Astronomy news

• X-ray telescope catches 'spider pulsars' devouring stars like cosmic black widows (image)

  04-12-2023 23:00 via space.com
  
  NASA's Chandra X-ray Space Telescope has spotted a "clutter" of rapidly spinning neutron stars called spider pulsars that are devouring surrounding stars.
  
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• SpaceX buys parachute manufacturer Pioneer Aerospace

  04-12-2023 22:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX has acquired Pioneer Aerospace, a company that provided components for Dragon spacecraft parachutes before filing for bankruptcy.
  
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• James Webb Space Telescope gazes into 'The Brick,' a dark nebula near the Milky Way's heart

  04-12-2023 21:00 via space.com
  
  A dark nebula, also known as "The Brick," was imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope.
  
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• Historic magnetic storms help scientists learn what to expect when one hits

  04-12-2023 20:00 via space.com
  
  Magnetic storms can create amazing auroras, but they also have the capacity to impact our power grid.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (9 hours ago): The Moon at apogee

  04-12-2023 19:42 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon recedes to its orbit's furthest point from the Earth, making it appear fractionally smaller than at other times of the month.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (8 hours ago): The Moon at apogee

  04-12-2023 19:42 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon recedes to its orbit's furthest point from the Earth, making it appear fractionally smaller than at other times of the month.
  
  Read more

• 04 Dec 2023 (13 hours ago): The Moon at apogee

  04-12-2023 19:42 via in-the-sky.org
  The Moon recedes to its orbit's furthest point from the Earth, making it appear fractionally smaller than at other times of the month.
  
  Read more

• 04 Dec 2023 (12 hours ago): The Moon at apogee

  04-12-2023 19:42 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon recedes to its orbit's furthest point from the Earth, making it appear fractionally smaller than at other times of the month.
  
  Read more

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• 04 Dec 2023 (11 hours ago): The Moon at apogee

  04-12-2023 19:42 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon recedes to its orbit's furthest point from the Earth, making it appear fractionally smaller than at other times of the month.
  
  Read more

• The Predator returns in Marvel Comics' 'The Last Hunt' miniseries

  04-12-2023 19:00 via space.com
  
  The galaxy's most notorious alien bounty hunter returns in Marvel Comics' "Predator: The Last Hunt #1" coming in February 2024.
  
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• 08 Dec 2023 (4 days away): Mercury at dichotomy

  04-12-2023 18:51 via in-the-sky.org
  Mercury reaches half phase in the evening sky.
  
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• 06 Dec 2023 (2 days away): Neptune ends retrograde motion

  04-12-2023 18:51 via in-the-sky.org
  Neptune returns to its usual eastward motion after opposition.
  
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• 06 Dec 2023 (2 days away): December φ-Cassiopeid meteor shower 2023

  04-12-2023 18:51 via in-the-sky.org
  The December φ-Cassiopeid meteor shower reaches its peak.
  
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• 05 Dec 2023 (11 hours away): Moon at Last Quarter

  04-12-2023 18:51 via in-the-sky.org
  The Moon reaches last quarter phase – rising in the east at around midnight and appearing high in the sky by sunrise.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (50 minutes away): The Moon at apogee

  04-12-2023 18:51 via in-the-sky.org
  The Moon recedes to its orbit's furthest point from the Earth, making it appear fractionally smaller than at other times of the month.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (9 hours ago): Mercury at greatest elongation east

  04-12-2023 18:26 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Mercury is bright and well placed in the evening sky.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (25 minutes ago): Mercury at greatest elongation east

  04-12-2023 18:26 via in-the-sky.org
  Mercury is bright and well placed in the evening sky.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (14 hours ago): Mercury at greatest elongation east

  04-12-2023 18:26 via in-the-sky.org
  Mercury is bright and well placed in the evening sky.
  
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• 04 Dec 2023 (13 hours ago): Mercury at greatest elongation east

  04-12-2023 18:26 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Mercury is bright and well placed in the evening sky.
  
  Read more

• 04 Dec 2023 (12 hours ago): Mercury at greatest elongation east

  04-12-2023 18:26 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Mercury is bright and well placed in the evening sky.
  
  Read more

• 04 Dec 2023 (11 hours ago): Mercury at greatest elongation east

  04-12-2023 18:26 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Mercury is bright and well placed in the evening sky.
  
  Read more

• Vera C. Rubin Observatory will track orphan stars to reveal a cosmic 'fossil record'

  04-12-2023 18:00 via space.com
  
  The upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help astronomers track stars ripped from their galaxies, revealing a cosmic fossil record to track the evolution of galactic clusters.
  
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• A cosmic 'fossil record' could be hidden among orphaned stars

  04-12-2023 18:00 via space.com
  
  The upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help astronomers track stars ripped from their galaxies, revealing a cosmic fossil record to track the evolution of galactic clusters.
  
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• Mighty morphin' Centaur rings — a distant icy object's rings are transforming

  04-12-2023 17:00 via space.com
  
  What is causing the structure of the dust to evolve, and where exactly the dust comes from, is still a mystery.
  
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• The elusive origins of long gamma-ray bursts may finally be revealed

  04-12-2023 16:00 via space.com
  
  New research helps resolve the mystery surrounding strange long gamma-ray bursts, suggesting these blasts of high-energy radiation emerge from collisions of neutron stars that birth black holes.
  
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• Space mysteries: Why are there no gas moons?

  04-12-2023 15:00 via space.com
  
  In our solar system we have rocky moons, ocean moons and frozen-ice moons, but there are no gas moons. Are we just unlucky not to have any gas moons, or are there physical reasons why they cannot exist?
  
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• Strange 'blob' circling Milky Way's central black hole is shooting powerful radiation at Earth every 76 minutes

  04-12-2023 14:00 via space.com
  
  Regular high-energy pulses of gamma-ray radiation emerging from around the Milky Way's central black hole may be coming from a blob of matter whipping around at 30% the speed of light.
  
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• NASA to train Indian astronauts for a week-long trip to ISS in 2024

  04-12-2023 14:00 via space.com
  
  NASA will train two Indian astronauts, one of whom will fly to the ISS late next year, a space agency official announced this week.
  
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• Near-Earth asteroids: Hunting and tracking upcoming encounters

  04-12-2023 12:00 via space.com
  
  Here we explore whether there are any upcoming asteroid encounters and how NASA and other space agencies actively monitor near-Earth asteroids that have the potential to hit our planet.
  
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• 07 Dec 2023 (3 days away): Puppid-Velid meteor shower 2023

  04-12-2023 03:25 via in-the-sky.org
  The Puppid-Velid meteor shower reaches its peak.
  
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