How To Spot 6 Planets In The Sky In Early June

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Skywatchers, get ready for a planetary parade, a spectacular event where the planets align in the sky.

The next one is set for June 3, and if you're in the right location, you could witness up to six planets.

Why do planets align? Well, as time goes on, planets orbit the sun. Eventually, they catch up to each other. When they pass, it looks like they're lining up from Earth because they're all on the same path — the ecliptic — but this lineup doesn't stick around for long because each planet moves at its own speed, based on its distance from the sun.

With the naked eye, keen observers can spot Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn. Those equipped with high-powered binoculars or telescopes may also catch a glimpse of Uranus, near Mercury, Neptune and close to Saturn.

This marks the second planetary parade of the year, following the one during the 2024 solar eclipse . Those in the path of totality could see Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mars during the eclipse, although spotting Mars and Saturn might have been a bit trickier.

Looking east, Florida can expect Saturn, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter to be visible just before sunrise around 6 a.m.

Venus will be present too, but it'll be too close to the sun to be visible. This six-planet spectacle will grace the morning sky for about a week.

Proof Aliens Exist? Federal Agencies Must Now Deliver All UFO Reports For Public Disclosure - Including Classified...

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Federal agencies have until October 20th to deliver every document, audio and video they have about UFOs to the US government for distribution to the public.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) issued the instructions this month — putting into action the UFO disclosure amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), as signed into law last December.

The guidelines reveal the latest strategy to compel unwilling parts of the US military and the intelligence community into revealing everything they know about the mysterious airborne events, now called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

The move comes two months after the Pentagon 's UFO office issued a controversial report to Congress , claiming it 'found no verifiable evidence that the US government or private industry has ever had access to extraterrestrial technology.'

The US National Archives is demanding all UFO records by October 20th, 2024. Above, the US Air Force once made public this image of a 1972 Viking space probe awaiting recovery at the White Sands Missile Range near Roswell to explain the 1947 Roswell UFO crash 25 years prior

Above, 'Archives II,' the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland which houses the most contemporary government documents available to scholars and the public. The newly demanded UFO records will be available here as well as online via a digital database

NARA archivists have issued guidelines mandating that all UFO or UAP documents be delivered in electronic formats with detailed metadata for inclusion a new searchable database to be made available to the public.

The database will include classified material that the NARA will store independently, safe keeping the records until they can be declassified for the public.

NARA's guidelines make it clear that all government agencies are required label their records with each file's 'official security status' and any 'special controls' including 'special compartmented information' (SCI) and 'special access programs' (SAP).

ISS National Lab Announces Up To $750,000 In Funding For LEO Tech Development

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WOONSOCKET, R.I., May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Pharmacy® (NYSE: CVS), the retail division of CVS Health®, today announced the launch of Well Market™, a new store brand consumables line featuring snacks, beverages and groceries. ⁘Our goal at CVS Health is to be the most consumer-centric health...

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The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory is soliciting flight concepts for technology development that would utilize the space-based environment of the orbiting laboratory. This solicitation, " Technology Development and Applied Research Leveraging the ISS National Lab ," is open to a broad range of technology areas, including chemical and material synthesis in space, translational medicine, in-space edge computing, and ISAM ( in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing ) and also encompasses the application of space station remote sensing data to improve geospatial analytics for commercial use.

Through this research announcement, respondents may propose to use the unique environment of the orbiting platform to develop, test, or mature products and processes that have a demonstrated potential to produce near-term and positive direct or indirect economic impact. Flight concepts selected via this research announcement may be awarded funding to enable mission integration and operations support for projects that will be implemented on the space station.

Step 1 : Concept Summaries must be submitted by the end of the day on July 12, 2024 . Step 2 : Full Proposals from those invited to submit will be due by the end of the day October 2, 2024 . Multiple projects are expected to be awarded through this research announcement with up to $750,000 in total funding available.

