Shortest and longest days at the solstices, but latest sunrises (Northern Hemisphere) and sunsets (Southern Hemisphere) in early January. Nature is subtle on a tilted Earth, pursuing an elliptical orbit around the sun. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/latest-sunrises-for-midnorthern-latitudes-in-early-january…
Tag: orbit
Why the New Year begins on January 1
Celebrating the New Year on January 1 is a civil event, not an astronomical one. And yet nature cooperates to make January 1 a satisfying time to start anew. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/why-the-new-year-begins-on-january-1…
Top 9 EarthSky stories of 2019
From the 1st landing on the moon’s far side to the 1st actual image of a black hole, here’s a quick roundup of 9 of the stories our readers enjoyed most in 2019. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-9-stories-of-2019…
US Tests Ways To Sweep Space Clean of Radiation After Nuclear Attack
sciencehabit quotes a report from Science Magazine: The U.S. military thought it had cleared the decks when, on 9 July 1962, it heaved a 1.4-megaton nuclear bomb some 400 kilometers into space: Orbiting satellites were safely out of range of the blast. But in the months that followed the test, called Starfish Prime, satellites began to wink out one by one,…
China’s Long March 5 Rocket Returns To Flight
schwit1 shares a report from Space.com: China’s biggest rocket, the Long March 5, returned to flight for the first time since a 2017 failure Friday (Dec. 27) in a dazzling nighttime launch for the Chinese space program. The Long March 5 Y3 rocket lifted off at 8:45 p.m. Beijing Time carrying the experimental Shijian 20 communications satellite into a geosynchronous orbit….
Annular solar eclipse on December 26
The 3rd and final solar eclipse of the year falls on December 26. It’s 2019’s only annular or “ring” eclipse, taking place when the moon is near apogee, or its farthest point in orbit around Earth. At mid-eclipse, a ring of the sun’s surface will appear around the moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/annular-solar-eclipse-on-december-26…
Betelgeuse is ‘fainting’ but (probably) not about to explode
The well-known bright star Betelgeuse – a red giant star, famous for its name and for the fact that it’ll explode someday – has become noticeably dimmer since late October. Here’s what astronomers think is happening. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/betelgeuse-fainting-probably-not-about-to-explode…
Don’t miss these cyclones on Jupiter, and more
The Juno spacecraft’s last perijove – or closest point to Jupiter – resulted in a treasure trove of images. Its next perijove is coming up on December 26. Get updated here, and view Juno’s latest amazing images. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jupiter-juno-cyclones-images-dec-2019…
Europe’s CHEOPS mission will shed light on strange new worlds
The European Space Agency has successfully launched its CHEOPS space telescope, the 1st of 3 planned missions to study distant exoplanets in greater detail than ever before. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/cheops-space-telescope-launch-dec-2019…
Solstice sun at southernmost point
The 2018 December solstice happens when it’s sunset (December 21) in the Americas, sunrise (December 22) along the Asian Pacific Coast, noontime (December 21) for Hawaii and Alaska and midnight (December 21-22) for Africa and Europe. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/southernmost-sun-brings-december-solstice…