How to see Sirius B

Sirius is a binary star, with a small white dwarf called the Pup orbiting the large primary star. It’s not easy to observe, but it is possible. Here’s how. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/how-to-observe-sirius-b…

JADES will go deeper than the Hubble Deep Fields

Astronomers announced this month that a new deep-field survey called JADES will be carried out with the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s much-anticipated successor. The Webb is due to launch later this year. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jades-deep-field-surveys-epoch-of-1st-galaxies…

The US Government’s Entire 645,000-Vehicle Fleet Will Go All-Electric

Jalopnik reports:
The United States government operates a fleet of about 645,000 vehicles, from mail delivery trucks to military vehicles and passenger cars. On Monday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration intends to replace them all with American-made, electric alternatives… In 2015, the government operated 357,610 gasoline vehicles and 3,896 electric ones; in 2019, those numbers grew to 368,807 and 4,475,…

Despite SolarWinds Cyberattack, Microsoft’s Azure Business Predicted to Benefit

“Microsoft Corp. was wrapped into a massive cybersecurity attack late last year,” reports MarketWatch, “but the unprecedented intrusion may actually end up being a positive for the company’s bottom line.” UBS analyst Karl Keirstead, who has a buy rating and a $243 price target, said while Microsoft products were leveraged by hackers in the attack on SolarWinds Corp.’s Orion IT management…

Orion the Hunter is easy to spot

Orion is identifiable by his Belt, 3 medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at the mid-section of the Hunter. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/orion-the-hunter-is-easy-to-spot…

FireEye Releases Tool For Auditing Networks for Techniques Used by SolarWinds Hackers

Cybersecurity firm FireEye has released today a report detailing the techniques used by the SolarWinds hackers inside the networks of companies they breached. From a report: Together with the report, FireEye researchers have also released a free tool on GitHub named Azure AD Investigator that they say can help companies determine if the SolarWinds hackers (also known as UNC2452) used any…

6 space missions to look forward to in 2021

Here are some of the space missions to keep an eye out for in 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/6-space-missions-2021-artemis-chandrayaa3-jameswebb…

‘Major Component Malfunction’ Ends SLS Rocket Test Early. NASA Considers New Timeline

“NASA’s rocket charged with taking the agency back to the moon fired its four main engines Saturday afternoon, but the test in Mississippi was cut short after a malfunction caused an automatic abort,” reports Florida Today… “We did get an MCF on engine four,” a control room member said less than a minute into the test fire, using an initialism that…

Watch NASA Test-Fire Its SLS Mega-Rocket Engines

“The date is set,” NASA tweeted yesterday, thanking its partners Boeing Space and Aerojet Rocketdyne for Saturday’s “hot fire” test of the SLS’s core stage. “One of NASA’s main goals for 2021 is to launch Artemis I, an uncrewed moon mission meant to show the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket can safely send humans to our lunar neighbor,” reports…

How to find the Winter Hexagon or Winter Circle

The brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter sky form the shape of a large hexagon, or circle, that will help you locate 6 constellations. Source: https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/winter-circle-highlights-brightest-winter-stars…