As an example, a project from the University of Southern California , awarded through a prior ISS National Lab Research Announcement, focused on technology advancement, r ecently tested a system to autonomously dock and undock CubeSats on the space station .The CLINGERS system was designed to combine a mechanical docking system with rendezvous sensors to enable docking with both active and passive objects. Technologies such as this could make it easier to safely move objects in space, which is key to developing an in-orbit construction ecosystem.

Astronomers Spot A Giant Planet That Is As Li | EurekAlert!

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Astronomers at MIT, the University of Li⁘ge in Belgium, and elsewhere have discovered a huge, fluffy oddball of a planet orbiting a distant star in our Milky Way galaxy. The discovery, reported today in the journal Nature Astronomy , is a promising key to the mystery of how such giant, super-light planets form.

The new planet, named WASP-193b, appears to dwarf Jupiter in size, yet it is a fraction of its density. The scientists found that the gas giant is 50 percent bigger than Jupiter, and about a tenth as dense ⁘ an extremely low density, comparable to that of cotton candy.

WASP-193b is the second lightest planet discovered to date, after the smaller, Neptune-like world, Kepler 51d. The new planet⁘s much larger size, combined with its super-light density, make WASP-193b something of an oddity among the more than 5,400 planets discovered to date.

⁘To find these giant objects with such a small density is really, really rare,⁘ says lead study author and MIT postdoc Khalid Barkaoui. ⁘There⁘s a class of planets called puffy Jupiters, and it⁘s been a mystery for 15 years now as to what they are. And this is an extreme case of that class.⁘

⁘We don⁘t know where to put this planet in all the formation theories we have right now, because it⁘s an outlier of all of them,⁘ adds co-lead author Francisco Pozuelos, a senior researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucia, in Spain. ⁘We cannot explain how this planet was formed, based on classical evolution models. Looking more closely at its atmosphere will allow us to obtain an evolutionary path of this planet.⁘

The study⁘s MIT co-authors include Julien de Wit, an assistant professor in MIT⁘s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, and MIT postdoc Artem Burdanov, along with collaborators from multiple institutions across Europe.

The new planet was initially spotted by the Wide Angle Search for Planets, or WASP ⁘ an international collaboration of academic institutions that together operate two robotic observatories, one in the northern hemisphere and the other in the south. Each observatory uses an array of wide-angle cameras to measure the brightness of thousands of individual stars across the entire sky.

Blue Origin Will Carry These 6 Passengers On Its 1st Crewed Launch Since 2022

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Bezos' Rocket Company Will Send Tourists To Space This Weekend For First Time Since 2022

Blue Origin, the aerospace company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, will resume its space tourism program on May 19, sending a crew of six people into space in a first for the company in nearly two years.

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket will launch out of Texas on Sunday, with a launch window opening at 8:30 a.m. CDT, the company announced Tuesday.

It will carry a crew of six civilians , including 90-year-old sculptor Ed Dwight , who made history in 1961 when he was the first-ever Black astronaut candidate in the U.S.—but was never selected to join a space mission.

The launch would mark Blue Origin's seventh crewed space flight, and would bring the total number of people that Blue Origin has successfully flown into space to 37.

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Blue Origin targeting May 19 for next crewed spaceflight | Space

Jeff Bezos ' spaceflight company announced today (May 14) that it's targeting Sunday (May 19) for its latest suborbital space tourism effort. The mission, known as NS-25, will lift off from Blue Origin's West Texas site during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local time in West Texas).

Blue Origin's suborbital flights employ the company's New Shepard vehicle, which consists of a rocket and a capsule. Both of these elements are reusable; the rocket lands vertically not long after liftoff, while the crew-carrying capsule touches down under parachutes.

Passengers aboard the capsule experience a few minutes of weightlessness and get to see Earth against the blackness of space. It's a whirlwind affair; the entire flight, from launch to capsule touchdown, lasts about 11 minutes.

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Jeff Bezos-Owned Blue Origin To Resume Space Tourism Flights After Nearly 2-Year Long Hiatus...

Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos ' space venture Blue Origin is set to relaunch its space tourism flights after a hiatus of nearly two years, following a mission failure in 2022.

