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Showing posts with the label asteroids and comets

Sednoids and the Mysterious Missing Planet X

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As I've said before, this isn't the world I grew up in. Back then, the Solar System had nine planets, assorted moons, and asteroids. Plus, of course, the sun. Now we've got planets, dwarf planets, minor planets, natural satellites, trans-Neptunian objects, plutoids, comets, centaurs, and small Solar System bodies. Just to keep things interesting, definitions for the new labels overlap. Some labels, like plutoids, didn't catch on; and it all keeps changing as we collect more data. This week I'll be talking about sednoids, another subset of trans-Neptunian object; 1 along with whatever else comes to mind. "All the News That's Fit to Print" — and Some That Isn't 'COMET PILLS! GAS MASKS!! GET 'EM WHILE YOU CAN!!!' Sedna, Sednoids, and Orbits: Traces of a Missing World? Beyond the Kuiper Cliff: An Unexpected Void and Wandering Worlds Charting the Borderlands of Sol Out of the Ecliptic, Beyond the Kuiper Belt To be Continued

DART: Trick Shot by OpNav, and a Successful Test

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Asteroid Dimorphos and comet-like dust trail, 28 hours after DART spacecraft impact on September 26, 2022. (Image taken October 8. 2022) Image from NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble, used w/o permission On September 26, 2022, the NASA/APL DART mission changed the orbit of an asteroid: Dimorphos, a satellite of 65803 Didymos.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

DART Mission, Successful Planetary Defense Test; What's Next

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"News services dialed their headlines back a bit Tuesday. But Monday's planetary defense test was a big deal, no matter how much of a nudge it gave Dimorphos...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America . The NASA DART mission was a success, hitting asteroid Dimorphos in our first Planetary Defense Test. Next: studying the results, developing new tech.

My Top 10 Science News Stories For 2020

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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 .

Arecibo Radio Telescope 1963-2020

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Part of the Arecibo radio telescope collapsed this summer. A supporting cable had snapped. Another cable gave way this month.... ...I'll be taking a quick look at the Arecibo observatory's origin and achievements. Make that achievements of scientists using the radio reflector. What? No Space Alien Conspiracies? Sic Transit Gloria Arecibo A Professor, Sputnik and an Act of Congress World's Biggest: 1963-2016 An Unexpected Spin-Orbit Resonance Pulsars, Planets and Prudence Science, Safety and Greater Admiration More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Waiting on a Dead World: Science and Being Human

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Instead of writing about Halloween, I'll share a seasonally-appropriate story and talk about science, death being human: Waiting on a Dead World Inspiration and Stellar Evolution Still Seeking a Solar System Analog Metaphors and the Lives of Stars Sirius, Procyon and Weighing Stars "Vastness" and Questions Embracing Truth Philosophers and Models Earth, Eons and New Puzzles Faith, Reason and Me Life, Death and Dante's Wood of the Suicides Neuroimaging and Pickled Brains, Altruists and Lab Rats Dante's Hell: Seventh Circle, Second Ring "Here Shall They Hang" — Wood of the Suicides and Clueless Critics Being Human: Body and Soul Avoiding Suicide: Help is Available Art and Being Able to Smell Roses "In the Image of God:" Creativity Included Science Fiction and Attitudes It's Alive! — Oh, ICK!! Kidnapping and Murder, Rules and Principles

Space 'Firsts:' New Horizons, Chang'e-4

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It's been a month for space exploration 'firsts,' and a 'farthest.' Ultima Thule became the most distant object visited by a probe on January 1, with the New Horizons flyby. A few days later, China's Chang'e-4 mission landed in the von Kármán crater, part of the moon that's not visible from Earth. It's the first lunar farside landing, and the first time plants sprouted on the moon...." (More on A Catholic Citizen in America .)

Firestorm Comet?

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Scientists figure a comet started breaking up about 12,800 years back. Nothing unusual there. Many comets break up while they're this close to our sun. This time Earth got in the way before the fragments spread out much. Fire rained from the sky, consuming forest and meadow alike. Sounds a bit like Genesis 19:1 , now that I think of it. Except we didn't start building cities until a few millennia later. Or maybe we haven't found our first cities yet. And that's another topic or two.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Visitor from the Stars

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" Scientists thought ‘Oumuamua was a comet when they spotted it last month. "Follow-up observations showed it was more like an asteroid: and going too fast to be from the solar system. "‘Oumuamua is from interstellar space. It's the first object of its kind we've seen. "What scientists are learning about ‘Oumuamua tells us a bit about other planetary systems, and raises intriguing new questions...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Planet 9, Maybe; Nibiru, No

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The world didn't end last Saturday. That's nothing new, and neither is another fizzled End Times prediction. I'll be talking about how a current End Times prediction affected someone whose name is the same as the wannabe prophet's; but is an entertainer, not a doomsayer. I'll also take a look at the continuing, and serious, search for Planet 9; predictions involving close encounters of the cometary kind; and what we're learning about the outer Solar System.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Great American Eclipse 2017

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A Solar eclipse sweeping from coast to coast dominated Monday's news in America. I saw headlines describing the event, weather in different states, how folks had prepared and how they reacted, and some of the science involved. It was nice while it lasted.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Ammonites, Dinosaurs, and Us

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Today's world is remarkable for a lack of dinosaurs. Big ones, anyway. Those critters would have been among the first things someone would notice here for upwards of 200,000,000 years. Then, about 66,000,000 years back, something awful happened. The only dinosaurs left are those little tweeting, chirping, and cawing critters we call birds. Ammonites had been around for even longer, but whatever finished the 'thunder lizards' wiped them out, too. We showed up much more recently, and are learning that there's a very great deal of our past, and Earth's, that we don't know. Not yet.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Jesus and Expectations

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Pip's Christmas doesn't have much to do with Christmas, or Advent, but I figured this post should have something that looks 'seasonal.' "...Blessed is the One Who Takes No Offense at Me" We'll be hearing Matthew 11:2 - 11 this morning. The readings still aren't particularly 'Christmassy.' " 2 When John heard in prison 3 of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him " 4 with this question, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?' "Jesus said to them in reply, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: " 5 the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. "And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.' " ( Matthew 11:4 - 6 ) Our Lord balanced that rebuke with a reminder of the Baptist's great function in Matthew 11:7 - 15 , and a complai

Near-Earth Asteroids

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Scientists spotted 2016 UR36 days before it passed by Earth. "Killer asteroids" headlines notwithstanding, we knew it would miss our planet by a comfortable margin. Sooner or later, though, something big will hit Earth: again. We still can't prevent that, not yet. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Philae, Jupiter, and Life

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Scientists spotted Philae, the European Space Agency's spacecraft that crash-landed on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014: which will help them make sense of data sent back while the probe still functioned. Other scientists think they’ve worked out where carbon near Earth's surface came from, and the Juno orbiter has been sending pictures of the giant planet. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .