Space and astronomy news
A new satellite launching this weekend BlueWalker-3 could be conspicuously bright once it’s unfurled in orbit.
A routine SpaceX Starlink launch this coming weekend carries an unusual passenger, that you many be able to easily see gliding through the increasingly crowded night sky.
Continue reading “BlueWalker-3 Satellite Launches This Weekend, May Be Bright”
Northrop Grumman will partner with startup Firefly Aerospace to continue sending cargo to the International Space Station.
It’s truly a time of ‘crisis and opportunity’ out there in the spaceflight industry, as private startups carve out their niche, in a traditionally government-based environment. This was especially apparent last week, when aerospace giant Northrop Grumman stated that it will partner with the small space startup Firefly Aerospace to build the next generation of Antares rockets.
Continue reading “Firefly, Northrop Grumman to Redesign Antares”
What does the ancient coin found recently off the shores of Israel depict?
You never know what discoveries are waiting to be found in old records or artwork. A recent archaeological find sent us down just such an astronomical rabbit-hole, leading us to ideas that are fun and interesting to consider.
Continue reading “Ancient Coin Discovery With An Astronomical Mystery”
The new generation of Starlink satellites remain above the accepted brightness threshold.
It’s one of the stranger sights of the modern Space Age. Recently, we found ourselves under the relatively dark skies of southern Spain. Sure enough, within a few minutes, we caught sight of a chain of flashing ‘stars’ winking in and out of view in quick succession.
Continue reading “Starlink Satellites Are Still Bright”
Long anticipated comet K2 PanSTARRS puts on its best show through the end of 2022.
An icy visitor from the distant Oort Cloud is still in view, if you know exactly where to look for it. The comet is C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS. It’s in the name: the comet was discovered five years ago in 2017, an unusually long period of lead time, even for a long-period comet. Though it (unfortunately) never entered the inner solar system, mid-2022 is the best time to see the comet, and its distance also means that—unlike swift short period comets—K2 PanSTARRS will linger in the sky for a while, for the remainder of 2022.
Continue reading “K2 PanSTARRS Still a Fine Binocular Comet Through late 2022”
A galactic nova flared briefly into naked eye visibility for a day, before vanishing from sight.
Some stars burn bright but brief. These transitory novae pepper the sky, with one flaring into naked eye visibility every few years… but it was a recent brief appearance of just such a ‘new star’ that gave astronomers a chance to probe the secrets of the Universe.
Continue reading “Record ‘Fast Nova’ Flares Over a Single Day”
BepiColombo’s stunning close pass by Mercury on Thursday provides a prelude of what’s to come.
Welcome (briefly) to Mercury, with a planetary flyby hinting at more to come. The joint European Space Agency/Japanese Aerospace Agency’s BepiColombo spacecraft treated us to just that on Thursday, June 23rd, passing just 200 kilometers from the surface of the innermost world at 9:44 Universal Time (UT). During that brief encounter, BepiColombo got a brief glimpse of its final destination.
Continue reading “BepiColombo’s Second Mercury Flyby”
June 2022 offers early risers the chance to trace out the naked eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn.
Sometimes, the Universe offers up an illustration of a ready-made science lesson. Just such an alignment occurs this month, as all of the naked eye planets are in order, from innermost Mercury to outermost Saturn.
Continue reading “See All Naked Eye Planets This Month… in Order”
If skies are clear, be sure to watch for a potential tau Herculid meteor outburst early next Tuesday morning.
With a little cosmic luck, we could potentially be in for a meteor storm of epic proportions this coming Monday night/Tuesday morning. We recently wrote about the possibility for an outburst from the tau Herculids on the night of May 30th/May 31st. As we’re now just under a week out from the shower, let’s look at the prospective for the shower, what went down during meteor storms of yore, and more.
Continue reading “Update on the Potential May 31st tau Herculid Meteor Storm”
Be sure to watch the skies on the last morning of May, for a possible Tau Herculid meteor outburst.
If predictions hold true, we may be in for a rare meteor outburst from an obscure meteor shower on May 31st topping a thousand meteors per hour… or we may see nothing at all. Welcome to the wonderful world of meteor shower predictions and prognostications.
Continue reading “May 31st Could Be the Most Powerful Meteor Storm in Generations, or Nothing at All”