Most exoplanets orbiting close to their stars don’t have atmospheres. But Gliese 486b – orbiting a red dwarf star only 24 light-years away – does. It’s close enough to see well. Astronomers will be watching it! Source: https://earthsky.org/space/gliese-486b-hot-super-earth-with-atmosphere…
Tag: orange
Moon, star Spica on Mar 1, 2021
This evening – March 1, 2021 – look eastward before going to bed and you just might catch the bright waning gibbous moon and the star Spica over the horizon. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-star-spica-on-mar-1-2021…
The Mars Perseverance Rover’s Parachute Contained a Secret Message
“The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message,” reports the Associated Press — thanks to the rover’s puzzle-loving systems engineer Ian Clark. “During a live stream discussing the landing, one Nasa commentator said: ‘Sometimes we leave messages in our work for others to find. So we invite you all to give it a…
Did you find the message hidden in Perseverance’s parachute?
The striped pattern on the parachute used by the Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a hidden message. Internet sleuths were able to figure it out within a few hours. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/perseverance-secret-message-dare-mighty-things…
What’s the coldest Earth has ever been?
Our planet’s history includes episodes of cold so extreme that glaciers reached sea level in equatorial regions. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/whats-coldest-earth-has-ever-been…
‘Earth wind’ may generate water on the moon
Particles carried from Earth’s poles via our planet’s magnetosphere could be interacting with lunar rocks to create small quantities of water on the moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/earth-wind-may-generate-water-on-moon…
Best observing targets for binoculars
What are the best solar system and deep-sky objects to view to get the most out of your binoculars? From moon-encircled worlds to starry knots in the Milky Way, our list makes the sky’s wonders easy to find. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/best-targets-for-binoculars-moon-planets-nebula-clusters…
Weird rodent glows under UV light with disco swirls of pink and orange
New research spotlights fluorescence in a jumping rodent known as a springhare. Source: https://www.livescience.com/pink-fluorescent-mammal-springhare.html
Swarm of black holes discovered
For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of a throng of black holes crowding near the center of an ancient globular cluster. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/group-black-holes-found-globular-cluster-ngc-6397…
NASA rover lands on Mars to look for signs of ancient life
A NASA rover streaked through the orange Martian sky and landed on the planet Thursday, accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-rover-mars-ancient-life.html…