The moon is sweeping past Venus on these late April 2020 evenings. The EarthSky Community is catching them, and sharing their photos. Thanks to all who submitted. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/apr-2020-young-moon-and-venus-favorite-photos…
Tag: transits
How WFIRST will use warped spacetime to find exoplanets
NASA’s WFIRST mission – an infrared space observatory planned for launch around 2025 – will use the fact that the gravity of distant objects warps spacetime, bending and focusing light, thereby revealing new worlds. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/wfirst-exoplanets-microlensing-space-time-milky-way…
Spica is your guide star to Omega Centauri
Omega Centauri is the largest and finest star cluster visible to the eye alone from the Northern Hemisphere. Binoculars or a telescope show even more. A dark sky is best! Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/spica-guide-to-omega-centauri…
Will SETI 2.0 lead to a discovery of intelligent aliens?
2020 has been an exciting year so far for SETI – the search for extraterrestrial life – in terms of new technological developments and strategies. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/seti-breakthrough-listen-new-technologies-and-strategies…
Using radio waves to discover and study exoplanets
A new study from researchers in the Netherlands shows how scientists can detect exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars, and learn about their environments, from the radio waves generated by auroras on those worlds. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/exoplanets-red-dwarfs-radio-waves-auroras…
Image: International Space Station transits the moon
Say cheese. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-image-international-space-station-transits.html…
NASA Has Discovered an Earth-Sized World in a Star’s Habitable Zone
“NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered its first Earth-size planet in its star’s habitable zone, the range of distances where conditions may be just right to allow the presence of liquid water on the surface,” reports NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center: Scientists confirmed the find, called TOI 700 d, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and have modeled the planet’s…
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…