Did the recent apparition of Comet Leonard whet your appetite for more of these beautiful unpredictables? Here are five more you can see with your telescope this season. The post Comet-seeking on Cold, Crunchy Nights appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreMonth: January 2022
NASA’s X-59 Kicks Off 2022 in Texas for Ground Testing
2021 saw significant milestones achieved in the assembly of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft (QueSST), and all eyes now look forward to a pivotal 2022.
Read MoreExploding meteor ‘booms’ over Pennsylvania on New Year’s Day
Observations from GOES-16 shows a flash that was later determined came from an exploding meteor on Jan. 1, 2022. (Image credit: Twitter/NWSPittsburgh) A meteor hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere exploded over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on New Year’s Day (Jan. 1). Just before 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT) on Jan. 1, people in Pittsburgh heard what sounded like a loud “boom” outside. Reports described windows rattling and objects shaking in their homes, according to CBS Pittsburgh. The sudden blast surprised those living in the Pittsburgh area as the meteor broke up in the…
Read MoreWith James Webb Space Telescope’s huge sunshield in place, focus shifts to big mirrors
The James Webb Space Telescope is moving briskly on to its next big deployment. On Tuesday (Jan. 4), Webb finished bringing its huge, five-layer sunshield up to the proper tension, wrapping up the most complex and tricky operation of the $10 billion observatory’s lengthy deployment phase. The mission team can therefore now turn to the next big-ticket item on its to-do list: getting the telescope’s secondary and primary mirrors into the proper configuration. And the ball on that will get rolling very soon. “We just finished deploying our sunshield today,…
Read MoreCritical Step Complete as Webb Space Telescope Deploys Sunshield
Its sunshield now in place, the James Webb Space Telescope is unfolding by the numbers while en route to its new home. The post Critical Step Complete as Webb Space Telescope Deploys Sunshield appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreJames Webb Space Telescope completes tricky sunshield deployment
The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed all five layers of its tennis-court-sized sunshield, a prerequisite for the telescope’s science operations and the most nerve-wracking part of its risky deployment. The challenging procedure, which required careful tensioning of each of the five hair-thin layers of the elaborate sunshield structure was a seamless success today (Jan. 4). Its completion brought huge relief to the thousands of engineers involved in the project over its three decades of development, as well as the countless scientists all over the world who eagerly await…
Read MoreSunshield Successfully Deploys on NASA’s Next Flagship Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope team has fully deployed the spacecraft’s 70-foot sunshield, a key milestone in preparing it for science operations.
Read MoreNASA Headquarters Photographers Pick Their Best
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard is seen at Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.
Read MoreThings are getting tense for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, literally
The tension is rising for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. On Monday (Jan. 3), James Webb Space Telescope controllers began tightening the tension on its massive sunshield, a five-layer shield the size of a tennis court designed to keep the $10 billion observatory cool enough for science. The task is the final step in unfolding Webb’s sunshield, and should take up to three days to complete. With Webb being so new to space — the $10 billion observatory only launched on Dec. 25 — the tensioning was delayed by two…
Read MoreComet Leonard makes its closest approach to the sun today, one year after its discovery
The brightest comet in the night sky right now makes its closest approach to the sun Monday (Jan. 3) and — even if it survives the journey — that will be the only time the comet sees our star close up. That icy wanderer is Comet Leonard, which got brighter unexpectedly in late December as it drew closer to the sun, according to EarthSky. Skywatchers even had a chance to see the comet and planet Venus in the same binocular view as Leonard made its closest approach to Venus on…
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