The waning moon passes bright Spica – Virgo’s sole 1st-magnitude star – before sunup on December 10, 2020. As viewed from across Earth that morning, the illuminated side of the moon points in the direction of brilliant Venus. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/see-moon-spica-venus-before-dawn…
Tag: venus
See Earth’s shadow after sunset
These next few days – November 27 and 28, 2020 – look for Earth’s shadow and the Belt of Venus below the bright waxing gibbous moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/see-earths-shadow-after-sunset…
Earth’s early atmosphere may have been toxic like the one on Venus
After the moon formed, Earth was probably left with an ocean of molten rock, which may have given the planet a thick atmosphere full of carbon dioxide like the one on Venus Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260767-earths-early-atmosphere-may-have-been-toxic-like-the-one-on-venus/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Scientists have re-analyzed their data and still see a signal of phosphine at Venus—just less of it
In September, an international team announced that they had discovered phosphine gas (PH3) in the atmosphere of Venus based on data obtained by the Atacama Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. The news was met with its fair share of skepticism and controversy since phosphine is considered a possible indication of life (AKA…
What is the moon’s terminator line?
The moon’s terminator is the dividing line between day and night on the moon. As we see it from Earth, it marks the line of lunar sunsets or sunrises. Earth and other worlds in our solar system have terminator lines, too. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-moon-planet-terminator-line-twilight-zone…
Leonid meteor shower is building to a peak
The peak of the Leonids is likely to be before sunup on November 17, 2020. But people already catching some Leonids. Keep an eye out this weekend. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/leonid-meteors-before-dawn-november-17…
Venus, Mercury, and the Waning Moon
Yesterday, early morning risers around planet Earth were treated Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Surprisingly little water has escaped to space from Venus, study finds
On 13 November Moa Persson, Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) and Umeå University, will defend her doctoral thesis. Her thesis shows that only a small part of the historical water content on Venus has been lost to space over the past 4 billion years. This is much less than researchers previously thought. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-surprisingly-space-venus.html…
What is a supernova?
A supernova is a star’s colossal explosion at the end of its life, potentially outshining its entire galaxy. Read about the causes and types of supernovae here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-supernova…
Meet the hell planet with a magma ocean and rocky rain
Exoplanet K2-141b is fiery hot world that circles so close to its star that 1 side of the planet features a deep ocean of molten lava. Meanwhile, the other side is freezing cold. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/k2-141b-lava-planet-with-magma-ocean-rocky-rain-supersonic-winds-super-earth…