Category Archives: Astronomy News

Astronomy News

Class X1.3 Flare causes shortwave radio blackout

Space Weather News for March 30, 2022
https://spaceweather.com
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X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected a powerful explosion on the sun. The X1.3-class flare on March 30th (1737 UT) caused a shortwave radio blackout over the Americas and has almost certainly hurled a CME toward Earth. Follow this developing story @ Spaceweather.com.

Don’t miss another solar flare: Subscribers to our Space Weather Alert Service received a text message about this X-flare while it was happening. Such prompt notifications allow ham radio operators, amateur astronomers and others to react to flares before they fade away.
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Above: The extreme ultraviolet flash from today’s X-flare. Credit: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Astronomy News

A ‘CANNIBAL CME’ IS APPROACHING EARTH

Space Weather News for March 29, 2022
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A ‘CANNIBAL CME’ IS APPROACHING EARTH: A strong G3-class geomagnetic storm is possible later this week when a ‘Cannibal CME’ hits Earth’s magnetic field. It’s a ‘cannibal’ because it ate one of its own kind en route to our planet. The mash-up of two CMEs could spark naked-eye auroras visible from northern-tier US states. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Aurora Alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and get instant text notifications when geomagnetic storms are underway.
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Above: This frame from a NASA animation shows one CME overtaking another. The resulting merger is called a ‘Cannibal CME.’

Astronomy News

SOLAR FLARE, TSUNAMI, AND RADIATION STORM

Space Weather News for March 28, 2022
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SOLAR FLARE, TSUNAMI, AND RADIATION STORM: A strong flare on the sun this morning kicked off a remarkable sequence of events: a solar tsunami, a solar radio burst, a solar proton storm, a terrestrial radio blackout and a polar cap absorption event. The explosion also (almost certainly) hurled a CME toward Earth. Developing story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar Flare Alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and get instant text notifications when solar flares are underway.
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Above: An M4-class solar flare and shortwave radio blackout (inset) on March 28, 2022.

Astronomy News

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1-CLASS)

Space Weather News for March 26, 2022
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1-CLASS): Yesterday, the sun launched a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. Forecasters are divided on when it might arrive–sometime between midday on March 27th and early March 28th. The impact could spark minor G1-class geomagnetic storms with equinox auroras boosted by the “Russell-McPherron effect.” Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar Flare Alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and get instant text notifications when solar flares are underway.
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Above: Equinox auroras over Norway on March 20, 2022. Photo credit: Sirpa Pursiainen. For the latest sightings, check out Spaceweather.com’s real time Aurora Photo Gallery.

Astronomy News, Space Travel / Exploration

Our Long range sensors detect…

Interesting news items!

  • James Webb telescope fully focused
  • If we make contact with aliens, how will religion be affected?
  • Watch NASA roll mega Artemis I moon rocket out to the launchpad

James Webb: ‘Fully focused’ telescope beats expectations

Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmos

Star
Image source, NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI Image caption, The test star has the ungainly name 2MASS J17554042+6551277. A red filter optimises the visual contrast

The American space agency has achieved a major milestone in its preparation of the new James Webb Space Telescope.

Engineers say they have now managed to fully focus the $10bn observatory on a test star. The pin-sharp performance is even better than hoped, they add.

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If we made contact with aliens, how would religions react?

The discovery of life on another planet might seem incompatible with faith in a deity. Yet many theologians are already open to the existence of extraterrestrials, argues the writer Brandon Ambrosino.

In 2014, NASA awarded $1.1M to the Center for Theological Inquiry, an ecumenical research institute in New Jersey, to study “the societal implications of astrobiology”.

Some were enraged. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which promotes the division between Church and state, asked NASA to revoke the grant, and threatened to sue if NASA didn’t comply. While the FFR stated that their concern was the commingling of government and religious organisations, they also made it clear that they thought the grant was a waste of money. “Science should not concern itself with how its progress will impact faith-based beliefs.”

The FFR’s argument might well be undermined, however, when the day comes that humanity has to respond to the discovery of aliens. Such a discovery would raise a series of questions that would exceed the bounds of science. For example, when we ask, “What is life?” are we asking a scientific question or a theological one? Questions about life’s origins and its future are complicated, and must be explored holistically, across disciplines. And that includes the way we respond to the discovery of aliens.  READ MORE

Watch NASA roll mega Artemis I moon rocket out to the launchpad

Ashley Strickland-Profile-Image

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 7:36 PM ET, Thu March 17, 2022

The NASA Artemis I stack, including the SLS rocket (right) topped with the Orion spacecraft, leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17.
The NASA Artemis I stack, including the SLS rocket (right) topped with the Orion spacecraft, leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17

(CNN)The Artemis I mission is another step closer to its lunar launch.