What Happened : Blue Origin, backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is preparing to resume its space tourism flights with the NS-25 mission on Sunday, according to Blue Origin's official website. The mission is scheduled to take off from Launch Site One in West Texas, with a launch window starting at 8:30 AM CDT / 1330 UTC.

The New Shepard rocket, which conducts short trips to the edge of space with cargo and human passengers, has been grounded since a mission failure in September 2022. The upcoming NS-25 mission will carry six crew members, including the first Black astronaut candidate in the United States, former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight .

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Blue Origin To Resume Space Tourist Flights After Near 2-year Pause

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(Reuters) - Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin will resume flights to space on Sunday, ending a near two-year pause of crewed operations following a 2022 mission failure.

The NS-25 mission will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas, with the launch window for the flight starting at 0830 CT (1330 GMT), the company said on Tuesday.

The New Shepard rocket, which flies cargo and humans on short trips to the edge of space, has been grounded since a September 2022 uncrewed mission failed roughly a minute after liftoff from Texas, forcing the rocket's capsule full of NASA experiments to safely eject mid-flight.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration closed its review of Blue Origin's New Shepard investigation last year, agreeing with the company's findings. It required Blue Origin to make 21 corrective actions, including an engine redesign and ⁘organizational changes⁘.

The upcoming NS-25 mission will have six crew members, including former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight, the first Black astronaut candidate in the United States.

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NASA Details Plan To Build A Levitating Robot Train On The Moon

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NASA eyes levitating robot train for the moon | Digital Trends

NASA is exploring the idea of building a railway on the lunar surface that uses levitating robots to provide ⁘reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the moon.⁘

The space agency said the Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT) system would play a key role in the daily operations of an astronaut-inhabited lunar base, which NASA is hoping to build in the 2030s as part of the Artemis program.

FLOAT would be used to move regolith mined for construction or to transport payloads around the lunar base, as well as to and from landing zones or other locations like exploration sites.

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NASA Announces Plans To Build First Railway System On Moon

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) readies to return astronauts to the moon, it has announced its plans to build a levitating robot train on the lunar surface. In a blog post , the American space agency provided details about the project called "Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT)", which aims to provide a "robotic transport system" to support future lunar activities of astroinauts visiting the moon. The transport system will be critical to the daily operation of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s, NASA said in a statement.

According to NASA's initial design, FLOAT will be for machines only. It will consist of magnetic robots levitating over a three-layer film track to reduce abrasion from dust on the lunar surface. Carts will be mounted on these robots and will move at roughly 1.61 kilometres per hour. They could transport roughly 100 tons of material a day to and from NASA's future lunar base.

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Does a levitating robot train on the moon sound far-fetched? NASA doesn⁘t seem to think so, as the agency has just greenlit further funding for a study looking into the concept.

The project, called "Flexible Levitation on a Track" (FLOAT), has been moved to phase two of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) , which aims to develop "science fiction-like" projects for future space exploration.

The FLOAT project could result in materials being transported across the moon 's surface as soon as the 2030s, according to the agency.

According to NASA's initial design, FLOAT will consist of magnetic robots levitating over a three-layer film track to reduce abrasion from dust on the lunar surface. Carts will be mounted on these robots and will move at roughly 1 mph (1.61 km/h). They could transport roughly 100 tons (90 metric tons) of material a day to and from NASA's future lunar base.

NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon as early as 2026 as part of the agency's Artemis mission, and aims to eventually set up a permanent lunar base to aid future space exploration.

Other "science fiction-like" NIAC plans that have advanced to the next development phase include fluid-based telescopes and a rocket propelled by plasma.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

AT⁘T Strikes Space Broadband Deal In Challenge To Musk's SpaceX

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Will the Northern Lights Affect Your Zodiac Sign? What to Know

The intensity of these magnetic storms could impact us energetically and heighten our emotional sensitivity

Keep your eyes on the sky this weekend! The northern lights are said to cast their luminous glow across parts of the United States, which raises the question: Could this colorful spectacle affect your zodiac sign ?

