Month: December 2022

Winter storm from ‘bomb cyclone’ hits eastern US as satellites watch (video)

NeRD

Stormy winds and acres of snow are blanketing the eastern United States today (Dec. 23) within view of satellites. Weather forecasters are trying to assist travelers and holiday-goers with staying safe amid the dangerous conditions using satellites gazing at the United States from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. High winds were visible in NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)-East or GOES-16, a satellite in geosynchronous orbit. “Red is high-level, blue mid-level, and yellow is low-level wind,” NOAA said in a tweet (opens in new tab). Roughly 60…

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The Christmas night sky 2022: The planets pay a holiday visit

NeRD

During this final week of 2022, we can observe what I would call “The Christmas Sky.” In many ways there are signs of the holiday season in our current evening sky. At this time of year many bring up the subject of the Star of Bethlehem. If you look low toward the southwest horizon about 30 minutes after sundown, you’ll see a brilliant object that might remind you of that fabled apparition. Indeed, it’s so bright that appears more like a dazzling beacon as opposed to a star: it’s the…

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Watch the final new moon of 2022 rise on Friday (Dec. 23)

NeRD

On Friday (Dec 23), the moon will appear completely dark in the sky over Earth during its new moon phase.  Friday’s new moon not only marks the final new moon of 2022 but also the beginning of its last lunar cycle, which will carry over into 2023. This cycle leads up to and past January’s full moon, the Wolf Moon, on Jan. 6, the first full moon of 2023.  During the new moon phase, the moon rises at around the same time as the sun and sets with the sun…

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Who is Astrobotic Technology and what do they do?

NeRD

Astrobotic Technology is an aerospace and robotics company based in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, U.S. Founded in 2007, the privately held company is developing technology for the next phase of humankind’s exploration of space, particularly for missions to the moon and to other planets. The company, created by Carnegie Mellon University professor and robotics expert Red Whittaker and his associates, aims to help other developers get their technology into space.  “We’re empowering a thriving human presence in space to explore the universe beyond Earth orbit. We believe in the elegant, pragmatic use…

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Why do NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover sample tubes look like Star Wars lightsabers?

NeRD

The director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wants to be a Jedi. Laurie Leshlin, peering at footage of a lightsaber-shaped sample tube dropped yesterday on Mars (Dec. 21) by NASA’s Perseverance mission, joked on Twitter that there must be a faster way of shipping home the package, “Star Wars“-style. “I’ve been holding out my hand to my computer screen to see if it will be transported from Mars, since as director of I’m pretty sure the Force is with me, right?” Leshlin tweeted (opens in new tab) late Thursday. It…

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Mars’ ancient atmosphere may not have had much oxygen after all

NeRD

There may have been no oxygen in the atmosphere of ancient Mars after all, a new study has found — but don’t despair, there still could have been living creatures crawling on the planet’s surface.  When NASA’s Curiosity rover found manganese oxide in Martian rocks in 2016, many planetary scientists rejoiced, believing that the mineral’s presence was a significant hint of past concentrations of oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere. The odds of past existence of life on Mars suddenly seemed higher, too, as oxygen is one of the key enablers…

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