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☆ Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring over 400 million years ago, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

And now, scientists hypothesize that Earth may have sported its own ring some 466 million years ago. Scientists previously believed that a large asteroid broke apart within the solar system, creating the meteorites that hit Earth during the Ordovician Period. The space rock is commonly referred to as a “mini-moon” due to it coming within 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometers) of the planet. Also, the suggested Earth ring would have “had to be the result of the disruption of a much larger body as the authors indicate in their paper,” he added in an email, so the asteroid, likely about 37 feet (11 meters) in diameter, could not have made a new ring for Earth. However, “this ring formation event we think may have happened only once in the last 500 million years.”

Persons: CNN —, “, ”, Andrew Tomkins, Tomkins, Roche, Earth’s, landmasses, Vincent Eke, ” Eke, PT5, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, la Fuente Marcos, ” Tomkins Organizations: CNN, Monash University, NASA, Institute, UK’s Durham University, Complutense University of Madrid Locations: Melbourne, Australia, Earth’s Roche

☆ NASA’s only visit to Uranus happened during a rare cosmic occurrence
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This week, researchers shared fascinating new findings on Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, and the far side of the moon. Other worldsIllustrations depict how Uranus' magnetosphere, or protective bubble, was behaving before Voyager 2's arrival (left) and during the spacecraft's flyby (right). An unusual cosmic occurrence during the Voyager 2 spacecraft’s 1986 flyby might have skewed how scientists characterized the ice giant, new research suggests. In particular, the spacecraft’s observations of Uranus’ protective magnetosphere were wildly different from astronomers’ expectations. Fortunately, sending a dedicated mission to study Uranus in the future is a priority for NASA, according to a 2022 report.

Persons: Jamie Jasinski, paleoanthropologist Don Johanson, what’s, Lucy, Johanson, ”, afarensis, doesn’t, Bathydevius, Bruce Robison, —, Marvel, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt, Jackie Wattles Organizations: CNN, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Nature Reserve, WWF Tigers, Fund, Nature, Aquarium Research, CNN Space, Science Locations: Pasadena , California, Afar, Central Asia, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Caspian, Netherlands, Kuma, Kazakhstan’s Ile, California, Mt, Everest, Monterey, what’s, Iraq

☆ Voyager 2’s defining Uranus flyby may have been skewed by a rare cosmic event
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Magnetospheres are the protective bubbles around planets like Earth that have magnetic cores and magnetic fields, and they are driven by the planet’s magnetic field. Voyager 2’s data showed that Uranus’ magnetosphere was home to unexpectedly powerful electron radiation belts. Voyager 2’s observations of Uranus’ magnetosphere defied the way astronomers understand how magnetic fields trap energetic particles and their radiation. The first panel (left) of this artist's concept depicts how Uranus' protective magnetosphere behaved prior to Voyager 2's flyby. Fortunately, sending a dedicated mission to study Uranus in the future has become a priority for NASA, according to a report released in 2022.

Persons: ”, Jamie Jasinski, ” Jasinski, It’s, Linda Spilker, Spilker, ” Spilker, James Webb Organizations: CNN, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Orbiter, Probe Locations: Pasadena , California

☆ Planet 9: Inside the search for a hidden planet in our solar system
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

“It could completely reshape our understanding of the solar system and of other planetary systems, and how we fit into that context. Brown and his colleague, planetary scientist Konstantin Batygin, reported having strong evidence of a hidden planet on the fringes of our solar system. “If you look at these bodies, their lifetimes are tiny compared to the age of the solar system,” Batygin said. “By now, we expected to have found many more of these extreme trans-Neptunian objects,” Sheppard said in an email. Finding a smaller planet would also spark excitement, Rice added, because every solar system planet is immensely useful for extrapolating information about the thousands of comparable exoplanets that researchers are uncovering across the galaxy.

