Items tagged with moon
Mark your calendars for this Thursday, July 10, as the full Buck Moon (a.k.a. Thunder Moon) will be traversing our skies. Culminating with a peak illumination at 4:37 p.m. Eastern Time, this event should offer a unique viewing experience, particularly during moonrise when it transforms into a striking orange orb on...
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A few weeks ago, we reported that scientists had projected that the asteroid 2024 YR4 would have a 4.3% probability of impacting the moon in 2032. So, what would happen if this asteroid were to actually slam into our moon? A recent study, yet to be peer-reviewed, has revealed that asteroid YR4 smashing into our moon...
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As NASA gears up for its 2027 Artemis III mission, engineers and astronauts at Marshall Space Flight Center's Flat Floor Facility in Huntsville, Alabama, are meticulously simulating the extreme lighting conditions expected at the lunar South Pole, the target landing site for Artemis III. This seemingly simple exercise...
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What was once dubbed a potential "city-killer" asteroid for Earth now has its sights redefined. New observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) increase the odds of a collision with the Moon instead in 2032. While the risk to Earth remains negligible, the prospect of a lunar impact by asteroid 2024 YR4...
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June's full moon, affectionately known as the Strawberry Moon, is set to illuminate the night sky this week, reaching its peak illumination on Wednesday, June 11, at 3:44 a.m. EST. While the exact moment of fullness may occur in the pre-dawn hours for those on the East Coast, the moon will appear full and bright for...
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It's now or never, dear readers—the final so-called "micro" full Moon this year will be culminating tonight. The Moon will technically be furthest away from Earth today at 251,939 miles, but when viewed this evening near the horizon, our little planetary satellite will still appear larger than usual due to a human perception phenomenon called
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Attention all stargazers, dust off your DLSR camera and adjust your weekend plans accordingly, because you're about to be treated to the first full moon of spring. Otherwise known as the Pink Moon, Paschal Moon, and Passover Moon, there's some interesting trivia afoot to be the life of the moon watch party, should you bring along less celestial-savvy
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Next week, Earth will be lined up between the Sun and the Moon, creating a total lunar eclipse. North Americans, at least, haven't seen such an eclipse, otherwise known as a "blood moon," in several years—since November 2022—so this is a great opportunity to catch this special event. Unlike a solar eclipse, no special...
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Firefly has announced that its "Blue Ghost" spacecraft has captured a stunning video showing the dark side of the moon while it was preparing to land on the lunar surface. Firefly is one of the private companies selected via NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, the purpose of which is to transport...
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If you've seen photos of the far side of the moon, specifically of two long canyons within what is called the Schrödinger basin and wondered what created them, look no further—researches have determined that ejecta from an ancient asteroid strike carved out the grand canyons (Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck) in...
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As a part of its grand plans for outer space domination, China intends on sending another Chang'e probe into space next year. The mission this time is to search for water potentially frozen in the far side of the moon after previous Chinese probes had found potential for further exploration. Discovering frozen water...
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Chinese researchers have had their first look at rock samples brought back from the far side of the Moon by its Chang’e-6 mission. The mission was China’s second excursion to the Moon’s far side, after the Chang’e-4 mission in 2019.
The Chang’e-6 spacecraft landed on the Moon’s far side in June of this year, touching...
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Be sure not to miss the last supermoon of the year, known as the Beaver Moon, this week. This will be the last of four consecutive supermoons, and will be slightly brighter than the first of the four in mid-August.
The term supermoon, coined in 1979, refers to when a full moon coincides with the Moon’s closest...
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Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, which was viewed up close by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986, has been the focus of more than a few studies over the last few decades. One of the more recent studies included planetary scientists clearing up a perplexing problem surrounding the planet’s weaker-than-anticipated...
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The devil may wear Prada, but NASA is taking it to the moon, and possibly Mars. Axiom Space revealed the first flight design of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, which will be worn by astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis III mission, at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, this...
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October’s full moon will be a “Supermoon,” also known as the Hunter’s Moon, and is the third of four consecutive supermoons this year. Other names for the upcoming Supermoon are the Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon.
According to NASA, the name Hunter’s Moon goes as far back as the...
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As NASA gets closer to returning humans to the Moon, the space agency is also looking at ways of providing shelter for future astronauts on the lunar surface for long-term missions. One idea that is regaining momentum involves feeding fungal species to build materials that would be stronger than concrete and provide...
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The 2024 annular solar eclipse is happening tomorrow and will include a ring of fire. While the path of the eclipse will take it mainly through the Southern Hemisphere, those north will still be able to watch via livestream.
Back in early April of this year, many across North America took time out of their busy day...
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ATLAS, an asteroid impact early warning system in Hawaii, spotted a small asteroid that will temporarily orbit Earth for the next two months. Asteroid 2024 PT5 is a 10-meter (33-feet) wide space rock that is expected to come as close as 1 million kilometers of Earth in an orbital path that resembles a...
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The month of September is chock full of celestial goodness, with a partial lunar eclipse highlighting the festivities. September’s full moon, also called the Harvest moon, will also be a Supermoon, meaning it will appear ever so slightly bigger and brighter than the average full moon.
As NASA and the US government...
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As NASA and other space agencies continue working toward sedning humans back to the moon, the agency’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program is leading efforts to create a coordinated lunar time standard. The goal is to enable a future lunar ecosystem that could be scalable to other locations in our solar...
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A Kobe University researcher has confirmed that an asteroid which struck Jupiter’s moon Ganymede was about 20 times larger than the one that ended the age of the dinosaurs on Earth. According to the new study, when the asteroid struck Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, its axis shifted because of the...
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