The Sky Tonight

December 22, 2015

Giant comets may threaten Earth: astronomers
Paris (AFP) Dec 22, 2015
Planet Earth could be at higher risk of a space rock impact than widely thought, according to astronomers who suggested Tuesday keeping a closer eye on distant giant comets. Most studies of potential Earth-smashers focus on objects in the asteroid belt roughly between Mars, Earth's outside neighbour, and Jupiter on its other flank, said the researchers. But they noted that the discovery in the last two decades of hundreds of giant comets dubbed centaurs, albeit with much larger orbits, requires ... read more

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New study details skeleton of the Milky Way galaxy Researchers with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics claim to have traced the "skeletal structure" of the Milky Way galaxy. They shared their findings earlier this month in the Astrophysical Journal. ... more		Canada delivers Laser Altimeter for OSIRIS-REx spacecraft integration A sophisticated laser-based mapping instrument has arrived at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver for integration onto NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security- ... more		China receives message from dark matter probe Ground stations in China have received data sent by "Wukong" - the country's first dark matter probe satellite, scientists announced Monday. A station in Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang ... more
				Cassini Completes Final Close Enceladus Flyby NASA's Cassini spacecraft has begun transmitting data and images from the mission's final close flyby of Saturn's active moon Enceladus. Cassini passed Enceladus at a distance of 3,106 miles (4,999 ... more		Hubble sees the force awakening in a newborn star Just in time for the release of the movie "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens," NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed what looks like a cosmic, double-bladed lightsaber. In the ... more

Gemini and Keck Put New Spin on Galaxy Formation A team of Australian researchers used two Maunakea-based observatories - Gemini North and W. M. Keck Observatory - to discover why some galaxies are clumpy rather than spiral in shape and it appears ... more		Rare full moon on Christmas Day Not since 1977 has a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas. But this year, a bright full moon will be an added gift for the holidays. December's full moon, the last of the year, is called ... more		HawkEye 360 expands signals intelligence network with operational deployment of Cluster 12 York confirms successful deployment and health of 21 satellites for SDA Tranche 1 mission Spain faces uphill battle to cut Israel military ties: experts		The Puzzle of the Origin of Elements in the Universe A rare nuclear reaction that occurs in red giants has been observed for the first time at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. This result was achieved by the LUNA experiment, the world's on ... more
				A cosmic clumpy doughnut around black hole The most massive black holes in the universe are often encircled by thick, doughnut-shaped disks of gas and dust. This deep-space doughnut material ultimately feeds and nourishes the growing black h ... more		Euclid dark Universe mission ready to take shape Euclid, ESA's dark Universe mission, has passed its preliminary design review, providing confidence that the spacecraft and its payload can be built. It's time to start 'cutting metal'. "This ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

LADEE Mission Shows Force of Meteoroid Strikes on Lunar Exosphere NASA scientists have released new findings about the Moon's tenuous exosphere - the thin layer of gas surrounding the Moon that is one 25-trillionth the density of Earth's atmosphere. The data revea ... more		The awakened force of a star Perfectly timed for the release of "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens", this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a cosmic double-bladed lightsabre. In the centre of the image, partiall ... more		Climate change causing havoc with global water cycle: UN Schools shut, flights cancelled as Typhoon Ragasa nears Hong Kong Over 60,000 Europeans died from heat during 2024 summer: study		Nearby star hosts closest alien planet in the 'habitable zone' UNSW Australia astronomers have discovered the closest potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system so far, orbiting a star just 14 light years away. The planet, more than four times ... more
S3 delays ZeroG launch and IPO campaign Technical and contractual delays in the calendar of the young Swiss startup have resulted in the postponement of the ZeroG flight campaign. They were last scheduled to begin at end of 2015. Sw ... more		Meanwhile, in a galaxy not so far, far away The fantasy creations of the "Star Wars" universe are strikingly similar to real planets in our own Milky Way galaxy. A super Earth in deep freeze? Think ice-planet "Hoth." And that distant world wi ... more		Cassini Closes in on Enceladus, One Last Time A thrilling chapter in the exploration of the solar system will soon conclude, as NASA's Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft makes its final close flyby of the ocean-bearing moon Enceladus. Cassini i ... more		Asteroid WT24 looks even better second time around Asteroid 1998 WT24 safely flew past Earth on Dec. 11 at a distance of about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers, 11 lunar distances). During its flyby, NASA scientists used the 230-foot (70-me ... more

	ALMA reveals planetary construction sites Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the clearest indications yet that planets with masses several times that of Jupiter have recently formed in the d ... more		Survey Maps Neutral Hydrogen in Northern Sky Radio astronomers from Bonn University and the Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie have reached a scientific milestone with their publication in the January issue of the international science jo ... more

Tariff uncertainty delays World Cup orders for China's merch makers

EU business lobby head says China rare earths snag persists

IEA feels the heat as Washington pushes pro-oil agenda

VERITAS detects gamma rays from halfway across the universe		History of Andromeda Galaxy Studied Through Stellar Remains		New Electron-Positron Collider Launched in Siberia		Quasar outburst revises understanding of universe, quasars		Supernova explosion caught in the act
A new spin on star-forming galaxies		Monster planet is 'dancing with the stars'		Cassini gets bull's eye view of Enceladus and Tethys		Twin civilisations? How life on an exoplanet could spread to its neighbour		Gamma rays from distant galaxy tell story of an escape

NASA: Asteroid to pass by Earth on Christmas Eve

Exoplanets Water Mystery Solved

XXL hunt for galaxy clusters

Quantum physics problem proved unsolvable

Huge organs defy austerity for tiny cave snails in the subterranean realm

Mystery of missing exoplanet water solved

New Results from the LUX Dark Matter Detector

Ride along with Rosetta through the eyes of OSIRIS

Hubble reveals diversity of exoplanet atmosphere

Hayabusa2 Earth Swing-by Result

Planetary Science Institute receives Data Archiving Services

Astronomers recall discovery of source of Geminids

'Quasiparticles' reveal incredibly minute distortions in light waves

Japan asteroid probe enters 'target orbit' in space quest

Saving NASA's STEREO-B

No extraterrestrial laser pulses detected from KIC 8462852

What spawned the Jellyfish Nebula?

Dwarf planet Ceres: water vapor in Occator crater

A 'ghost from the past' recalls the infancy of the Milky Way

NASA telescopes detect Jupiter-like storm on small star

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