Persons: Mike Brown, Pluto, ”, Brown, Pluto’s, Malena Rice, ” Rice, Konstantin Batygin, Neptune, they’ve, Brown’s, “, we’re, Scott Sheppard, Chadwick Trujillo, Trujillo, ” Brown, Batygin, ” Batygin, Patryk Sofia Lykawka, ” Lykawka, Lykawka, Rice, Hur, Renu Malhotra, Malhotra, Sheppard, ” Sheppard, ” Malhotra, she’s, “ It’s, Sigurd Naess, ” Naess, Vera C, Rubin, That’s Organizations: CNN, Caltech, NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Research, International Astronomical, ESA, Yale University, Getty, California Institute of Technology, Planet Nine, Carnegie Institution for Science, Northern Arizona University, Sheppard, Kindai University, Rice of Yale University, University of Arizona, Survey Telescope, Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, US National Science Foundation, Stanford University, Rubin, Rubin Observatory, Nine Locations: Pasadena , California, AFP, Washington ,, Japan, Neptune, Hawaii, Chile, Norway

☆ July’s full buck moon will peak in time for the Apollo 11 lunar landing anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —July’s full moon will shine bright in the sky this weekend — and lands near the anniversary of a special lunar event worth celebrating. The full moon — nicknamed the buck moon — will peak at 6:17 a.m. “The first moon landing was in the afternoon on (July 20, 1969), and then they did the moonwalk that night,” Petro said. Lunar discoveriesNASA’s Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Petro recommends observing the full moon with these recent findings and future space missions in mind.

Persons: CNN —, It’s, Noah Petro, ” Petro, “, Neil, Armstrong, Aldrin, Michael Collins, Petro, ”, Artemis III Organizations: CNN, Reconnaissance, Artemis, NASA, Farmers Locations: Northern, Southern

☆ Webb telescope reveals the smelly atmosphere of nearby giant planet
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Now, data from the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed another intriguing feature of the planet known as HD 189733b: It smells like rotten eggs. Located only 64 light-years from Earth, HD 189733b is the nearest hot Jupiter that astronomers can study as the planet passes in front of its star. HD 189733b only takes about two Earth days to complete a single orbit around its star, Fu said. Webb’s data also showed levels of heavy metals on HD 189733b that are similar to those found on Jupiter. “HD 189733b is a benchmark planet, but it represents just a single data point,” Fu said.

Persons: James Webb, ”, Guangwei Fu, Fu, ” Fu, Webb, they’re, “ Organizations: CNN, Johns Hopkins University

☆ Voyager 1 resumes study of uncharted cosmic territory after computer glitch
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Currently the farthest spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1 stopped communicating coherently with mission control in November 2023. However, data from Voyager 1’s four science instruments, which study plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles, remained elusive. On May 19, the Voyager team sent a command to the spacecraft to start returning science data. Now, all four instruments are beaming back usable science data, according to an update shared by NASA on June 13. )”Long-lived space missionsMeanwhile, Voyager 1 is back to doing what it does best: Sharing insights from uncharted cosmic territory.

Persons: “, ” Long, Suzanne Dodd, ” Dodd Organizations: CNN, NASA, Voyager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Neptune Locations: Pasadena , California

☆ Why we need to know what time it is on the moon
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —It’s easy to take the moon for granted as a silvery orb in the night sky, providing a soft light on most evenings. The new system of measurement that NASA and its international partners need to agree on will have to account for the fact that seconds tick by faster on the moon. But it will be crucial for astronauts living in lunar habitats and scooting around in moon buggies who need to know exactly what time it is. We are familyA digital reconstruction of a Bronze Age woman's face is on display at Scotland's Perth Museum and Art Gallery. And now, researchers know what creates their unusual fur pattern: a mutation affecting a gene called KIT, which controls hair color.