Also known as the aurora borealis, the northern lights have captivated people for centuries with their mesmerizing display of colorful lights. This celestial phenomenon occurs when supercharged particles from the sun collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere, causing bursts of light. However, thanks to our planet's protective magnetic field, these energized particles — which "slam into Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph," as per Space.com — are redirected toward the North and South poles.

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EMEA TRIBUNE Latest Breaking News, World News, Trending News, Viral News | We are the EMEA & APAC News...

Tesco shoppers are being warned not to eat a popular product as certain batches may contain ⁘small pieces of glass⁘.

When an item is recalled, customers are advised not to consume them and to return them to the stores they were bought from to receive a full refund. Alerts are also issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

A new FSA update today, Wednesday, reads: ⁘ Tesco is recalling Tesco Sandwich Pickle because it may.

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(Bloomberg) -- AT⁘T Inc. and satellite provider AST SpaceMobile Inc. are teaming up to provide wireless service from space — a challenge to Elon Musk's SpaceX, which struck a similar deal two years ago with T-Mobile US Inc. AST SpaceMobile jumped in extended trading on the news.

AT⁘T and AST SpaceMobile formalized the partnership following an earlier testing period, the companies said Wednesday in a statement. They said their agreement to build a space-based broadband network will run through 2030. AT⁘T head of network Chris Sambar will join the AST SpaceMobile board, deepening a relationship that dates back to at least 2018.

Sambar said in an interview that his team is confident in AST SpaceMobile's technology, as demonstrated by the performance of the BlueWalker 3 test satellite. The relationship is moving from "loose partner to a strategic partner," he said.

Wireless providers are in a race to offer connections for the world's estimated 5 billion mobile phones when those devices are in remote areas beyond the reach of cell towers. For consumers, these services hold the promise of connectivity along rural roads and in places likes national parks. The service is typically marketed as a supplement to standard wireless coverage.

The new network will work with ordinary mobile phones, offering a level of convenience that's lacking in current call-via-satellite services, which require the assistance of bulky specialized equipment.

Shares of Midland, Texas-based AST SpaceMobile gained about 35% to $3.25 in extended trading after closing at $2.39 in New York. AT⁘T was little changed.

AST SpaceMobile will deliver five satellites to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in July or August with launch on a SpaceX rocket expected "shortly thereafter," Scott Wisniewski, SpaceMobile's chief strategy officer, said in an interview.

The satellites will be operational about three months after launch, he said. Because the satellites fly around the Earth quickly, they will be overhead and in position to relay signals a few times a day. It will take 45 to 60 spacecraft to offer continuous service, Wisniewski said.

Smashing Into An Asteroid Shows Researchers How To Better Protect Earth

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"We were able to see Didymos and this little dot in the right spot where we expected Dimorphos to be," Rivkin recalled.

After the interview, Rivkin joined a crowd of scientists and guests to watch the mission's finale on several big screens: As part of an asteroid deflection mission called DART, a spacecraft was closing in on Dimorphos and photographing its rocky surface in increasing detail.

Within a few minutes, members of the mission team in Kenya and South Africa posted images from their telescopes, showing a bright plume of debris.

In the days that followed, researchers continued to observe the dust cloud and discovered it had morphed into a variety of shapes, including clumps, spirals, and two comet-like tails. They also calculated that the impact slowed Dimorphos' orbit by about a tenth of an inch per second, proof-of-concept that a spacecraft—also called a kinetic impactor—could target and deflect an asteroid far from Earth.

Ron Ballouz, a planetary scientist at the lab, commented that what is often seen in the movies is a "sort of last-ditch-effort, what we like to call a final-stage of planetary defense." But if hazardous objects can be detected years in advance, other techniques like a kinetic impactor can be used, he added.

If a deflection were necessary, scientists would need to change the speed of a hazardous object, such as an asteroid or comet, enough that it doesn't end up at the same place and time as Earth as they orbit the Sun. Rivkin said this translates into at least a seven-minute change in the arrival time: If a Dimorphos-sized object were predicted to collide with Earth 67 years from now, for instance, the slow-down that DART imparted would be just enough to add up to the seven minutes, he added.

