Category: astronomy
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Is Oumuamua Something Else?
First it was an asteroid, then it was a comet, now it’s something else. Remember that interstellar object, Oumuamua, the oblong shaped mas that tumbled through our solar system at incredible speed? Now some scientists at the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics are saying that it is possibly something else entirely. Oumuamua might be artificial…
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Asteroid 2018 EB Passes Earth
On October 7, 2018, Asteroid 2018 EB passed the Earth at 15 lunar distances. Back on April 4, 2018, after astronomer spotted it using the NEOWISE spacecraft, before it had passed at 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. 2018 EB is considered a potentially hazardous object because of the asteroids approach…
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Voyager is heading way out there
It’s been 41 years since NASA launched the Voyager 2 probe into space. Fast-forward from 1977 to today and the little probe has travelled nearly 11 billion miles from Earth, and is now passing through the heliosphere. Voyager 2 is rapidly approaching the outer boundary. Scientist are watching as the probe moves closer to exiting…
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Succesful Launch and Landing of Falcon 9
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket had a successful night launch and landing on Sunday, October 7, 2018. The rocket lifted off at 7:21 p.m. PST, on schedule, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles. An Earth-observation radar satellite for the Argentina national space agency, SAOCOM-1A was successfully delivered into orbit. Falcon nine made its…
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CASSINI: A year after the Spacecraft’s final act!
The Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn last year, September 15, 2017 after orbiting the planet since 2004. It’s the fourth probe to visit the planet from Earth. The 13-year Cassini mission had provided new insights and discoveries about Saturn. Cassini gave us a new scientific perspective on its moons and its rings. The mission also…
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Japan lands two rovers on Asteroid Ryugu
On September 21, 2018, the Japanese space agency, JAXA deployed two tiny rovers to the surface of Asteroid Ryugu after being released by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft. It was a long four year journey to get to this point of the mission. As a part of the MINERVA II program, the rovers are designed to…
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What are fast radio bursts?
What are fast radio bursts? Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) is a term used in radio astronomy  for high-energy pulses of transient radio emissions that lasts on average just milliseconds. Back in August 2017, researchers on the Breakthrough Listen project used the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to spot 21 fast radio burst the span…
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Mystery at the Sunspot Solar Observatory… Solved?
Mystery at the Sunspot Solar Observatory… Solved? Sunspot, New Mexico On Thursday, September 6, 2018, the Sunspot Solar Observatory in New Mexico was suddenly closed down and evacuated by the FBI supposedly for security reasons. The facility is run by the Association of Universities for Research Astronomy (AURA). The observatory was closed, along with a…
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What is a false dawn?
What is a false dawn? A false dawn, also called a zodiacal light, which is a strange, eerie, light phenomenon that is visible low in the sky, giving the illusion of an early sunrise or secondary sunset after twilight. Zodiacal light is best seen just after sunset in spring and before sunrise in autumn, when the zodiac is at a steep angle…
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Two Comets Headed Our Way
There is some big and exciting news for sky watchers in the coming months. Two comets are headed our way soon. No they will not hit us. They will both safely pass us by, the experts say. Comet 21P/ Giacobini-Zinner will be the first comet to pass us. Astronomers have given it the simple nickname of…