Persons: CNN —, Albert Einstein’s, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Joe Skipper, Chris Rynn, Julius Caesar, Gaul, Ari Kankainen, NASA’s Lucy, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, Boeing, Veteran NASA, Perth Museum, Art, Culture, Kinross, CNN Space, Science Locations: North America, Europe, Southern Hemisphere, Culture Perth, Scotland, Indre, France, Finnish, Petäjävesi, Italy

☆ NASA Lucy mission: A space rock got a moon after sun-driven quake
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Astronomers were in for a surprise when NASA’s Lucy mission flew by an asteroid named Dinkinesh in November and spotted a contact binary — two smaller space rocks that touch each other — orbiting the asteroid like a moon. “Basically, the planets formed when zillions of smaller objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids, ran into each other. The Lucy mission captured additional imagery revealing that the asteroid Dinkinesh’s moon is actually two space rocks that are touching one another. Too distant to be seen in detail with telescopes, the asteroids will get their close-up when Lucy reaches the Trojans in 2027. The mission borrows its name from the Lucy fossil, the remains of an ancient human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.

Persons: NASA’s Lucy, Dinky ”, ”, Hal Levison, Lucy, Dinkinesh, Goddard, Johns Hopkins, Keith Noll, Jessica Sunshine, ” Levison, Sunshine, Selam, “ I’m, “, NASA Galileo, Ida, Lucy’s, NASA Lucy, ” Sunshine, Dinky Organizations: CNN —, Southwest Research, NASA, Goddard Space Flight, University of Maryland, College Locations: Boulder , Colorado, Greenbelt , Maryland, Dinkinesh, Ethiopia, Jupiter

☆ Planet parade: What’s really going on with June’s planetary alignment
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The order in which the planets will align on Sunday is Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn, and they will be accompanied by a crescent moon. The alignment will be visible to sky-watchers everywhere, but the ideal date to see the planets with the closest alignment might differ depending on where you are in the world. Planetary alignments: What to knowIt’s important to note that this alignment is not happening in space, but just in the sky as seen from our planet. This kind of planetary alignment is in fact not rare at all. “Jupiter will be the easiest to spot, because it’ll be the brightest thing in the sky after the moon,” Pattle said.

Persons: You’ll, ”, James O’Donoghue, there’s, O’Donoghue, “ It’s, Kate Pattle, “ There’s, they’re, ” Pattle, “, we’ll, Pattle, it’ll Organizations: CNN, University of Reading, Mercury, University College London Locations: United Kingdom, Europe, North America

☆ Voyager 1 regains communications with NASA after inventive fix
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Voyager 1’s flight data system collects information from the spacecraft’s science instruments and bundles it with engineering data that reflects its current health status. But since November, Voyager 1’s flight data system had been stuck in a loop. By investigating the readout, the team determined the cause of the issue: 3% of the flight data system’s memory is corrupted. Members of the Voyager flight team celebrate after receiving the first coherent data from Voyager 1 in five months at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 20. And younger engineers are coming onto the Voyager team and contributing their knowledge to keep the mission going.”

Persons: they’ve, ”, Linda Spilker, “, Suzanne Dodd, “ We’ve, we’ve Organizations: CNN, NASA, Voyager, JPL, Network, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech

Hualien, Taiwan CNN —Wu was preparing breakfast for guests at the small hotel he runs in Taiwan’s Hualien County when the shelves around him shook violently and the mountain behind his house roared. “It’s not too bad.”Video Ad Feedback Rescue efforts underway in Taiwan after deadly earthquake 02:54 - Source: CNNA checkpoint is set up outside Taroko Gorge just north of Hualien city in Taiwan. Yan Zhao/AFP/Getty ImagesWorkers demolish a damaged building following the earthquake in Hualien County, Taiwan on April 4, 2024. Annabelle Chih/Getty ImagesTaiwan’s recent push for preparedness comes from the hard lessons learned from the devastating quake 25 years ago, experts say. That quake left more than 100,000 buildings across Taiwan completely or partially collapsed, including nearly 300 schools.

