Jupiter and Saturn unite in a ” tremendous collaboration ‘,’ ‘Neptune’s storms puzzle astronomers and Venus will be visited shortly after Christmas by a sunrise. These are some of the top stories from Space.com this week.
“Great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn enchants skyr gases.
At the last solar eclipse of the year, Saturn and Jupiter united in the sky for a ” tremendous collaboration. ” They are hundreds of millions of kilometers apart in space, but from Earth’s perspective, the gas giants were one tenth of a degree apart. The planets have not appeared so close to the sky for centuries.
Full story: Rare ‘wonderful fusion’ of Jupiter and Saturn wow skywatchers around the world
Mystery signal comes from the direction of Proxima Centauri.
Astronomers have detected a signal from the direction of the nearest galaxy to the sun, according to a report by The Guardian. The unusual radio signals were detected by the Parkes Telescope in Australia, which is part of the $ 100 Breakthrough Listen project looking for signatures on alien technology.
Full story: Alien hunters detect mystery signal from nearest galaxy
Silver dollar artwork honors Christa McAuliffe.
On December 18, artworks were officially unveiled for the Christa McAuliffe Silver Dollar of 2021. This coin honors the first educator to enter space. “We hope this coin will honor Christa’s memory and are proud to help with the continued legacy of her mission to inspire young people to become science and technology leaders,” said David Ryder, director of the US coin, during a ceremony said.
Full story: Silver dollar unveiled for fallen ‘Teacher in Space’ Christa McAuliffe
NASA will receive $ 23.3 billion for the 2021 financial year.
Congress passed a bill on Monday (December 21) that allocated more than $ 23 billion to NASA. This amount of money is $ 642 million larger than what the space agency received for 2020, but it is $ 2 billion less than what NASA requested. The human landing system of the Artemis program, for example, received a quarter of the requested funding amount, but other human reconnaissance projects such as the Space Launch Systems megarocket requested funding.
Full story: NASA receives $ 23.3 billion for fiscal year 2021 in congressional ombudsman spending bill: report
The storms of Neptune astonished astronomers.
Neptune has large storms in its atmosphere, but a new observation is fascinating for astronomers. A vortex first spotted in 2018 began to drift southward toward Neptune’s equator, but then turned from direction and traveled northward. A second smaller place in the planet’s atmosphere was also detected, possibly a piece of the larger storm that broke out.
Full story: A dark storm on Neptune has reversed the direction and scientists can not explain why
Scientists detect the farthest (and oldest) galaxy from Earth.
Astronomers believe they have found the oldest galaxy ever observed. The galaxy GN-z11 is 13.4 billion light-years away, the farthest galaxy on Earth. Since light has a fixed speed, the large distances between objects in space allow astronomers to see objects as they seemed in the past.
Full story: Scientists think they’ve seen the farthest galaxy in the universe
Google Cloud provides preliminary data for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
On December 9, representatives of the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile announced a three-year agreement with Google. Rubin’s interim data facility will collect preliminary data until the observatory is fully operational and this information is stored in the Google cloud.
Full story: Rubin Observatory and Google will store astronomy data in the cloud
Ceramic section is pressed into space for the first time.
The Florida-based company Made In Space manufactures the first ceramic part in an orbit. Their ceramic manufacturing module (CMM), which arrived at the International Space Station in October, 3D-printed the blade disc. The test object will return to Earth in January 2021.
Full story: Made In Space makes ceramic turbine part of a track in another 3D printing milestone
A new method could confirm the existence of secret Uranus oceans.
New work presented on December 15 has outlined a method that could help researchers in noted oceans in the distant world. Possible oceans below the surface of Uranus moons can be confirmed in this way, and the method can also have applications to understand potentially habitable worlds elsewhere in space.
Full story: Are secret oceans lurking on the moons of Uranus?
Europe’s Solar Orbiter mission will soon be flying through Venus.
The innovative new mission called Solar Orbiter is designed to study the sun and its region of influence known as the heliosphere. However, this joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA will make a detour past Venus on 27 December. The maneuver will bring the spacecraft about 7,500 kilometers above Venus’ atmosphere.
Full story: Europe’s Solar Orbiter is on its way to a holiday flight through Venus
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