Saturday saw 2020’s virtual observation of the annual Aaron Swartz Day and International Hackathon, which the EFF describes as “a day dedicated to celebrating the continuing legacy of activist, programmer, and entrepreneur Aaron Swartz.” Its official web site notes the wide-ranging event includes “projects and ideas that are still bearing fruit to this day, such as SecureDrop, Open Library, and the…
Tag: ATLAS
Leonid meteor shower is building to a peak
The peak of the Leonids is likely to be before sunup on November 17, 2020. But people already catching some Leonids. Keep an eye out this weekend. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/leonid-meteors-before-dawn-november-17…
Comet ATLAS and Orion’s Belt
With its closest approach to planet Earth scheduled for November 14, Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201112.html…
Comet ATLAS and Orion s Belt
With its closest approach to planet Earth scheduled for November 14, Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Comet C/2020 M3 (Atlas) drawing nearer, in a great place to spot Wednesday night
The comet is headed for its closest approach to Earth on Saturday, November 14, 2020. It can’t be seen with the eye, but astrophotographers are capturing glorious images. Charts and photos in this post. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-c-2020-m3-atlas-closest-to-earth-nov-14-2020…
Alphabet Project Uses Light Beams To Bring Broadband To Remote Regions
An Alphabet X innovation lab project has been working on a high-speed wireless optical communications network that uses beams of light instead of cables or radio waves, and folks in Kenya will be the first to benefit from the fruits of these labors. New Atlas reports: Project Taara, a part of Alphabet’s X moonshot factory, has been working on a wireless…
New Nuclear Engine Concept Could Help Realize 3-Month Trips To Mars
Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) has developed a concept for a new Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) engine that they claim is safer and more reliable than previous NTP designs and with far greater efficiency than a chemical rocket. The concept could reduce Earth-Mars travel time to just three months. New Atlas reports: According to Dr. Michael Eades, principal engineer at…
Aquarius? Here’s your constellation
Aquarius lies in a “watery” part of the sky, near Pisces the Fish, Cetus the Whale, Eridanus the River, and Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish. Source: https://earthsky.org/constellations/aquarius-heres-your-constellation…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REX Makes Historic Touchdown On Asteroid Bennu To Collect Rock Samples
NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) sample return spacecraft has successfully touched the asteroid Bennu and collected a 2-oz sample of its surface. New Atlas reports: Launched atop an Atlas/Centaur booster from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on September 8, 2016 at 7:05 pm EDT, the robotic OSIRIS-REx probe spent…
Asteroid or space junk? Approaching object might become Earth’s mini-moon
A newly discovered “asteroid” may become a new mini-moon for Earth. Instead of an ordinary asteroid, it might be a lost rocket from the Surveyor 2 mission, launched from Earth more than 50 years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/2020-so-mini-moon-asteroid-or-space-junk…