Tag: solar system
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Rocket Flight to Sharpen NASA’s Study of the Sun
It’s best not to look directly at the Sun, unless you’re one of NASA’s Sun-observing instruments. And even then, doing so will cause some damage. Exposure to the Sun degrades light sensors of all kinds, from the retinas in the human eye to instruments aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite, or SDO. Fortunately, with periodic calibrations,…
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Scientific Serendipity And New Moons For Jupiter
Scientific Serendipity And New Moons For Jupiter By Judith E Braffman-Miller Strange things have occurred in the distant domain of the giant gaseous planets that inhabit the outer regions of our Solar System. Far from our Sun, the four worlds twirl in secretive splendor where they rule over their mysterious kingdom of cold…
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Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth Super Bowl Sunday
Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. PST. At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. 2002 AJ129 is an intermediate-sized near-Earth asteroid, somewhere between 0.3 miles and…