You know the old problem of how to portray the round globe of Earth on a flat map? Now a trio of map experts has worked together to solve this problem. Their new map is 2-sided and round. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/astrophysicists-new-design-world-map…
Tag: Solar System
How were the Trojan asteroids discovered and named?
On Feb. 22, 1906, German astrophotographer Max Wolf helped reshape our understanding of the solar system. Again. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-trojan-asteroids.html…
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…
Has Earth been visited by an alien spaceship? Harvard Professor Avi Loeb vs. everybody else
A highly unusual object was spotted traveling through the solar system in 2017. Given a Hawaiian name,ʻOumuamua, it was small and elongated—a few hundred meters by a few tens of meters, traveling at a speed fast enough to escape the Sun’s gravity and move into interstellar space. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-earth-alien-spaceship-harvard-professor.html…
Dinosaur-killing space rock may have originated at the edge of the solar system
The chunk of space rock that killed the nonavian dinosaurs may have been a piece of a comet that Jupiter’s gravity kicked onto a collision course with Earth. Source: https://www.livescience.com/dinosaur-killing-comet-oort-cloud.html
Life as we do not know it: Astrobiology and the Mars 2020 mission
Life as we know it has never been found anywhere in our solar system or universe, other than on Earth. But that does not necessarily mean it is not out there. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-life-astrobiology-mars-mission.html…
Farthest known object in the solar system identified
Astronomers have confirmed that an object with the nickname of Farfarout is, to date, the farthest object we’ve seen in the solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/farthest-known-object-solar-system-farfarout…
In search of super-Earths: Spectrograph CRIRES+ at ESO’s Very Large Telescope
The astronomy research instrument CRIRES+ is designed to study planets outside our solar system. It is now in operation at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The Institute of Astrophysics at the University of Göttingen is part of the international research consortium that built the high-resolution infrared spectrograph at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-super-earths-spectrograph-crires-eso-large.html…
What is the Milky Way?
When someone says “Milky Way,” do you think of the starry pathway across our sky, or of the great pinwheel-shaped galaxy in space? Both are correct! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-the-milky-way-galaxy…
We heart the Earth and sky
This Valentine’s Day, we find so much to love in the many heart-shaped objects created by Mother Nature that can be found right here on Earth or all the way to the deepest reaches of the sky. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/heart-shaped-objects-in-nature-space-earth-valentines-day…