We anticipate 2020 will be a great year for watching the Geminid meteor shower! Here are 10 tips. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/10-tips-for-watching-the-geminids…
Tag: asteroid
Citizen astronomers around the globe partner for world-record research on a near-Earth asteroid
The world’s first planetary defense team staffed by citizen astronomers has completed its first research mission: Detect and model a Near-Earth Asteroid, for only the 69th time in history. To honor the achievement, space-lovers from around the planet have a chance to give the asteroid a nickname. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-citizen-astronomers-globe-partner-world-record.html…
Capsule with asteroid samples arrives in Japan for research
Japanese space agency officials were delighted Tuesday by the return of a small capsule containing asteroid soil samples obtained by their Hayabusa2 spacecraft and they are anxiously waiting to look inside after preparations are complete. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-capsule-asteroid-samples-japan.html…
Microbes to demonstrate biomining of asteroid material aboard space station
As humanity moves closer to the possibility of living and working millions of miles from Earth on planets like Mars, scientists are looking beyond our planet at how to acquire the materials needed to establish a self-sustaining presence in space. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-microbes-biomining-asteroid-material-aboard.html…
Asteroid Ryugu dust delivered to Earth; NASA astrobiologists prepare to probe it
On Dec. 6 local time (Dec. 5 in the United States), Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 dropped a capsule to the ground of the Australian Outback from about 120 miles (or 200 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. Inside that capsule is some of the most precious cargo in the solar system: dust that the spacecraft collected earlier this year from the surface of asteroid…
Human muscle cells hitch a ride as SpaceX launches supply mission to space station
A SpaceX capsule full of science experiments studying everything from asteroid mining to in-flight medical treatment launched from Florida to the International Space Station on Sunday, in hopes the research will further humans’ quest to return to the moon and reach Mars. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-human-muscle-cells-hitch-spacex.html…
Japan space agency hails return of asteroid dust on Earth
Japan space agency officials on Sunday hailed the arrival of rare asteroid samples on Earth after they were collected by space probe Hayabusa-2 during an unprecedented mission. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-japan-space-agency-hails-asteroid.html…
2019 LD2: A very interesting orbit-hopping comet
Prior to Comet 2019 LD2, discovered last year, astronomers had never witnessed a comet in the process of orbiting from being between Jupiter and Neptune to orbiting inside Jupiter’s orbit. Now … witness the power of gravity! Source: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-2019-ld2-transitioning-orbit-hopping-jupiter-family…
Japan’s capsule with asteroid samples retrieved in Australia
A Japanese capsule carrying the world’s first asteroid subsurface samples shot across the night atmosphere early Sunday before landing in the remote Australian Outback, completing a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-japan-capsule-asteroid-samples-australia.html…
A surprising find of fast-moving gas from a young star
Fast-moving gas from a young star – located in a star-forming region 400 light-years away – is giving astronomers insight into how planets form. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/no-lup-surprising-find-outflowing-gas-young-star…