The massive 322-foot-tall (98 meters) stack, which includes NASA’s Space Launch System rocket topped by the Orion spacecraft, rolled out for its testing debut at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.
The integrated stack, which sits on a mobile launcher, began its slow-moving crawl into launch position Thursday afternoon, with live coverage available on NASA’s website. The rollout officially began at 5:47 p.m. ET.
The rocket stack is seen inside the building before emerging on the crawler.
The rocket stack is seen inside the building before emerging on the crawler.
The 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) ride aboard one of the Apollo-era giant NASA crawlers from the assembly building to the launchpad could take up to 11 hours, according to NASA. The estimated arrival at the pad is around 4:30 a.m. ET on Friday.
Astronomy News

Watch the skies tonight, possible auroras!

Space Weather News for March 13, 2022
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

CME SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: As predicted, a CME hit Earth’s magnetic field today, March 13th, sparking a moderately-strong G2-class geomagnetic storm. Depending on conditions in the CME’s wake, the storm could spill into March 14th. If it does, sky watchers in northern-tier US states might be able to see auroras after local nightfall. Stay tuned to Spaceweather.com for updates.

Aurora Alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and get instant text notifications when geomagnetic storms are underway.
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Above: First contact with the CME ignited bright auroras over Nome, Alaska. Photo credit: John Dean. Monitor the aurora photo gallery for more sightings.

Astronomy News

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2-CLASS)

Space Weather News for March 11, 2022
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2-CLASS): Earlier today the sun launched a full halo CME into space. The storm cloud is expected to hit Venus on March 13th followed by Earth later the same day. NOAA forecasters say that G2-class geomagnetic storms are possible when the CME arrives. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Aurora Alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and get instant text notifications when geomagnetic storms are underway.
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Above: A full halo CME is heading for Earth. Image credit: the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

Astronomy News

NASA ROCKET PLUNGES INTO PULSATING AURORAS

Space Weather News for March 7, 2022
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.comNASA ROCKET PLUNGES INTO PULSATING AURORAS: Over the weekend, NASA launched a rocket from Alaska into an expanse of mysterious pulsating auroras. This type of aurora, which is a bit like a strobing checkerboard, is a favorite among tour guides because it is so unusual and mesmerizing. Researchers are just beginning to understand what makes it tick. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar Flare Alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and get instant text notifications when solar flares are underway.

Above: A NASA sounding rocket launches into pulsating auroras over the University of Alaska’s Poker Flat Research Range on March 5th. Photo credit: Marketa S. Murray of The Aurora Chasers.
Astronomy News, Our planet Earth holds wonders enough!

Mysterious new substance possibly discovered inside Earth’s core

Mysterious new substance possibly discovered inside Earth’s core

https://www.space.com/

By published

The planet’s core could be a mushy mix of solid and liquid.

Earth's core is weirder than first thought.
Earth’s core is weirder than first thought. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Earth’s inner core may be filled with a weird substance that is neither solid nor liquid, according to a new study.

For more than half a century, scientists believed that Earth‘s deepest recesses consist of a molten outer core surrounding a densely compressed ball of solid iron alloy. But new research, published Feb. 9 in the journal Nature, offers a rare insight into the inner structure of the planet — and it’s far weirder than previously thought.

New computer simulations suggest that Earth’s hot and highly pressurized inner core could exist in a “superionic state” — a whirling mix of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon molecules, continuously sloshing through a grid-like lattice of iron.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
Astronomy News

Third exoplanet found around closest star to Earth

From Astronomy Magazine: https://astronomy.com/

Third exoplanet found around closest star to Earth

The planetary family around Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth, just keeps growing.
By Alison Klesman  |  Published: Monday, February 21, 2022
RELATED TOPICS: EXOPLANETS
Artist's impression of Proxima d
An artist’s impression shows the small world Proxima d – a new planet recently discovered around the Sun’s nearest neighbor. ESO/L. Calçada

A little over four light-years away is Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to the Sun. And in August 2016, researchers announced they’d found a long-searched-for planet around Proxima Centauri, the smallest — and closest — component of this three-star system. Then, in January 2020, astronomers spotted a second world around Proxima Centauri. And now, the star’s family tree appears to be growing again: A third terrestrial planet has been found orbiting the nearest star to Earth.

A new addition

In a study published Feb. 10 in Astronomy & Astrophysics, astronomers announced the discovery of Proxima d. This tiny planet, weighing in at just one-quarter the mass of Earth, orbits Proxima Centauri every five days at a distance of some 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers), or less than one-tenth the distance of Mercury from our own Sun. But because Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf with only about 12 percent the Sun’s mass and 14 percent its diameter, this puts Proxima d in the star’s habitable zone, where conditions are just right for liquid water to potentially exist on its surface.

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