Space

Winter solstice: Jupiter and Saturn ‘merge’ in rare celestial event 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 21, 2020
A very rare, once-in-a-lifetime celestial event will shine brightly in the sky on Monday evening – weather permitting, of course.

By David Aragorn
Chinese space probe returns to Earth with samples from the moon 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 19, 2020
China now joins the ranks of the U.S. and the former Soviet Union in pulling off the feat.

By David Aragorn
Hubble Monitors Weird Dark Vortex on Neptune 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 17, 2020
In 2018, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope spotted a giant dark storm, which is 7,400 km (4,600 miles) across, in the northern hemisphere of Neptune. Observations a year later showed that the vortex began drifting southward toward the equator, where such storms are expected to vanish from sight. To the surprise of astronomers, Hubble spotted the vortex change direction by August 2020, doubling back to the north. At the same time as the spot’s stunning reversal, a new, slightly smaller dark feature appeared near its bigger cousin and later disappeared.

By David Aragorn
Jupiter Saturn conjunction: How to see the ‘Christmas star’ of 2020 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 17, 2020
Get ready for 21 December 2020, when the “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn brings them closest in the night sky since 1623

By David Aragorn
Canada signs deal to send first astronaut on U.S. mission around the moon 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 17, 2020
Canada will for the first time send an astronaut to circle the moon on a U.S. mission planned for 2023, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said on Wednesday, announcing a formal deal with Washington.

By David Aragorn
Hayabusa-2: Pieces of an asteroid found inside space capsule 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 17, 2020
Scientists have been greeted by the sight of jet black chunks of rock and soil from an asteroid after opening a capsule that returned from deep space a week ago.

By David Aragorn
Astronomers detect possible radio emission from exoplanet 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 16, 2020
By monitoring the cosmos with a radio telescope array, an international team of scientists has detected radio bursts emanating from the constellation Boötes — that could be the first radio emission collected from a planet beyond our solar system.

By David Aragorn
TESS Discovers Two Small and Warm Exoplanets 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 16, 2020
Astronomers using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered two exoplanets transiting inactive red dwarf stars TOI-122 and TOI-237.

By David Aragorn
The Milky Way’s central black hole may have turned nearby red giant stars blue 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 15, 2020
A powerful blast from the supermassive black hole may explain a lack of large, red stars there

By David Aragorn
Bizarre alien world may be analog of our solar system’s putative Planet Nine 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- December 15, 2020
HD 106906 b is interesting for many reasons.

By David Aragorn