Space News for May 20, 1999

New Moon Discovered for Uranus

While examining old photographs from Voyager, an astronomer has discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus. Only 25 miles across, the moon, currently has the boring name of 1986 U10, but it will soon be given a Shakespearean character name – a tradition for Uranus’ moons.

ABC News
Astronomy Now
CNN Space
explorezone.com

TERRIERS Satellite Runs Out of Juice

The student-built TERRIERS satellite has drained its battery since it was launched on Tuesday. This is because the satellite wasn’t able to orient its solar panels in the direction of the sun to recharge. Engineers are attempting to recover it before declaring the launch a write-off.

Astronomy Now
CNN Space
MSNBC

Hubble Catches Giant Storm on Mars

The Hubble Space Telescope has recently captured images of a giant storm raging across the surface of Mars. Over 1,000 miles across, the storm is surprisingly Earthlike, in composition, unlike the dust storms discovered by the Viking orbiter over 20 years ago.

Astronomy Now
CNN Space
explorezone.com
Fox News
MSNBC

Asteroid 1999 AN10 will Come Very Close in 2027

Although it was recently announced that asteroid 1999 AN10 may strike the Earth in 2039, astronomers have been calculating and recalculating its trajectory. Recent data suggests that 1999 AN10 will streak past the Earth as close as 38,000 miles in 2027, but it’s still unclear if gravitational effect of the Earth will cause the later impact.

BBC News