Space Discussion Thread

[ArcticDude]

Looks like I'm out of luck again. The aurora never seems to extend down to the Puget Sound area.

Products | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

www.swpc.noaa.gov

 

[RB astro]

Ou jeah!
Recomend to look northern skies tonight and tomorrow, auroras will light the sky!

I would, if the earth was flat....

 

[paul1598419]

There's always the Aurora Australis. But, it looks like you won't be able to see that either.

 

[ArcticDude]

NASA and European Space Agency in mission to deflect asteroid to save world from future collisions

Two spacecraft will be used to knock an asteroid off course and then analyse its post-impact remains.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are teaming up for an ambitious mission to use a spacecraft to deflect an asteroid.

Researchers and engineers from the two agencies and beyond are meeting in Rome next week to discuss the idea, which they want to prove is a viable method of planetary defence.

The so-called Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment (AIDA) would target the smaller body of the double Didymos asteroids orbiting between the Earth and Mars, with one spacecraft dedicated to knocking it off course and another to survey its remains once it crashes.

The DART (Double Asteroid Impact Test) craft is scheduled to collide with its target in September 2022, with the moment of impact to be recorded by an Italian-made miniature satellite along for the ride called LICIACube.


https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-and-european-space-agency-in-mission-to-deflect-asteroid-to-save-world-from-future-collisions >>

 

[paul1598419]

This has long been made the plot of movies. It is long overdue to find out if it can actually be done and to what effect.

 

[RedCowboy]

It needs to be perfected in case it's needed, not just tested and dismissed if failed.

 

[ArcticDude]

China says it found something bizarre and unexpected on the moon

Yutu-2 made the discovery during its eighth lunar day on the moon as it zipped through an area riddled with small impact craters (a lunar day lasts 29.5 Earth days; this one was from late July into early August). A member of the rover’s team noticed a bizarre, colorful luster in one of the mission’s recent images, so the team directed the rover to study it more closely. The only real details China has released so far is that the material is “gel-like,” and that is exhibits an “unusual color.”

China says it found something bizarre and unexpected on the moon

Chinese media is claiming that while investigating the far side of the moon, the country’s Yutu-2 lunar rover stumbled upon a unique “gel-like” substance of unknown origin sitting inside a small crater. What we know so far: Yutu-2 made the discovery during its eighth lunar day on the moon as it...

www.technologyreview.com

 

[ArcticDude]

Water vapour spotted in the atmosphere on planet: K2-18 b

More @ Nature astronomy >>

 

[Ears and Eggs]

Interesting. Wonder if there is some way they can tell for sure if it is a rocky terrestrial planet and not an ice giant/mini Neptune type with just some water vapor in it's atmosphere.

Either way really promising to see a planet with an atmosphere in the habitable zone of a Red dwarf. Red dwarves tend to flare a lot and combined with the much closer orbit required to be in the habitable zone, planets can be exposed to extreme radiation levels.

It also must have some crazy weather patterns as it's quite likely it could be tidally locked with an orbit that close to it's host star.

 

[ArcticDude]

Just a heads up guys!

A rare full moon will be appearing across the United States on Friday he 13th
The United States hasn’t had a Friday the 13th full moon since Oct. 13, 2000 — and the next won’t occur until Aug. 13, 2049

Rare full moon to appear on Friday the 13th

The United States hasn’t had a Friday the 13th full moon since Oct. 13, 2000 — and the next won’t occur until Aug. 13, 2049

nerdbot.com

 

[paul1598419]

I guess the date somehow makes this rare, but not to me. A Friday the 13th full moon is just the same as any other full moon. Since I am not superstitious in least, this is just another full moon in my opinion.

 

[ArcticDude]

Astronomers Catch The Immediate Aftermath of a Black Hole Destroying a Star

For all our perception of supermassive black holes as gravitational vortices ravenously devouring stars, it doesn't actually happen that often. For instance, our galaxy's own black hole might only do it a handful of times every 100,000 years.

More at Science Alert >>
The Astrophysical Journal >>

 

[Coonie]

So this dark matter and dark energy is interesting. Things not highly reactive to the electromagnetic spectrum. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Maybe new forms of energies that can change our daily lives the same way the electron has!

 

[paul1598419]

I don't see how. These kinds of events are rare, and until recently, have been impossible to record. Gravitational waves are one of the most recent success stories of recording these kinds of events.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but I just saw this story regarding Elon Musk and his "Starlink" satellites, and the headaches that they are causing for astronomers.

Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellites Are Already Causing a Headache for Astronomers

Astronomers at a Chilean observatory were rudely interrupted earlier this week when a SpaceX satellite train consisting of 60 Starlink satellites drifted overhead, in what scientists are apparently going to have to accept as the new normal.

gizmodo.com

 

[paul1598419]

And they plan on launching 12,000 more of them.