Category: The Moon

Our moon

Midnight sun: What it is and how to see it

NeRD

The midnight sun is a natural summertime phenomenon in which the sun never sets below the horizon, not even at midnight. While this may sound like an otherworldly scenario, for those living in the polar regions, it’s just another summer’s day, albeit one that never ends.  Here, we explore the midnight sun — also known as the “polar day,” “white night” and “nightless night” — in more detail. Learn what causes the strange phenomenon, as well as where and when you can see the midnight sun for yourself.  Related: Goodbye…

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‘Star Trek: The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Cast’ reveals how William Shatner felt about tribbles (exclusive)

NeRD

Even if you’re not a hardcore Trekkie, you’re likely familiar with that unscrupulous galactic trader Cyrano Jones and his furry multiplying marvels known as the tribbles from “Star Trek: The Original Series.” That comedic fan-favorite chapter from “The Original Series” Season 2 first aired Dec. 29, 1967 and was written by David Gerrold. Now Titan Books will honor those bountiful balls with a standout section inside its upcoming retrospective hardback, “Star Trek: The Illustrated Oral History: The Original Cast,” and we’ve got an exclusive interview excerpt featuring Gerrold and episode…

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Sun unleashes giant plasma plume and reels it back in apparent ‘failed eruption’ (video)

NeRD

The sun erupted in a dazzling spectacle on Monday (June 3), firing off an intense solar flare captured in stunning detail by a NASA solar observatory. But when you look closely at the eruption, it appears that much of the solar material in the vast plasma plume didn’t manage to escape the grasp of the sun. In the video, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory during an M-class solar flare,  you can see a huge plasma plume rise from the sun’s surface, only to be reeled back in during an…

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Mars is more prone to devastating asteroid impacts than we thought, new study hints

NeRD

Mars may face more than twice as many close encounters with potentially dangerous asteroids as Earth does, according to a new study. This could imperil exploratory missions to the Red Planet, but also provide insight into how the inner solar system formed.  Asteroids constitute the biggest threat from space to our planet — the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, for example, generated shock waves that injured over 1,000 people and caused more than $33 million in damage to infrastructure.  Astronomers and citizen asteroid hunters have detected around 33,000 similar space rocks that whiz closely past Earth…

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China’s space plane releases another mystery object into orbit

NeRD

China’s reusable space plane has released another unknown object into Earth’s orbit.  The experimental orbital plane, named Shenlong, which means “divine dragon” in Chinese, has been in orbit for 168 days. Space activity tracker Jonathan McDowell first spotted the spacecraft’s recent activity on May 24. The new object has since been cataloged as 59884 (International designator 2023-195G) by the U.S. Space Force space domain awareness teams, SpaceNews reported.  “This object could be a subsatellite deployment, or it could be a piece of hardware ejected prior to end of mission and…

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Watch China’s Chang’e 6 probe land on far side of the moon in dramatic video

NeRD

China’s lunar sample collection mission Chang’e 6 has made history by successfully touching down on the far side of the moon, and it even sent back a stunning video of its landing. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) probe arrived at the moon on Sunday (June 2_ at 6:23 a.m. Beijing Time, which was 6:23 p.m. on Saturday (June 1) EDT (2223 UTC). The video footage was filmed by the Chang’e-6 lander’s landing camera. It shows the spacecraft’s close approach to the lunar surface as well as its touchdown. The…

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The secrets of supernovas might be locked in moon dust

NeRD

The secrets of the supernova star explosions could be hidden in dust scattered across the moon — and a team of scientists from the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) has devised a new way of unlocking those stellar death clues. The research could help scientists obtain a clearer picture of how stars die and provide material for the next generation of stars, planets, moons, and sometimes even life — at least, when it comes to Earth.  The technique hinges on the improved detection of a rare iron isotope found…

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Peru and Slovakia sign the Artemis Accords for peaceful moon exploration

NeRD

This week, two more nations signed the Artemis Accords. NASA held a ceremony at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (May 30) to host representatives from both Slovakia and Peru. During the event, both countries signed the agency’s Artemis Accords, a set of principles that aims to lay out a framework for peaceful cooperation in space and on the moon.  The addition of these two nations brings the total of signing countries to 42. The Artemis Accords were first launched and signed in October 2020 by eight nations, including…

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Is ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ already canceled? Breaking down the rumors

NeRD

The Star Wars fandom is a fidgety one to say the least. Following the divisive reception (despite stellar box office performances) to the sequel trilogy of movies and some ups and downs in the quality of the Disney Plus shows, the conversation surrounding any new live-action Star Wars release is a bit tense, and The Acolyte is now on everyone’s mind. Lucasfilm and Disney have yet to comment on the series’ future (creator and writer-director Leslye Headland has season 2 ideas), something that probably won’t happen until the first season,…

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SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites from Florida tonight

NeRD

Another day, another Starlink launch. SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink satellites to orbit late Friday (May 31). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the broadband craft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0237 GMT on June 1) after a slight 26-minute delay due to weather. The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned about 8 minutes after launch, landing on the droneship called “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 14th launch and landing…

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