With less lead time, researchers could use a combination of multiple deflections, larger spacecrafts, or boosts in speed, depending on the hazardous object. "DART was designed to validate a technique, and specific situations would inevitably require adapting things," said Rivkin.

About That Space Weather...

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Largest solar flare of solar cycle explodes from Sun | Fox Weather

Massive solar flares , including what NOAA⁘s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) says is the largest solar flare of the current 11-year solar cycle, continue to explode from the Sun this week.

On Tuesday, the X8.7 flare was seen blasting out of the active sunspot region of the Sun responsible for the recent solar weather, including the dazzling display of Northern Lights that stretched across the nation on Friday night.

An X flare is the most intense, and the number represents its strength. While the Sun produces these bursts of energy frequently, flares of this magnitude are not common.⁘

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Space Physics and Space Weather Scientist Dr. Yihua (Eva) Zheng - NASA

⁘I grew up in China. In China, everybody talks about what they want to be [when they grow up]. Many want to grow up to be a scientist or engineer. So I aspired to be a scientist from an early age.

⁘… For the girls or women in science — or in any profession or job — opportunities are more abundant than they were previously. Sometimes you need to take bold steps. Just a little push, and then you will get there. I initially started as a foreign national, so not a lot of opportunities existed for a foreign national, and some of them [required a] green card or citizenship. I think it's hard, but still, there is a path forward. I think it's important to work hard and be optimistic, and you will find something.⁘

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Keith's note: although the clouds have prevented us from seeing the aurora here in the Metro Washington DC area the rest of the planet seems to be having a great time. I did Alhurra TV [ audio ] and CGTN [ audio ] this afternoon as an explainer guy. I also did CGTN the other day about the whole Moon exploration thing. Video below.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space ⁘ Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

May 14: U.S. Launches Skylab Into Orbit - UPI.Com

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Deseret News archives: Skylab helped space exploration move into space study – Deseret News

Skylab, America's first space station and the first crewed research laboratory in space, lifted off on May 14, 1973, on the last Saturn V rocket. For 24 weeks, the space station was occupied by three crews and helped push space exploration into space study.

"The Skylab space station marks the beginning of a new era in America's manned spaceflight efforts," the front page of the Deseret News article read.

There were some technical problems with the new space station right off the bat, but the issues were resolved and crewmen Charles "Pete" Conrad, Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz finally arrived at the station a few days later.

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On this day in history, May 14, 1973, Skylab, the first US space station, is launched

America's first space station, Skylab, launched into Earth's orbit on this day in history, May 14, 1973.

The unmanned space station blasted into space on a modified Saturn V rocket at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, NASA's Skylab website reports.

⁘Almost immediately, technical problems developed due to vibrations during liftoff,⁘ said the NASA website.

⁘A critical meteoroid shield ripped off, taking one of the craft's two solar panels with it, and a piece of the shield wrapped around the other panel, keeping it from deploying,⁘ it said.

To solve this problem — and to prevent Skylab's future crew from dangerously hot temperatures due to the lack of meteoroid shield — NASA engineers ⁘'rolled' Skylab to lower the temperature of the workshop,⁘ the website also noted.

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In 1643, King Louis XIV, who would be known as "The Sun King," became ruler of France at the age of 4. Advertisement

In 1796, Dr. Edward Jenner, a rural England physician, tested his smallpox vaccine. It was a success.

In 1904, the Olympic Games were conducted in the United States for the first time -- in St. Louis.

Former Olympic Gold Medalist Jacki Joyner-Kersee and former Olympic speed skater Brendan Eppert unveil an artist's rendition at Washington University in St. Louis on February 5 after it was announced that an Olympic Legacy Committee has been formed that will remember the Summer Olympics that were held at the campus in 1904. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

In 1930, the U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico with support from President Calvin Coolidge. It was the 21st park in the national parks system. Advertisement

In 1948, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel , establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years .

