The bluish-white shoulder star, Bellatrix, aka Gamma Orionis, has a name that means “female warrior.” Bellatrix is one of the hottest stars you can see without optical aid. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/bellatrix-3rd-brightest-star-in-orion…
Tag: Comet
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…
Boom! Bam! Boom! How to make a triple crater on Mars
Like many worlds in our solar system, Mars has prominent impact craters. A particularly unusual example is shown in this new image from ESA’s Mars Express: an ancient triplet composed of 3 overlapping craters. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-express-ancient-triple-impact-crater…
Astronomers measure a change in orbit for infamous asteroid Apophis
Astronomers in Hawaii have detected the Yarkovsky effect – a minuscule push imparted by sunlight – for asteroid Apophis. The effect is particularly important for Apophis, because it relates to the possibility of an Earth impact in 2068. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-99942-apophis-encounters-2029-2036-2068…
4.5-billion-year-old ice on comet ‘fluffier than cappuccino froth’
After years of detective work, scientists working on the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta mission have now been able to locate where the Philae lander made its second and penultimate contact with the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014, before finally coming to a halt 30 metres away. This landing was monitored from the German Aerospace Center Philae Control…
Ancient ice beneath the surface of comet 67P is softer than candyfloss
When the Philae lander arrived at comet 67P, its harpoons didn’t deploy as planned and it bounced across the surface, revealing ice that is softer than the foam on coffee Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2258248-ancient-ice-beneath-the-surface-of-comet-67p-is-softer-than-candyfloss/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Astronomers discover activity on distant planetary object
Centaurs are minor planets believed to have originated in the Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system. They sometimes have comet-like features such as tails and comae—clouds of dust particles and gas—even though they orbit in a region between Jupiter and Neptune where it is too cold for water to readily sublimate, or transition, directly from a solid to a gas….