Astronomers have discovered an object is on track to enter the Earth’s orbit in the next few weeks, becoming our newest mini-moon . But, they are beginning to suspect the object might not be an asteroid floating in space, but instead, manmade space junk from the 1960s.
Named 2020 SO , the new mini-moon is expected to start orbiting the Earth sometime in October or November of this year and pop out of orbit in May 2021. Reportedly, scientists had first spotted this object from a Hawaiian observatory in August, but as they continued studying it, they became more and more convinced that it may not be a new asteroid at all.
Not to change the topic here:
The 2020 Nobel Prize in physics celebrates the gravitational power of black holes - Vox
Scientists can't see the supermassive black hole, called Sagittarius A*, at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. But they can sense the enormous gravitational power it has on the stars around it. Stars, which astronomers can see, orbit the black hole at staggering speeds.
See for yourself. This video includes 16 years of observations from the European Southern Observatory . This isn't an animation — it's real images of stars sped up by a factor of 32 million. Watch them dance around a mysterious blank center.
Strange new worlds: 51 Pegasi b and the search for 'exoplanets' | The Spokesman-Review
On this date 25 years ago, the first exoplanet – meaning a planet observed outside our solar system, orbiting a different star from our own – was discovered by Swiss astronomers Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz. Their discovery opened up an entirely new field of study for skywatchers: The hunt for new planets.
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The exoplanet orbits the star 51 Pegasi, which is about 50 light years away from Earth. This means if you see the star tonight, you're actually looking at light that left that star in 1970.
Astronaut Snoopy orbits the moon on new Omega Speedmaster watch | Space
Snoopy is over the moon with a new timepiece celebrating a Swiss watchmaker's role in saving NASA's Apollo 13 mission half a century ago.
Omega launched its new Speedmaster "Silver Snoopy Award" 50th Anniversary chronograph on Monday (Oct. 5), 50 years to the day after NASA honored the company with the comic strip beagle-adorned lapel pin from which the wristwatch derives its name.
"When the spacecraft clocks stopped, that's when we required the Speedmaster," Jim Lovell , Apollo 13 commander, said in an interview released by Omega. "Without our normal navigation equipment, we had to view the Earth and use it as a guideline. Then we had to burn the engine for 14 seconds and turn it off, so we used the watch that [Apollo 13 command module pilot] Jack Swigert wore."
While you're here, how about this:
Why is space becoming a cosmic junkyard?
On Sept. 22, the International Space Station crew quickly fired a couple engines and retreated into a safe capsule, to see if their efforts allowed them to dodge a collision with a piece of space junk. They were successful. No collision took place.
Unfortunately, the collision risk is becoming more common as outer space, once fairly empty, is being filled with remnants of our current and past space tools.
This wasn't the first close encounter. In 2015, an object was detected heading towards the International Space Station at 31,000 miles an hour — a typical speed for space junk. The ground crew had four hours to develop a plan to get out of its way. Not an easy task. They too were successful.
Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson won't fly on 1st crewed Starliner launch | Space
I'm taking on a new mission, one that keeps my feet planted here firmly on Earth and prioritizes my most important crew – my family. I'll still be working hard with the #Starliner team and the @NASA_Astronauts on our crew. pic.twitter.com/PgdhPqwYQS October 7, 2020
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Ferguson, a veteran astronaut who commanded NASA's final space shuttle mission in 2011 before leaving the agency for Boeing, has withdrawn from the company's Crew Flight Test in 2021, citing personal reasons. The test mission will send a CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station on an astronaut-carrying shakeout cruise.
Mars is at its closest to Earth until 2035. Here's how to see it. | Space
Look up! Mars is at its closest to Earth until 2035 today (Oct. 6), making it a perfect time to see the Red Planet with your own eyes.
Today at 10:18 a.m. EDT (1418 GMT), Mars swoops within 38,568,816 miles (62,070,493 kilometers) of Earth, making a smooth close approach. This will be the closest the Red Planet will come to Earth for the next15 years, or until September, 2035, according to Earthsky.org .
The planet is visible high in the eastern sky . It appears as a stunning reddish light, weather permitting.
New research explores how super flares affect planets' habitability | EurekAlert! Science News
IMAGE: The Evryscope South dome overlooks the Pacific from Cerro Tololo in Chile, one of the driest places with the clearest skies on Earth. Many dark cloudless nights give the system... view more
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Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill have for the first time measured the temperature of a large sample of super flares from stars, and the flares' likely ultraviolet emissions. Their findings, published Oct. 5 ahead of print in Astrophysical Journal , will allow researchers to put limits on the habitability of planets that are targets of upcoming planet-finding missions.
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