The first “supermoon” lunar eclipse in more than three decades will grace Earth’s skies this month, as will a partial solar eclipse that most of the world will miss. The supermoon total lunar eclipse, which occurs on Sept. 27, features a full moon that looks significantly larger and brighter than usual. It will be the […]
Nineteen different subscale versions of a light-blocking “starshade” were tested recently in the Nevada desert.Credit: Northrop Grumman Corporation The next step in the exoplanet revolution may be an in-space “starshade” that lets alien worlds step out of a blinding glare. Researchers are testing designs for a starshade , which would fly in formation with a […]
Eye-popping Venus, low-riding Mercury and stealthy Saturn will all make appearances among the bright objects in September’s night sky, and this day-by-day description shows how to find them. This month, Mercury might be glimpsed very low near the west-southwest horizon while Saturn gets lower each evening in the southwest at dusk. Meanwhile Mars, Jupiter and […]
LISA Pathfinder, ESA’s demonstrator for spaceborne observations of gravitational waves, is ready to leave for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. To source
Europe’s ninth and tenth Galileo satellites have been attached to the dispenser that will hold them during their flight up into space, then release them into their planned orbits. To source
Aquarius and Capricornus host a couple of star clusters that can be revealed in detail with a telescope. Saturn is visible after nightfall. Mars, Venus and Jupiter are pre-dawn planets this month. Lastly, a Supermoon combined with a lunar eclipse will make for a hell of a show on Sept. 27th in the Americas (Sept. […]
On Sept. 27th, 2015, Earthlings will be treated to a skywathching event not seen seen 1982. The ‘Supermoon’, which appears up to 14% larger in diameter due to its proximity to Earth, will also turn a reddish hue as a result of the Moon passing directly behind the Earth, into its shadow. Full Moon: Why […]
Smoke from the treacherous western wildfires has wafted across country and out to sea. To source
If life can spread from star to star, researchers should see a characteristic pattern of overlapping growth. In this theoretical artist’s conception of the Milky Way galaxy, translucent green “bubbles” mark areas where life has spread beyond its home system to create cosmic oases, a process called panspermia.Credit: NASA/JPL/R. Hurt As astronomers get closer to […]
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) experiment is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector that was attached to the space station in 2011. It will now be joined by the Calorimetric Electron Telescope, a detector that will be used to measure even more energetic cosmic rays.Credit: NASA In addition to ferrying tons of food, water and supplies […]
NASA’s New Horizons probe, which flew past Pluto last month, now has a second target to aim for. The New Horizons team has selected an object named 2014 MU69, which lies roughly 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto , as the next target for up-close study by the spacecraft, NASA announced today (Aug. […]
An image of the Aurora Borealis, taken by night sky photographer Dora Miller (also known as Aurora Dora) on Aug. 22, 2015, in Talkeetna, Alaska.Credit: Dora Miller Space weather events that have been building over the last week continued to affect Earth early this morning (Aug. 28), increasing the possibility of amped up auroras around […]
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