NATIONAL METEOR WATCH DAY

NATIONAL METEOR WATCH DAY | JUNE 30

"On June 30th, National Meteor Watch Day encourages us to look to the stars to witness one of the night sky's most thrilling sights."

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-meteor-watch-day-june-30?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10237441&hashed_email=6c23328441e0f46865e8039a24ce7ccf8880f2d7&email=yeremiah%40aol.com

2 Close Calls

"Two large asteroids are set to safely pass by Earth this week, arriving just before Asteroid Day on June 30, according to a new report from the European Space Agency (ESA)."https://www.earth.com/news/two-large-asteroids-will-pass-near-earth-this-week/

Close Call

"Tomorrow, Earth will have a relatively close encounter with one of the largest known space rocks in the potentially hazardous asteroid class. It is known as 2011 UL21 and it is classed as a "planet-killer" in size."

https://www.iflscience.com/planet-killer-asteroid-to-safely-fly-by-earth-tomorrow-74826

VRO

Did you know?"One of the most highly anticipated astronomical facilities of the century is the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (VRO)."Astronomy Magazine March 2021  "Sky Scanner" p. 26

ISS

"The International Space Station has been around for a long time."

https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-nasa-plans-to-deorbit-the-international-space-station

NASA and SpaceX

"NASA has selected SpaceX to develop a vehicle that will bring the International Space Station to a fiery end when the time comes."

https://www.space.com/nasa-spacex-international-space-station-deorbit-vehicle

SHERLOC

 

"The SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has analyzed a rock target with its spectrometer and camera for the first time since encountering an issue this past January. The instrument plays a key role in the mission’s search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed on June 17 that the instrument succeeded in collecting data."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/detective-work-enables-perseverance-team-to-revive-sherloc-instrument?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=percy20240626

NASA flying over Baltimore, Philadelphia and more

"This summer between June 17 and July 2, NASA is flying aircraft over Baltimore, Philadelphia, parts of Virginia, and California to collect data on air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-led-mission-to-map-air-pollution-over-both-us-coasts?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=earth20240624

Observatory in Mediterranean

"An observatory still under construction at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has spotted what could be the most energetic neutrino ever detected. Such ultra-high-energy neutrinos — tiny subatomic particles that travel at nearly the speed of light — have been known to exist for only a decade or so, and are thought to be messengers from some of the Universe’s most cataclysmic events, such as growth spurts of supermassive black holes in distant galaxies."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02074-5?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Neutrinos

"Of all the elementary particles in the universe, neutrinos may be the strangest."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-are-neutrinos-and-how-can-we-measure-their-mass/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

James Webb NIRCAM

"For the first time, a phenomenon astronomers have long hoped to directly image has been captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam)."

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/first-of-its-kind-detection-made-in-striking-new-webb-image/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Brightening Galexy

"The mysterious brightening of a galaxy far, far away has been traced to the heart of the star system and the sudden awakening of a giant black hole 1m times more massive than the sun."

https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jun/18/astronomers-detect-sudden-awakening-black-hole-1m-times-bigger-sun?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Water Cycle

"It’s been known for years that there are large quantities of water ice locked up in the Martian poles. Around the equator however it is a barren dry wasteland devoid of any surface ice. Recent observations of Mars have discovered frost on the giant shield volcanoes but it only appears briefly after sunrise and soon evaporates. Estimates suggest that 150,000 tons of water cycle between the surface and atmosphere on a daily basis."https://www.universetoday.com/167358/frost-seen-on-olympus-mons-for-the-first-time/#google_vignette

Voyager

"NASA's Voyager 1 interstellar probe is finally returning usable data from all four of its science instruments, scientists say."https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/nasa-engineers-finally-fix-voyager-1-spacecraft-from-15-billion-miles-away

Dryness of Venus

"It should not be surprising that Venus is dry. It is famous for its hellish conditions, with dense sulphurous clouds, rains of acid, atmospheric pressures comparable to a 900 meter deep lake, and a surface temperature high enough to melt lead. But it’s lack of water is not just a lack of rain and oceans: there’s no ice or water vapour either."

https://www.universetoday.com/167300/where-did-venuss-water-go/

Furthest Journey So Far

Did you know?

"October 22, 2038: After a journey of over a billion miles to the outer solar system, the Centaurus spacecraft is on final approach. Dead ahead lies Chiron, a mini-planet orbiting between Uranus and Neptune."

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "Mission to Centaurs" pp. 16-23

Planets History

"Scientists scour the Earth and the sky for clues to our planet’s climate history. Powerful and sustained volcanic eruptions can alter the climate for long periods of time, and the Sun’s output can shift Earth’s climate over millions of years."

https://www.universetoday.com/167340/was-earths-climate-affected-by-interstellar-clouds/

James Webb Space Telescope

"The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has once again found evidence that the early universe was a far more complex place than we thought."

https://www.universetoday.com/167328/carbon-is-surprisingly-abundant-in-an-early-galaxy/#google_vignette

Voyager 1

"NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is conducting normal science operations for the first time following a technical issue that arose in November 2023."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/voyager-1-returning-science-data-from-all-four-instruments

Black Hole Material

Did you know?

