Venus? Or is it Jupiter? 🤔

Right next to the Moon on the left. Earlier, like an hour or more before this was taken, it was bigger and brighter. Should have taken a shot then.

#amateurastronomy #astronomy2024

What happened in space in 2024? Follow the link for the highlights of this amazing year:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/space-missions-in-2024-recap

#SpaceExploration #Astronomy2024 #ScienceHighlights

Space missions spanned the solar system in 2024

Humankind accomplished new feats in space this year, including scooping up some of the moon’s farside and launching a probe to Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Science News
Scenes from the virtual IAU GA #Astronomy2024! @futuremeetings built a 3D virtual space which could be accessed on #VR headset, regular web browser, or smartphone. This was the JAXA room that I created as one of the exhibits! It included posters on the JAXA small body missions (including Hayabusa2, MMX, SLIM), models of the spacecraft and asteroid Ryugu, a Haya2-kun mascot you could ride and a link to a scene on asteroid Ryugu, created by OmniScope.

Kartik Sheath, Associate Chief Scientist at NASA, came to chat to online participants at #Astronomy2024 in #VR today! And when he had finished, we beheaded him like a praying mantis 😐

(He'd actually removed his headset but not yet logged out the space!)

Comet ice is expected to be either crystalline or amorphous, depending on if the Solar System's protoplanetary disc formed hot (> 300K) or cold with ices inherited from the interstellar medium--explained Bin Yang today at #Astronomy2024 #IAU2024--You can measure ice structure with JWST (Fresnel Peak in the infrared spectrum). Which is super cool, but... turns out inconclusive! Different comets (so far) are showing a range of icy structures.
The Dark & Quiet Skies session ends with a wrap-up and a plea from the session chairs: please think about what @iau_org can be doing about these issues in the next triennium (2024-27). #IAUGA2024 #Astronomy2024
Nalayini Davies (@idadarksky Board) presents a draft best practice for #astrotourism development resulting from insights gained from surveying existing International Dark Sky Places. The working group that produced it now seeks community feedback. #IAUGA2024 #Astronomy2024
The final Dark & Quiet Skies session of the day is underway. Aparna Venkatesan (Univ. of San Francisco) presents the results of an @idadarksky task force whose charge was to establish a framework for advocating for dark skies around a core of environmental and social values. #IAUGA2024 #Astronomy2024
Samuel Challéat (Nocturnal Environment Observatory) noted the historic disconnection between urban lighting studies and light pollution research. Calls for the recognition of "Nocturnal Environmental Studies" that takes a socio-ecological systems approach. #IAUGS2024 #Astronomy2024
Richard Green (Steward Observatory), as chair of the IAU Commission B7 working group on lunar astronomy issues, calls for legal protection of lunar sites for this purpose: "The ITU can regulate some stray radiation, but rare sites need to be designated and protected". #IAUGA2024 #Astronomy2024