In 1973, the United States launched Skylab, its first manned orbiting laboratory . Skylab was in orbit until -- long abandoned -- it plunged to Earth July 11, 1979, scattering debris over the Indian Ocean and a remote area of western Australia.

Disney's Robots Use Rockets To Stick The Landing

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Precision touchdowns: Disney's innovative solution for flying robots

The systems comprised water rocket propulsion, ducted fans, and piston-modeled feet for achieving controlled landings.

New-age storytellers use an innovative mixture of art, science, and technology to create immersive experiences.

To aid in such endeavors, engineers from Disney Research's robotics team have devised innovative solutions that give a soft landing to various flying robots and equipment used in the entertainment industry.

The team has released videos showcasing different technologies in action, including stick-shaped robots with thrusters and water rocket propulsion.

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Richard-Alexandre Peloquin, Tony Dohi, and Bill Sturgeon observe an early test of the full-system rocket test.

Finding a solution to these problems is a big, open-ended challenge. In the clip below, you can see one approach we've taken to start chipping away at it.

The video shows a small, stick-like robot with an array of four ducted fans attached to its top. The robot has a piston-like foot that absorbs the impact of a small fall, and then the ducted fans keep the robot standing by counteracting any tilting motion using aerodynamic thrust.

Raphael Pilon [left] and Marcela de los Rios evaluate the performance of the monopod balancing robot. Disney Research

The standing portion demonstrates that pushing on the air isn't only useful during freefall. Conventional walking and hopping robots depend on ground contact forces to maintain the required orientation. These forces can ramp up quickly because of the stiffness of the system, necessitating high bandwidth control strategies. Aerodynamic forces are relatively soft, but even so, they were sufficient to keep our robots standing. And since these forces can also be applied during the flight phase of running or hopping, this approach might lead to robots that run before they walk. The thing that defines a running gait is the existence of a "flight phase" - a time when none of the feet are in contact with the ground. A running robot with aerodynamic control authority could potentially use a gait with a long flight phase. This would shift the burden of the control effort to mid-flight, simplifying the leg design and possibly making rapid bipedal motion more tractable than a moderate pace.

In the next video, a slightly larger robot tackles a much more dramatic fall, from 65' in the air. This simple machine has two piston-like feet and a similar array of ducted fans on top. The fans not only stabilize the robot upon landing, they also help keep it oriented properly as it falls. Inside each foot is a plug of single-use compressible foam. Crushing the foam on impact provides a nice, constant force profile, which maximizes the amount of energy dissipated per inch of contraction.

We're Close To Finding A Ninth Planet In Solar System

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WION: Breaking News, Latest News, World, South Asia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh News & Analysis - Latest World...

US bans Russian uranium imports, crucial for nuclear fuel supply, but waivers could make it toothless

Tyson Fury's father head-butts Usyk team member ahead of undisputed heavyweight championship fight - WATCH

Patanjali misleading ads case: Top court urges Ramdev to wield influence responsibly; slams IMA chief

Bhima Koregaon case: India's top court grants bail to Gautam Navlakha, says trial may 'take years'

Mumbai hoarding collapse: India's largest as per Limca Book of Records, the billboard wasn't cleared by BMC

Wait, what? Meghan Markle calls Nigeria 'my country' after genealogy test reveals she's 43% Nigerian

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Dinosaurs Roamed Earth on The Other Side of the Milky Way

When dinosaurs ruled the Earth, the planet was on a completely different side of the Milky Way galaxy. This was revealed by NASA a few years back through an animation.

In November 2019, an animation by NASA scientist Dr Jessie Christiansen showed just how long the dinosaurs' reign lasted, and how short the era of humans has been in comparison, by tracing the solar system's movement through the galaxy.

The sun orbits the Milky Way's centre, completing its rotation every 250 million years or so. And, the animation by Dr Christiansen showed that last time the solar system was at its current point in the galaxy, the Triassic period was in full swing and dinosaurs were just beginning to emerge.