Persons: Taiwan CNN — Wu, Wu, “, ”, It’s, Annabelle Chih, Chong, “ I’ve, Hualien . Yan Zhao, Tyrone Siu, Daniel Aldrich, Sam Yeh, Aldrich, ” Aldrich, “ They’ve, –, Wei Chia, Wei Organizations: Taiwan CNN, CNN, ”, Getty, Workers, Reuters, Northeastern University Locations: Hualien, Taiwan, Taiwan’s Hualien County, Taroko, Hiroshima, Hong Kong, Shanghai, “, Hualien . Yan, AFP, Hualien County, Haiti, India, China, Taipei

When the largest earthquake in Taiwan in half a century struck off its east coast, the buildings in the closest city, Hualien, swayed and rocked. As more than 300 aftershocks rocked the island over the next 24 hours to Thursday morning, the buildings shook again and again. One of them, the rounded, red brick Uranus Building, which leaned precariously after its first floors collapsed, was mostly drawing curious onlookers. The building is a reminder of how much Taiwan has prepared for disasters like the magnitude-7.4 earthquake that jolted the island on Wednesday. Of Taiwan, he added: “And most of these deaths, it seems, have come from rock slides and boulders, rather than building collapses.”

Persons: ”, Daniel Aldrich Organizations: Global Resilience, Northeastern University Locations: Taiwan, Hualien

☆ Hualien earthquake: Dozens rescued after major Taiwan quake but more than 100 still cut off
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Helen Regan | Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“But people are safe, so that’s fortunate.”Workers demolish a damaged building following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan April 4, 2024. A rescue worker stands near the cordoned off site in the aftermath of an earthquake in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Wednesday’s quake is the strongest to hit Taiwan since 1999, according to the Central Weather Administration. That year, a 7.7 magnitude quake hit south of Taipei, killing 2,400 people and injuring 10,000 others. A magnitude 6.2 quake hit near the area in 2018, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 300 others.

Persons: Hong Changyi, ”, Tyrone Siu, rockfall, Johnson Lai, “ They’ve, Taiwan —, Sam Yeh, Yu, Lin Chih, cheng Organizations: CNN — Rescue, Hong, CNN, Workers, National Fire Agency, SET, Central News Agency, Video, CNA, Reuters, Getty, Hualien Fire Bureau, Central Weather Administration, Taiwan’s Professional Civil Engineers Association Locations: Taiwan, Hualien County, Hualien, Taroko, AFP, ”, Zhonghe, Taipei, Hualien City, Lin, China

☆ Voyager 1 responds to ‘poke’ sent by NASA engineers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A new signal recently received from the spacecraft suggests that the NASA mission team may be making progress in its quest to understand what Voyager 1 is experiencing. Voyager 1’s flight data system collects information from the spacecraft’s science instruments and bundles it with engineering data that reflects the current health status of Voyager 1. But since November, Voyager 1’s flight data system has been stuck in a loop. On March 3, the team noticed that activity from one part of the flight data system stood out from the rest of the garbled data. The decoded signal included a readout of the entire flight data system’s memory, according to an update NASA shared.

Persons: ”, Suzanne Dodd Organizations: CNN — Engineers, NASA, Voyager, Network, CNN

☆ What happened to the extra copies of the Voyager mission's golden records
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk posted on X that he has a Voyager golden record. Two golden records went to space on the twin Voyager spacecraft. AdvertisementBut his post had me wondering: Who has the original golden records? When I started looking into the golden records, I noticed conflicting numbers for how many originals were created. While the golden records on the Voyager spacecraft are expected to last over a billion years, Lomberg said the probes will probably crash on another planet or star eventually.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Musk, Carter, U.N, General Waldheim, Carter couldn't, Jon Lomberg, Lomberg, Carl Sagan, wasn't, Sagan, Calla Cofield, Cofield Organizations: NASA, Service, SpaceX, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Propulsion Laboratory, Space Center Kennedy Space Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Goddard Space Flight, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian The, United Nations, Langley Research Center, Sotheby's

☆ The Voyager spacecraft will probably last a billion years, says a scientist on the mission for nearly five decades
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cummings started working on the Voyager mission when he was a graduate student at Caltech in 1973, about four years before the two spacecraft launched. Voyagers' enduranceThe Voyager mission has been gathering groundbreaking data and photos since the beginning. Before Voyager, Cummings was part of an experiment to measure cosmic rays using a balloon. "It was very fortunate for me," he said, because he was able to then join the Voyager mission. NASA/JPL-CaltechIn 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made spacecraft to enter interstellar space and Voyager 2 followed six years later.

