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UPDATE/FIX — The links in this post now take you to "Kamoʻoalewa: Breakaway Asteroid and Quasi-Moon" on A Catholic Citizen in America. I goofed when posting this preview - - - sorry about that: and have a good day/evening/weekend/afternoon.... :) The asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa isn't exactly Earth's second moon. But it's been circling our world for centuries: and near Earth's orbit for much longer. Now scientists say they've traced the asteroid back to Giordano Bruno crater on the Moon. I'll be taking a look at what I could find of their research, Earth's moons, and asteroids whose orbits keep them near Earth. Then I'll talk about one of the more colorful personalities of the Renaissance. Asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, Giordano Bruno Crater: Origins & Orbits Dust, Asteroids, Astrodynamics, Temporary Moons, and Lagrange points When Circling Isn't Orbiting: Quasi-Satellites In This Week's News: 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and a Lunar Crater ...

I'm seeing "The Best of," "Top 10" and "2020 Top" headlines in my news feed: as usual for late December. Instead of waiting for someone else to highlight this year's science news stories, I'm making my own 'top 10' list. Each item is something that caught my attention, seemed important, or has been lurking in my 'to do' folders. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

"A journey of a thousand li starts with a single step." (Tao Te Ching," Laozi) "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." (Neil Armstrong) I figure the journey to Earth's moon began when someone looked up and wondered what this world's "lesser light" might be. Uncounted ages, most likely, before folks like Laozi and Thales of Miletus added their thoughts to humanity's storehouse of knowledge. Thales of Miletus gets credit for figuring out that Earth's moon is roughly spherical. So does Anaximander, depending on who's talking. Those two lived about two and a half millennia back. A century later, Anaxagoras said Earth's moon was earthy, made of the same sort of stuff we stand on. He was right about that. Other details in his cosmology, not so much.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Apollo 11's Lunar Module reached Mare Tranquillitatis fifty years ago this month. I remember hearing Neil A. Armstrong announce the landing site's name: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." A few hours later, Armstrong opened the Lunar Module's MESA — a storage locker built into the lander's side. A television camera in the MESA showed us Armstrong's, and humanity's, first step onto another world. Back on Earth, one out of every five people were watching: at home, in pubs, at cafes, in New York's Central Park and at shop windows. Pope St. Paul VI watched at the Castle Gandolfo observatory.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Falcon Heavy's test flight last week wasn't perfect. But I'll call it a success. That's good news for SpaceX. Not my opinion: the largely-successful flight. The test flight's dummy payload included an actual dummy. "Starman" is that mannequin wearing a spacesuit at the wheel of a red Tesla roadster. I'll be talking about that, how I see the news, technology, and humanity's new horizon.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I'll be talking about scientific research that may not be "fake:" but isn't reliable, either. The good news is that many scientists want to fix the problem. I'll also take a look at truth, beauty, Copernicus, and how a science editor sees faith and science. Faith and science Truth and Beauty "...There Will be Babblers...." Being Scientific News and views... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We haven't found life on — or in — Enceladus. But we've found organic compounds in the Saturnian moon's salt-water geysers. Scientists detected an atmosphere around Gliese 1132 b, a planet about 39 light-years away. It's Earth-like, in terms of size; but too hot for life as we know it. We'll almost certainly learn a great deal, though, by studying its atmosphere.... ...Abraham, Moses, and Minnesota I take the Bible, Sacred Scripture, very seriously. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 101 - 133 ) I don't, however, insist on believing only what I find in the Bible. That's just as well, since I live near the center of North America. I'm pretty sure that Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saint Peter, and the rest, didn't know that the land I live on exists. But I'm quite sure that the State of Minnesota is real: even if it's not "Biblical."... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .