Hey - this astrodon.social s closing, sadly (thank you for the server while it lasted and all the fish, as it were) so I moved over to https://mastodon.social/@howtospace - see you there, hopefully.
| Blog | http://howtospace.eu/ |
howtospace
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I love #space and #exploration. member of the #planetary society - I occasionally write about stuff I find interesting on my blog
Andrea LuckPOV: Orbiting Mars. 2 volcanoes. 1 dust storm and the darkness of space around you.
Browse the full size image 170MP (!) here: https://easyzoom.com/image/633505
Full size, download & more info here: https://flic.kr/p/2r95M3B
ESA Mars Express 2024-02-16
Olympus and Ascraues Mons
Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY
ESA (unofficial)A thick plume of sand and dust from the Sahara Desert is seen in these satellite images blowing from the west coast of Africa across the Atlantic Ocean.
Earth from Space: Saharan dust plume
Earth from Space: Saharan dust plume
The current US administration's 2026 budget request includes a staggering 47% cut to NASA's science programs as part of a 25% cut to NASA overall. This is an extinction-level event for the Earth and space science communities, upending decades of work and tens of billions in taxpayers' investment. This petition, open to signatories from around the world, urges the United States Congress to reject this proposal. Save space science - you can sign here:
https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/55
https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/55
Spherex starts full scientific operation, mapping the entire sky, "adding to the suite of space-based astrophysics survey missions leading up to the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope", as Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington puts it.
Let's hope they don't get axed by the current budget request making the rounds.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/spherex/nasas-spherex-space-telescope-begins-capturing-entire-sky
Reiner Jung 🇬🇱 🇺🇦 🇪🇺@esa congrats for the successful launch. It is always good to see scientific instruments put in orbit.
AkaSci 🛰️NASA's Lucy spacecraft is getting ready for its close flyby of asteroid Donaldjohanson on Easter Sunday April 20, 2025 at 13:51 EDT (17:51 UTC).
Closest Approach Distance: 960 km
Speed: 13.4 km/s (48,240 km/h).
Distance From Earth: 1.5 AU (223 million km, 12 light-minutes).
Lucy will use this encounter to test its instruments and tracking systems, in preparation for its main mission of surveying 7 Jupiter trojan asteroids in 2027-2033.
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/lucy/nasas-lucy-spacecraft-prepares-second-asteroid-encounter/
1/n
Lucy is a NASA mission to explore the trojan asteroids in Jupiter's orbit. Along its journey, it will also explore two asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The graphic below shows the trajectory and major events of the mission.
Nov 11, 2023: flyby of main belt asteroid Dinkinesh.
April 20, 2025: flyby of main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson.
2027-2028: survey five L4 trojan asteroids.
2030: Earth flyby
2033: Visit two L5 trojans.
The following map of the solar system shows the location of the Lucy spacecraft, the planets, asteroid Donaldjohanson in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the Trojan asteroids in Jupiter's orbit on April 20, 2025.
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/sc_lucy?rate=0&time=2025-04-20T17:51:00.000+00:00
3/n
Now that's peculiar:
Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a stellar pair. The surprise discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2508/
Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a stellar pair. The surprise discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2508/
"Big surprise": astronomers find planet in perpendicular orbit around pair of stars
Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a stellar pair. The surprise discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).