Persons: —, Alan Cummings, Cummings, Alan Cummings Voyagers, Saturn, Carl Sagan, Voyagers, they'll, JPL Cummings, There's Organizations: Service, Caltech, Business, Hubble, NASA, Engineers, JPL Locations: Manitoba, Canada, Russia

☆ Fungi mystery: Amphibian found with mushroom growing from its body
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But a newly described mystery involving a mushroom and a frog suggests that fungi’s role in the environment is anything but black-and-white. Once upon a planetA golden-backed frog is seen with a small mushroom (right) growing out of its body. Elsewhere in our solar system, space scientists have spotted three faint and tiny moons orbiting the outermost planets in the Milky Way: Uranus and Neptune. — A dead star that feasted on a planet once in its orbit could foretell the eventual fate of our own solar system. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Lohit, Dimorphos, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, it’s, Ralf Britz, Britz, Here’s, Odysseus, Odie, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, DART, University of Bern’s Physics, CNN Space, Science Locations: Indian, Karnataka, Dimorphos, Switzerland, Myanmar, Dresden, Germany, Roman Britain, United States

☆ Three new moons discovered orbiting Uranus and Neptune
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have discovered three previously unknown moons around Uranus and Neptune, the most distant planets in our solar system. In the future, the tiny satellite will be named after a Shakespearean character, in keeping with the tradition of Uranus’ moons bearing literary names. He worked with Marina Brozovic and Bob Jacobson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to determine the moon’s orbit. The outer moons orbiting all the giant planets across our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — share similar configurations. “Even Uranus, which is tipped on its side, has a similar moon population to the other giant planets orbiting our Sun,” Sheppard said.

Persons: ”, Scott S, Sheppard, Marina Brozovic, Bob Jacobson, Scott Sheppard, David Tholen, Chad Trujillo, Patryk Sofia Lykawka, ” Sheppard, Neptune Organizations: CNN —, Carnegie Institution for Science, Planet, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Carnegie Science, Subaru, University of Hawaii, Northern Arizona University, Kindai University Locations: Chile, Pasadena , California, Kea, Japan, Neptune

☆ Water molecules found on asteroids thought to be ‘completely dry’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Water molecules have been detected on the surface of asteroids for the first time, proving that these remnants from the formation of our solar system aren’t just dried-up space rocks. Searching for water across the solar systemThe researchers attempted to look for water on two other asteroids using SOFIA, but the detection was too faint. Now, the team is using the James Webb Space Telescope to zero in on different asteroids and search for water signatures. “We really weren’t expecting to find water on these silicate-rich asteroids,” Arredondo said. I want to know if the carbon-rich asteroids have significantly more water than silicate-rich asteroids, or if they have similar amounts.”

Persons: Iris, Massalia, SOFIA, Anicia, Maggie McAdam, Arredondo, ” Arredondo, McAdam’s, James Webb, Webb, “, ” Webb, REx Organizations: CNN, Astronomy, Boeing, SOFIA, Science, Southwest Research Institute, NASA’s Ames Research Locations: SOFIA, San Antonio, Mountain View , California, Iris

☆ Hubble finds water vapor in small exoplanet’s atmosphere
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have detected water molecules in the atmosphere of a small, blazing-hot exoplanet 97 light-years from Earth. The planet, named GJ 9827d, is about twice Earth’s diameter, and it’s the smallest exoplanet found to have water vapor in its atmosphere, according to a new study. Starlight filtering through the planet’s atmosphere helped astronomers measure the signature of water molecules. It’s possible that the planet is a mini-Neptune with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere that contains water vapor. Or astronomers suspect that GJ 9827d could be a warmer version of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which contains an ocean beneath a thick, icy crust.

