Category: astronomy
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Breaks Record After Orbiting Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters and entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, becoming the smallest object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.
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Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2019 Coming Soon
Most meteor showers are usually named after the constellations that is their radiant point, the Quadrantids radiant point for this shower is Boötes.
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Speedy Comet C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto Heading Our Way
There is a fast-moving comet heading towards the Sun and the Earth’s vicinity. C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto will be closest to the Earth around February 11-12, 2019
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Saturn’s Disappearing Rings?
One of the most recognizable planets to amateur astronomers is changing. The ringed planet, Saturn will eventually lose its rings
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Comet 46P/Wirtanen: The Brightest Comet of 2018
Comet 46P/Wirtanen is due to closely sweep passed the sun on December 12, 2018 and then pass the Earth on December 16. 46P/Wirtanen is a small short-period comet that was discovered photographically on January 17, 1948, by the American astronomer Carl A. Wirtanen at the Lick Observatory.The comet has a current orbital period of 5.4 years. On December 16, 2018 the…
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2018 Geminids Coming Soon
It’s December and it’s time for another Geminid Meteor Shower. Caused by the object 3200 Phaethon, the Geminids are thought to be a Palladian asteroid with a “rock comet” orbit. This would make the Geminids, together with the Quadrantids, the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet. This shower favors the Northern Hemisphere, but will be visible from…
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InSight Mars Landing Coverage
Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have completed the final adjustments for landing NASA’s InSight spacecraft on Mars. Atmospheric entry is expected around 11:47 a.m. PST (2:47 p.m. EST) and touchdown, about seven minutes later. Watch live commentary at https://www.nasa.gov/live Insight’s Perfect Landing Spot
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Return to the Moon and go to Mars
On November 16, 2018, NASA released a trailer on YouTube titled “We Are NASA. The video gives us a preview of their future plans through a voiceover from Mike Rowe. NASA lays out their desire to return to the Moon to establish a permanent presence and go beyond to Mars. “and after 60 years, we’re…
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It’s November and It’s Leonid time!
It’s mid-November and it is that time of year again, time for the Leonid Meteor shower that happens around November 17 or 18. The shower occurs when the Earth crosses paths with the commentary debris of Comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle. When the debris vaporizes when it hits the atmosphere causing what we call the Leonid meteor shower.…
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Insight’s Perfect Landing Spot
NASA has apparently picked the perfect site for the upcoming landing of Mars InSight, a mission managed by NASA and JPL. On November 26, 2018, after a 205 day journey, Insight will touch down on the Elysium Planitia, in the high plains near the Martin Equator just before 3pm EST. It is the Goldie Locks…