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Uranus Was Originally Named after a British Emperor

Uranus, an ice giant, is the seventh planet from the Sun in the solar system. Most of the planet is made up of water, ammonia, and methane. The planet was discovered way back in 1781. However, it was not given the name Uranus.

Uranus was first named George for around 30 years. After discovering the planet on March 13, 1781, German-British astronomer Sir William Herschel decided to name the planet King George III. However, people outside Great Britain were not satisfied with the name George and different names were suggested.

In 1782, German astronomer Johann Elert Bode proposed that the planet should be named Uranus, the Latinised version of Ouranos - the Greek god of the sky.

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Is There a Ninth Planet? Search for the Solar System's Mysterious "Planet 9" Narrows

California Institute of Technology scientists Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin shocked the world when they announced the possible existence of a ninth planet in our solar system earlier this year.

The only problem is their research paper is based on a mathematical model , not on direct observation of the planet.

Spotting the planet and proving it exists is not going to be an easy task. Brown and Batygin think planet nine is orbiting so far out on the fringes of our solar system that it likely takes somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 years for it to complete a lap around the sun. That's a huge ring of sky to search through. It really is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

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The solar system has eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. There are five officially recognised dwarf planets in our solar system: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. However, there could be a ninth planet which is the size of Neptune.

This Neptune-sized planet could be lurking out at the edges of the solar system. According to astronomy YouTuber Astrokobi, this planet orbits way out past Pluto.

This mysterious planet takes 10,000-20,000 years to complete one full orbit, and scientists could be quite close to finding it.

Recently, astronomers noticed several small objects out in the Kuiper Belt that appeared to be gravitationally affected by this planet. But the planet find it hard to detect as it is way too far from the Sun.

UFOs, Angels, And A New Spirituality

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Vox - Our world, explained

This is what happens after four years under an insurrectionist president. It will get much worse if he gets eight.

For all the attention on the border, the root causes of migration and the most promising solutions to the US's broken immigration system are often overlooked.

Curated picks of the best Vox journalism to read, watch, and listen to every week, from our editors.

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When you write in this book that UFO events are a "spiritual reality" for people, what does that mean?

So when people tell you that they've encountered aliens or they've been visited by angels, you really believe them?

I believe that they believe it, but that doesn't commit me to the belief that it happened. I'll give you an example. Srinivasa Ramanujan was a very famous mathematician in the early 20th century from India, and he was a genius. And he believed these math calculations were whispered in his ear by his goddess, the goddess of his local region. I think she was a version of Lakshmi. So that's a story that takes hold and gets repeated.

Planetary Neighbors Squeeze Molten Lava From A Distant Planet

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Squeezed by neighbors, planet glows with molten lava | UCR News | UC Riverside

UC Riverside astrophysicist Stephen Kane had to double check his calculations. He wasn't sure the planet he was studying could be as extreme as it seemed.

Kane never expected to learn that a planet in this faraway star system is covered with so many active volcanoes that seen from a distance it would take on a fiery, glowing-red hue.

"It was one of those discovery moments that you think, 'wow, it's amazing this can actually exist," Kane said. A paper detailing the discovery has been published in The Astronomical Journal.

Kane was studying a star system called HD 104067 about 66 light years away from our sun that was already known to harbor a giant planet. TESS had just discovered signals for a new rocky planet in that system. In gathering data about that planet, he unexpectedly found yet another one, bringing the total number of known planets in the system to three.

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NASA Plans High-tech Railway System On The Moon

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As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) readies to return astronauts to the moon and convert the space rock into an orbital outpost, plans are apparently being mulled to build a train on its surface.

⁘We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon,⁘ robotics expert Ethan Schaler of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. said.

Both the lunar landings — a series of Artemis missions returning personnel to the moon in 2028 — and the proposed high-tech train are pivotal to NASA's Gateway project, a lunar orbiting space station that will serve as a hub for vast planetary exploration , especially for Mars.

Unfortunately for astronauts eager to hitch a ride on the Lunar Express, this train will be for machines only.