Persons: ”, Laura Kreidberg, Max Planck, Björn Benneke, Hubble, Ian Crossfield, Pierre, Alexis Roy, we’re, ” Benneke, “, GJ, Benneke, Thomas Greene, James Webb, Webb, ” Kreidberg Organizations: CNN —, Hubble, Max, Max Planck Institute, Astronomy, University of Montreal’s Trottier Institute for Research, University of Kansas, University of Montreal’s Trottier Institute, GJ 9827d, NASA’s Ames Research, James Webb Space Telescope, ”, 9827d Locations: Heidelberg, Germany, Lawrence , Kansas, Silicon

☆ NASA hopes to get the Voyager spacecraft to their 50th anniversary with clever engineering and difficult choices
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

From close-up views of Jupiter to a stunning look a Saturn's rings , the Voyager probes have helped shape our understanding of the solar system. AdvertisementNASA's Voyager probes entered interstellar space in 2012 and 2018. It would take another 50 years for another vehicle to reach interstellar space, Dodd said. NASA tested and launched the Voyager probes in the 1970s. AdvertisementThe Voyager probes are carrying golden records that could communicate with aliens.

Persons: —, They've, Suzanne Dodd, Dodd, it's, Dodd isn't Organizations: NASA, Service, Voyager, JPL, Caltech, CalTech

☆ If you thought the planet Neptune was a deep blue color, turns out you're wrong
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Neptune, long believed to be dark blue, is actually very pale like Uranus, scientists say. Related storiesFor decades, famous images from NASA's Voyager 2 mission have circulated showing Neptune in a deep azure tone. Side-by-side comparison of the Voyager 2 images of Neptune and Uranus as reprocessed by scientists at the University of Oxford. Voyager 2's images of Uranus, from 1986, however, were published in a form closer to "true" color, he added. Neptune is just a touch bluer, which the researchers attribute to a thinner haze layer on the planet.

Persons: —, Patrick Irwin, Neptune, Irwin Organizations: NASA's, Service, University of Oxford, Oxford, NASA, JPL, Caltech, Handout, Reuters, Guardian, Hubble, Southern

☆ Asteroid visited by NASA spacecraft has a ‘puzzling’ companion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Dinkinesh, a small asteroid that NASA’s Lucy mission visited last week, continues to surprise. At first, images suggested that the space rock was part of a binary pair, with a smaller asteroid orbiting Dinkinesh. The first image taken by the spacecraft during its closest approach revealed the companion, but not the fact that it was a contact binary. “Contact binaries seem to be fairly common in the solar system,” said John Spencer, Lucy deputy project scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, in a statement. The skeleton has helped researchers piece together aspects of human evolution, and NASA Lucy team members hope their mission will achieve a similar feat regarding the history of our solar system.

Persons: CNN —, Lucy, Goddard, Johns Hopkins, ”, John Spencer, we’ve, We’d, Hal Levison, “, Tom Statler, NASA Lucy Organizations: CNN, NASA, Southwest Research Institute, Dinkinesh, Trojans Locations: Ethiopia, Jupiter

☆ NASA mission captures image of surprising asteroid pair
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —When NASA’s Lucy mission flew by its first asteroid this week, its cameras captured a surprise. The Lucy spacecraft zoomed by the small asteroid Dinkinesh, located in our solar system’s main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (Lockheed Martin is a NASA partner on the Lucy mission.) Preparing for future flybysThe data collected during the Lucy mission flyby will continue to return to Earth over the next week. There are about 7,000 Trojan asteroids, and the largest is 160 miles (257 kilometers) across.

Persons: Lucy, Hal Levison, “, ” Levison, we’ve, ”, Tom Kennedy, Lockheed Martin, ” Kennedy, Keith Noll, NASA’s, Lucy’s, NASA Lucy Organizations: CNN, Southwest Research Institute, ”, Lockheed, NASA, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Locations: Ethiopia, Greenbelt , Maryland, Jupiter

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