When we think of Earth and its neighboring planets orbiting around our common host star, we picture the center of the Solar System as smack in the middle of the Sun . However, that's not entirely true, according to new research.
The planets and the Sun actually orbit around a common center of mass . And for the first time, a team of astronomers has pinpointed the center of the entire Solar System down to within 100 meters, the most precise calculation yet.
In case you are keeping track:
NASA is updating its guidelines on how to prevent contamination of the Solar System - The Verge
After years of debate, NASA plans to update its guidelines for how much biological contamination of other worlds will be allowed while the agency explores the Solar System. The new rules would relax some of the agency's requirements for how to explore the Moon and Mars — two high-profile destinations where NASA hopes to send astronauts in the coming years.
For decades, NASA has followed fairly strict rules about how much biological contamination is considered acceptable whenever the agency sends probes — or people — to other planets. It's a concept known as planetary protection, and it has a legal basis in a treaty signed more than 50 years ago.
A grapefruit-sized black hole may be hiding in our solar system – BGR
The hunt for the ever-elusive “Planet Nine” has taken scientists down some very strange roads. The idea that a planet exists in the outer reaches of our solar system and can’t be easily seen has been floating around for some time, and observations of other objects in the area suggest that there’s something big generating a gravitational pull. The easiest explanation would be a planet, but it’s not the only possibility.
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Now, scientists from Harvard University in partnership with the Black Hole Initiative want to test the theory that the object that appears to be lurking on our system’s edge is actually a black hole . Yep, you read that correctly; there may be a black hole lurking right in our cosmic back yard.
India's Largest Building Integrated Vertical Solar System & The Road Ahead
Building energy consumption accounts for more than a third of India's total energy consumption. Add to this the fact that more than 70% of the buildings that will stand in India in 2030 are yet to be built. Clearly, making buildings energy efficient, as well as local producers of clean energy, is a priority for the country.
With the falling prices of renewable energy it is now easier than ever to increase clean energy consumption in buildings. However, beyond the initial low hanging fruit (rooftop solar!), the time is right to start venturing into new spaces for increasing onsite clean energy generation.
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See Our Solar System's Newest Spectacle, Comet NEOWISE | Digital Trends
Our part of the solar system has a spectacular new visitor, a comet technically identified as C/2020 F3 NEOWISE but more commonly called simply NEOWISE. This bright comet passed extremely close to the sun last week and is now visible, even with the naked eye, as it speeds away from the sun toward Earth.
The comet is named after the mission which discovered it, a NASA mission to survey near-Earth objects, the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE. The mission first detected the comet in March this year.
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The collective power of the solar system's dark, icy bodies | CU Boulder Today | University of
Scientists have long struggled to explain the existence of the solar system's "detached objects," which have orbits that tilt like seesaws and often cluster in one part of the night sky. (Credit: Steven Burrows/JILA)
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The outermost reaches of our solar system are a strange place—filled with dark and icy bodies with nicknames like Sedna, Biden and The Goblin, each of which span several hundred miles across.
Two new studies by researchers at CU Boulder may help to solve one of the biggest mysteries about these far away worlds: why so many of them don't circle the sun the way they should.
Beyond Mars, Other Places in Our Solar System We Could Colonize
Mars is one of our best options, but there are multiple places in our solar system that could potentially support human space colonies.
We get why colonizing Mars is so appealing. We have even discussed why this could be a great idea . As Elon Musk so cogently put it, "Humans need to be a multi-planet species." Nevertheless, as you have probably guessed, today we are going to look at some of the alternatives to Mars, places which are close neighbors to our home planet and could operate as strategic bases or potential long term homes.
Happening on Twitter
BREAKING (WSJ): "Scientists found traces of the [SARS-CoV-2] virus in wastewater samples collected in Brazil beginn… https://t.co/Pm0uDBzGx1 SethAbramson (from All views are my own.) Sat Jul 11 21:21:01 +0000 2020
Using data from our @NASAExoplanets NEOWISE mission, scientists from @backyardworlds have discovered two bizarre br… https://t.co/aFuCeOlFXY NASA Sat Jul 11 19:13:00 +0000 2020
The scientists who found this underwater forest are calling it "the forest of the weird" https://t.co/WRWHyWio5H techinsider (from New York, USA) Sun Jul 12 06:12:31 +0000 2020
Scientists have found snippets of Native South American DNA in the genomes of present-day Polynesians, and they tra… https://t.co/sbaGO6QJx5 sciam (from New York City) Sat Jul 11 13:00:00 +0000 2020
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