JPL proposes ⁘Flexible Levitation on a Track,⁘ or FLOAT, as the answer to ⁘transport payloads of varying shape⁘ — up to 110 tons in weight‚ primarily from landing zones to more permanent outpost settings.

The system will do so using unpowered magnetically polarized robots to levitate above a three-layer track made of flexible films.

⁘FLOAT robots have no moving parts and levitate over the track to minimize lunar dust abrasion / wear, unlike lunar robots with wheels, legs, or tracks,⁘ Schaler said

A layer of graphite keeps them afloat, a ⁘flex-circuit layer generates electromagnetic thrust to controllably propel robots along tracks,⁘ and a third optional solar panel can generate thermal energy for the lunar base, the pro explained.

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Hiring Booms At SpaceX And Blue Origin Making It Hard For NASA To Attract Talent

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SpaceX and Blue Origin LLC are competing to launch satellites and take humans to the moon. They are also paying big salaries to hire so many young and tireless engineers that old-line aerospace employers like Boeing Co. and NASA are finding it harder to fill positions.

Their private firms also often pay more than established space operations. SpaceX is currently listing starting aerospace engineer positions at $95,000 to $115,000 a year.

NASA, which follows the federal government's General Schedule pay scales, offers starting salaries along a range that starts at $54,557 for engineers with bachelor's degrees, $66,731 for master's degrees and $73,038 for doctorates at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Helping SpaceX or Blue Origin build towering rockets, orbiting labs or moon landers can also mean serving at the whims of mercurial executives. California has accused SpaceX of routinely underpaying women and minority workers. And jobs at the startups can mean laboring on projects that never see the light of day or sitting at a cubicle for 80 or 90 hours a week.

Nonetheless, graduates from elite colleges have been jumping at the chance to contribute to the ambitious plans of the startups, and each company is hiring rapidly. Blue Origin, with more than 10,000 workers, had more than 1,500 job postings in mid-March. SpaceX is estimated to have more than 11,000 workers and had over 1,100 openings.

This has intensified recruiting drives for aerospace majors at colleges like the Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan.

William Putaansuu, an aerospace engineering undergraduate at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said that Blue Origin and SpaceX ⁘know people want to go work for them.⁘

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NASA's Chandra Spacecraft Spots Supermassive Black Hole Erupting In The Milky Way's Heart

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Scientists use XRISM spacecraft to predict fate of matter around monster supermassive black hole...

Black hole week is in full swing at this point, and to celebrate, NASA has released stunning observations of the heart of a distant spiral galaxy ⁘ as well as the monster supermassive black hole that dwells in that heart.

The observations were conducted by the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with contributions from NASA; they show the center of spiral galaxy NGC 4151.

This galaxy, located some 43 million light-years away (as well as its incumbent supermassive black hole , which is estimated to have as much mass as 20 million suns) is seen in vibrant reds and bright blues thanks to the addition of radio waves. That addition comes via data from the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes.

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Using NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope, scientists have discovered a new cosmic "exhaust vent" funneling hot gas away from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole that sits at the very heart of our Milky Way galaxy.

The newly discovered vent is linked to a chimney-like formation orientated at a right angle in the Milky Way 's disk. The Chandra observation reveals how a "tunnel" at the center of our galaxy helps channel matter to its outer regions.

Many supermassive black holes across the universe are voracious consumers of gas and dust, and even stars, around them. The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sgr A*, on the other hand, is a light eater. It consumes so little matter, in fact, that if it were a human, it would sustain itself on about one grain of rice every one million years. The Chandra observations could reveal how this cosmic picky eater selects some matter to consume and rejects other material.

Related: New view of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way hints at an exciting hidden feature (image)

The vent discovered in X-ray observations of the Galactic Center by Chandra is located around 700 light-years from the region's exact central area, and at the top of the "chimney." This chimney was previously discovered using the European Space Agency (ESA) XMM-Newton , which, like Chandra, observes the universe in X-rays.

The new vent can be seen at the top of the image as a bright blue and white scar against darker blue gas.