Astronomy: space conquest and the latest news from the stars

[Christophe]

It started but we have not yet the Martian flow ...

[izentrop]

Surf the Martian floor in high definition https://www.360cities.net/image/mars-pa ... r-day-2082

[moinsdewatt]

On January 1er, the New Horizons spacecraft that flew over Pluto in 2015 will visit the asteroid Ultima Thule, located 6,5 billions of kilometers from the Earth.

The 2019 year is off to a flying start for astronomers. On the 1er January at 6h33, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will come close to the Ultima Thule asteroid, which is now more than 6,5 billion kilometers from the Earth (about 45 times the Earth-Sun distance, well beyond beyond Neptune and Pluto). This will make it the farthest object of the Solar System to be visited by a space probe (Voyager probes, still in service, went much further but they did not fly over any object beyond Neptune). It is also the first time that a small object from the Kuiper Belt, the crown of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune, will be seen.
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http://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences/2018/12 ... -homme.php

[moinsdewatt]

In approach NASA had had this



This sequence of three images, received on Dec. 31, 2018, and taken by the LORRI onboard camera New Horizons at 70 and 85 minutes apart the rotation of Ultima Thule.

Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute

Signals confirming the spacecraft is healthy and filled with digital data recorders at the Johns Hopkins University of Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) today at 10: 29 is, almost exactly 10 hours after New Horizons' closest approach to the object.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/New ... e=20190101

[Christophe]

https://www.lemonde.fr/international/ar ... _3210.html

China broadcasts a photo at 360 degrees of the hidden face of the Moon

After filing the January 3, the Chang'e-4 mission is, so far, a "total success," said Friday China.

[moinsdewatt]

These winter evenings at 23h we can see Orion, the winter triangle, (Betelgeuse, Sirius, Procyon), and Castor and Polux.

I serve https://www.stelvision.com/carte-ciel/index.php
To find me there.

[moinsdewatt]

Far side of the moon: watch the robot "Jade Rabbit 2" explore the ground

SUPERB - A video showing the Yutu-2 robot's first laps on the surface of the moon's hidden face was unveiled by China. The rover and the probe with which it arrived were placed, this Sunday, in hibernation for the 14 days of lunar night.

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https://www.lci.fr/amp/sciences/video-f ... 10136.html

[moinsdewatt]

50 years ago, Apollo 10 was approaching at 15 km from the Moon


The 22 May 1969, for the first time, men saw the Moon from an altitude of only 15 km. Aboard the lunar module of Apollo 10, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan had the impression of flying among the reliefs that line the sea of ​​Tranquility. And they took this picture.
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https://www.cieletespace.fr/actualites/ ... de-la-lune

One of the 2 astronaut died in 2017, the other to now 88 years.

[moinsdewatt]

I did not mention the 60 satellites sent in one shot by SpaceX the 15 May.

I could have seen this https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/v ... nk.N843170

And here is what we can see temporarily in the sky, the satellites with the tail leuleu:

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AN EPHEMEN PHENOMENON THAT SHOULD REPEAT
Space observers would do better to hurry if they want to see StarLink satellites. According to Langbroek, the machines will change their orbit in the coming days thanks to their thrusters and the "train" will no longer be visible. That said, it will probably be possible to see others in the years to come.
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https://www.numerama.com/sciences/52016 ... terre.html

https://www.futura-sciences.com/science ... -nuit-711/

[moinsdewatt]

The fascinating world of Chinese astronomy with Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud

Futurasciences the 9 June 2019

The astrophysicist Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud takes us to discover the long-unknown treasures of Chinese astronomy, rich of millennia, marked by an avant-garde scientific rigor and meticulous observations of the most remarkable astronomical events. Even today, these data benefit our understanding of the universe.
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.futura ... ite/76330/