If the sun appears a bit more intense than normal to you this week, you have a keen eye. The Earth has just made its closest approach to our nearest star for the year. The orbital milestone is known as “perihelion,” and it marks the time when the distance between the Earth and the Sun is at its smallest. The event occurs every year in early January, and in 2019 it took place Thursday, Jan. 3 at 12:20 a.m. EST (or at 05:20 GMT, depending on your time zone). On average, the Earth orbits the Sun at a distance of...
The new 2019 arrives with the promise of spectacular events that will make lovers of astronomy to stare to the night sky. The “Meteor showers” Perseid and Geminid invariably present impressive celestial performances, but there will be other astronomical events during the year that are worth watching, according to Gizmodo website. In 2019, lovers of the night sky will witness a total eclipse of the Sun, three partial Solar eclipses, three super Moons – on January 21, February 19 and March 21, complete and partial lunar eclipse, a rare transit (passage) of Mercury in front of the Sun. The rare...
According to NASA scientists, involved in the New Horizons project, the definition of Planet should be changed. They are ready with a new classification which, if accepted, will add more than 100 new Planets in the Solar System, reported the online edition of Science Alert. Currently as a “Planet” is defined a single cosmic body that orbits the Sun and meets certain orbital criteria. Scientists say this is not correct. “While respecting intelligent scientific classification and people’s intuition, we offer a geographically based definition of a “Planet” that focuses primarily on its physical properties rather than on orbital”, the...
Scientists believe they have confirmed how the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter was formed Although many astronomers are studying the deep Cosmos, there are still many things that humanity does not know about the Solar System. For example, what is the origin of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists at the University of Florida believe they have found the answer to this question, the online Engadget reported. According to them, 85% of all asteroids in the inner main belt originate from the remains of 5 or 6 small, disintegrated Planets. They are Flora, Vesta, Nysa, Polana and...
Online 3D model of the Solar System and night sky in real-time – the Sun, Planets, dwarf planets, comets, stars and constellations. Solar System Scope is a amazing way of Exploring, Discovering and Playing with the Solar System and Outer Space. Welcome to the Space Playground Solar System Scope contains many views and celestial simulations, but most of all – it brings you closer to the furthest reaches of our world and lets you experience lots of fantastic space sceneries. It aspires to be the most illustrative, easy to understand and simple to use space model. 3D Encyclopedia In Solar’s unique encyclopedia...
For decades, scientists have been debating how would it be if a piece of Earth broke down and shaped our Moon about 4.5 billion years ago. Now, new chemical evidence directs science to the theory that events were actually much more turbulent than we had imagined. Scientists describe the impact that “freed” the Moon using the metaphor “hammer struck a melon.” Science has established the theory that the Moon was once part of the Earth before it was cut off and sent into orbit, but the exact circumstances in which it happened were still unclear. So far, the popular theory...
A dozen new Moons are found around Jupiter, and now the total number of moons known to be 79, most of any other Planet in our Solar System, astronomers said. One of the new moons was described as a “oddball” by researcher Scott Shepherd at the Carnegie Science Institute, due to its small size of almost one kilometer. It also “has orbit like no other known moon of Jupiter and is its smallest known moon,” he added. The strange moon takes about a year and a half to travel around Jupiter and its orbit is tilted that intersects with many...
