Category: astronomy
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Will 2017 Be a Big Year for the Geminids?
The mornings of December 13 and 14, the Geminid Meteor shower peaks. The moon will be in a waning crescent and will only be visible just before dawn. Barring the effects local weather conditions, it should be a fine time for viewing the shower. Will 2017 Be a Big Year for the Geminids? Maybe. Here’s…
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Astronomers Complete Global Asteroid Tracking Drill
Back in October, astronomers tested the TC4 Observation Campaign by using a real Near Earth Asteroid to practice global response to a potential threat. There are potentially millions of chunks of flying debris of various sizes in space that constantly sweep past Earth. Astronomers know that there no large, continent-destroying asteroids that are on a…
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`Oumuamua The Interstellar Visitor
Interstellar asteroid A small object designated 1I/2017 U1 visited our solar system a few weeks ago, giving astronomers data to scrutinize. The object has been given a name, ‘Oumuamua. Astronomers believe that it must have travel through space for millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system. Some astronomers at the Pan STARRS…
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Was there an Ocean on Ceres?
Orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, Ceres was first discovered and classified as a planet in 1801. In the 1850s, it was considered one of the largest of the little worlds in the asteroid belt. Astronomers re-classified Ceres as a dwarf planet in 2006. Oddly enough, it is believed that little Ceres, a tiny world that’s…
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Object Visits From Beyond Solar System
NASA reported on October 26, 2017 that astronomers have been watching a small body that could be an asteroid, or perhaps a comet, apparently from beyond our solar system, from somewhere in interstellar space. If that is indeed the case, it would be the first interstellar asteroid or comet to be observed and confirmed. The object…
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Gravitational Waves Detected
What are gravitational waves? If you understand how a trampoline works, you’ll be able to understand what gravitational waves are.
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Asteroid FlyBy October 11th and 12th, 2017
The Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and astronomers and observatories around the globe are watching a small asteroid designated 2012 TC4. Asteroid 2012 TC4 will be used as a test of Earth’s global asteroid defense system. Check out the article at Earth-Sky: http://earthsky.org/space/near-earth-asteroid-2012-tc4-close-pass-october-2017 Watch2012 TC4 here: https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/
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A STRANGE BINARY ASTEROID
Binary asteroid – two asteroids orbiting each other – with comet-like features.
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THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE
How fast is the universe expanding? A new ScienceCast video from NASA explains more about Hubble’s Constant, which is the name given by astronomers to the rate of the expansion of the universe.
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CASSINI’S FINAL PLUNGE!
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will make its mission-ending dive into the atmosphere of Saturn in 9 days. It will bravely make it’s plunge on September 15th.