"Theorists have a difficult time stimulating how black holes accrete material. The underlying physics is exceedingly complex, especially for supermassive black holes. But one thing is clear: The presence or absence of magnetic fields, and how they arrange themselves around a black hole, plays a critical role in controlling the rate of the accretion flow."

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

Future

"Humanity's future may involve getting to a planet other than Earth ‒ but first people will have to survive the journey."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/06/11/why-space-travel-ages-people/74052057007/

Black Hole Growth

Did you know?

"We came to the conclusion that the standard picture of black hole growth may actually not apply to these quasars, they're eating a lot of material but they're not emitting as much radiation as we thought. They grow fast that there's no longer a black hole problem."

HennawiAstronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

Cosmos

"Deep inside a black hole, the cosmos gets twisted beyond comprehension. Here, at some infinitesimal point of infinite density, the fabric of the universe gets so ludicrously warped that Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which describes how mass bends space-time, ceases to make sense. At the singularity, our understanding falls apart."

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26234950-400-what-naked-singularities-are-revealing-about-quantum-space-time//?utm_source=nssub-acq&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nssub%20acq_29-feb-clicks-offer_e4_A-tri_120624&utm_content=A&utm_term=NSSUB_Prospects_E-A-P_click-date_since%2029%20Feb

Martian Mountains

"Sometimes the impossible turns out to be not so impossible."

https://newatlas.com/space/impossible-frost-martian-mountains/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=ce6fe11b76-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_06_12_12_58&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-ce6fe11b76-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Water on Mars

"An international team of planetary scientists has detected patches of water frost sitting atop the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars, which are not only the tallest volcanic mountains on the Red Planet but in the entire solar system."

https://www.brown.edu/news/2024-06-10/mars-frost?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams

"NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station."

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/liftoff-nasa-astronauts-pilot-first-starliner-crewed-test-to-station/

ACDM model

Did you know?

"If either the direct-collapse or super-Eddington scenario is correct, there is no need to tinker with the ACDM cosmological model. And Hennawi points out that it's not necessarily an either/or proposition. Both direct collapse and super-Eddington accretion could have been operating in the early universe, he say, Natarajan agrees."

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

Eddington Rate

Did you know?

"Magnetic fields thus determine how efficiently a gram of matter radiates light as it spirals towards a black hole. A magnetic field with twist and turns will gum up the flow, causing it to heat up and emit powerful radiation that could stem the infall of material. But, says Natarajan, if the magnetic field takes a direct path and neatly threads an accretion disk, simulations suggest it can whisk material to the black hole, feeding it much faster than the Eddington rate."

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

James Webb Space Telescope

Did you know?"

Like Natarajan, Hennawi looks forward to the launch  and deployment of the JWST. Assuming it works as planned, this cutting edge space telescope will enable astronomers to make of many dozens high-redshift quasars to see how energy is affected by the retreat which they accrete material."

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

James Webb Space Telescope

Did you know?

"At some level the abundance is what you really want and need, but the important thing is that we'll have a lot more understanding of this when we can make these kinds of measurements for hundreds of objects, that's really what JWST will allow us to do."

Hennawi

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

Olympus Mons

"Earth is home to stunning snow-capped mountains that tower over their surrounding landscapes, but none quite compares to Mars’ Olympus Mons."

https://www.interestingfacts.com/fact/6227e623389a6a0008607d36#6227e4b395815c0008941751?utm_source=feedingcuriosity.com

Starship Super Heavy flight

"The fourth Starship Super Heavy flight test has ended with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean."

https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/6/24172689/spacex-starship-fourth-flight-test-launch-success

Radio Signals

"The universe is awash with strange radio signals, but astronomers have now detected a really bizarre one that repeats every hour, cycling through three different states. While they have some ideas about its origin it can’t be explained by our current understanding of physics."

https://newatlas.com/space/radio-signal-space-repeats-hour-neutron-star-white-dwarf/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=fa58b8f18f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_06_07_12_53&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-fa58b8f18f-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Space X

"Mr Musk's private spaceflight company SpaceX tried to get Starship airborne on Monday, April 17 but postponed the launch because of a pressurisation issue."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55564448?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Magellian and Gemini Telescopes

Did you know?

"Using the Magellian and Gemini telescopes, they have measured the amount of light from several redshift-7 quasars by observing how their radiation has ionized the inter-galactic gas between the quasar and us."

Astronomy Magazine March 2021 "How to Grow a Giant Black Hole" pp. 16-23

Planets Age

"Measuring the ages of planets and stars helps scientists understand when they formed and how they change – and, in the case of planets, if life has had time to have evolved on them."

https://theconversation.com/how-do-astronomers-know-the-age-of-the-planets-and-stars-205809

1679 Dutch Researchers

"In 1679, Dutch explorers reached Australia and observed the first black swan known to Western civilization."

https://thebulletin.org/2023/10/black-swans-from-mars/

Very Long Baseline Array

"Using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the Long Baseline Array (LBA), astronomers have observed a black hole low-mass X-ray binary known as Swift J1727.8-1613. As a result, they found that the system hosts a highly extended and bright relativistic jet. The finding was detailed in a paper published May 20 on the pre-print server arXiv."

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-ray-binary-swift-j17278-large.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter