What's Up for January? Getting close to the Sun, some easy outer-planet spotting, and a chance to catch quick-moving Mercury.
The new year begins with planet Earth at the closest point in its orbit around the Sun, called perihelion, on January 2nd. Now you may have learned in school that Earth orbits a certain distance from the Sun and that its orbit is nearly circular. The average distance from Earth to the Sun is called an astronomical unit, but since our orbit is not a perfect circle, it means sometimes we're a bit closer to the Sun, and sometimes farther away.
Were you following this:
Mysterious dwarf planet-sized asteroid is hidden in our solar system, study suggests | The
Our solar system appears to be home to a huge and unknown dwarf planet -sized asteroid , according to a new study.
A small shard of meteorite that arrived on Earth in 2008 appears to have come from the asteroid, according to researchers who have studied the sample.
The parent asteroid appears to be roughly the size of Ceres, the dwarf planet is the biggest object in the asteroid belt, the researchers say. It also appears to have been formed around water and under some pressure, they found.
Getting Data about the Solar System: Telescopes and Spacecrafts
Our study of the solar system and the universe changed when Hubble was launched in 1990 and successfully repaired and upgraded in 1993. Hubble's large mirror is 2.4 meters in diameter. That, combined with the fact that the telescope operates in space, where the Earth's atmosphere can't cause any problems, are the important factors in the science revolution that Hubble brought forth.
With Hubble, we've been able to monitor the planets in our solar system, especially at times when spacecraft aren't visiting them for even closer views. With Hubble we've captured pictures of global dust storms on Mars, new storms on Neptune, and even volcanoes on Io. Hubble can also be used to study the atmospheres of extrasolar planets.
Space: 2021 | Discover Magazine
Food, water, and energy, and information are essential. Everyone deserves fair access to them. That said, devoting just a tiny (truly tiny) portion of the economy to the exploration of space reminds us of the wonder that we are all born with — the sense that we are individuals who belong to a species, a species that belongs to a planet, and a planet that is part of a vast, gorgeous, mysterious universe.
Space exploration also offers its rhythmic certainties. Grand missions require long-term planning and set celestial schedules. Whatever unforeseeable events may happen down here, good or bad, we know that 2021 will offer some grand new adventures up there. Even if there are accidents or malfunctions, the coming year promises to be a banner one in our ongoing peek into the solar system.
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Duke Energy installed major rooftop solar system at Keck Observatory in Hawaii – Daily
Duke Energy's REC Solar completed the world's largest commercial solar system installed at the highest altitude.
The rooftop solar project is at the W. M. Keck Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii, located near the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The installation is at an altitude of 13,600 feet.
It is located on the rooftop of Keck Observatory's telescope facility, between the domes of the twin Keck I and Keck II. The system will produce 259.1 MWh of energy each year, which will reduce the observatory's electric power needs by about 10-15 percent.
In the far future, stellar flybys will completely dismantle the solar system
To the stream of excited follow-up questions that are bound to follow your explanation, you can further explain that the sun itself and the Milky Way will be the culprit. And then you can mention a new study.
The study is titled "The Great Inequality and the Dynamical Disintegration of the Outer solar system." The lead author is Jon Zink, a graduate student in UCLA's Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The paper is published in the Astronomical Journal .
History of the solar nebula from meteorite paleomagnetism | Science Advances
Measuring the magnetic field strength in PPDs therefore offers a unique opportunity to test disk theory with far-reaching implications for planet formation. Thus far, astronomical observations have yet to unambiguously constrain the strength and morphology of magnetic fields in the planet-forming regions of PPDs ( 9 ).
Formation of PPDs from the collapse of prestellar and protostellar cores in molecular clouds is a natural consequence of angular momentum conservation. The subsequent evolution of such a disk into the present-day solar system, in which >99% of the mass is within the Sun and >99% of the angular momentum is carried by the planets, required the inward transfer of mass.
Free power: State focusses on solar system - The Hindu
The decision taken by the State government to provide free power to the farm sector is set to become a reality as the ball has already been set in motion. The government invited tenders for the 10,000 MW solar power project on November 30 and received bids from five companies in four weeks, according to an official release.
Officials are now gearing up to open the bids and put them through the process of of reverse tendering. The entire exercise is scheduled to be completed by the end of February, 2021. Care has been taken in preparing the tender documents in compliance with the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Happening on Twitter
Are you up to the challenge of designing your own mission to Mars? Pre-register your class, education group, or f… https://t.co/i4Y2OFTw6a NASA Sat Jan 02 17:55:00 +0000 2021
Well, 2021 certainly started with a bang. Nearly an hour before the first sunrise of the year, the sky over… https://t.co/sclGS259KH DaveDiCello (from Pittsburgh) Fri Jan 01 13:42:36 +0000 2021
Find out what's coming up in January! https://t.co/LMzZNoLl49 soompi (from Worldwide) Sat Jan 02 10:00:01 +0000 2021
Today, Ireland takes up its seat as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council 🇺🇳for the 2021-2022 te… https://t.co/TReUVt5tsi dfatirl (from Dublin, Ireland) Fri Jan 01 11:31:00 +0000 2021
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