather than the reflective mirrors that have been used in previous sail designs.
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Chemically powered rockets continue to be the dominant form of space travel. However, venturing out of the Solar System will require more energy than chemical fuel propellants can supply. “Rockets have done just as much as they can do,” says Grover Swartzlander from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Light sails are one alternative, with the earliest proposals dating from the 19th century. The simplest idea is to deploy a large mirror that reflects sunlight.
China's space program to aim beyond solar system in 2030
China's main space contractor outlined the country's space exploration program for 2030 to 2045 on Thursday which includes its search for habitable planets close to the solar system, a step forward in discovering a wider universe.
Yuan Jie, general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), told a class at Beihang University the country plans to launch space exploration projects that include "Mi Yin" (sound founding) to explore livable exoplanets in proximity to the solar system, media reported.
Happening on Twitter
These two images, taken by Hubble, capture comet 2I/Borisov streaking though our solar system and on its way back t… https://t.co/JmTNvhpEKs NASAHubble (from Goddard Space Flight Center) Thu Dec 12 18:01:53 +0000 2019
HOROWITZ: "We identified significant inaccuracies and omissions in each of the four applications, seven in the firs… https://t.co/aszj3PhlqI bennyjohnson (from WashingtonDC/ New York City) Wed Dec 11 16:33:02 +0000 2019
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