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☆ Hubble telescope captures Jupiter’s Great Red Spot contracting like a stress ball
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —New observations of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show that the 190-year-old storm wiggles like gelatin and shape-shifts like a squeezed stress ball. Although storms are generally considered unstable, the Great Red Spot has persisted for nearly two centuries. Recently, a separate team of astronomers peered into the heart of the Great Red Spot using the James Webb Space Telescope to capture new details in infrared light. The Great Red Spot seems to wiggle like a bowl of gelatin over the 90-day period. NASA/ESA/STScI/Amy SimonThe new Hubble study fills in more pieces of the puzzle about the Great Red Spot, Fletcher said.

Persons: Hubble, it’s, ”, Amy Simon, we’ve, ” Simon, James Webb, Leigh Fletcher, Simon, ” Fletcher, Joseph DePasquale, Mike Wong, “, Wong, Fletcher Organizations: CNN, Hubble, Science, Planetary Sciences, Goddard Space Flight, NASA, ESA, of Geophysical Research, UK’s University of Leicester, University of California Locations: Boise , Idaho, Greenbelt , Maryland, Berkeley

☆ DNA reveals surprises trapped in teeth of ‘Tsavo man-eater’ lions
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Thomas Gnoske, a collections manager at the museum, first spotted thousands of hairs trapped within the lions’ teeth when he examined their skulls in the 1990s. “Our analysis showed that the historic Tsavo lions preyed on giraffe, human, oryx, waterbuck, wildebeest, and zebra, and we also identified hairs that originated from lions. The Tsavo lions were maneless, like this adult male lion. The combined efforts opened a treasure trove of data about the lions’ prey as well as about the predators themselves. “It suggests that the Tsavo lions may have either traveled farther than previously believed, or that wildebeest were present in the Tsavo region during that time,” de Flamingh said.

Persons: John Henry Patterson, Patterson, Thomas Gnoske, ”, Alida de Flamingh, Gnoske, Julian Kerbis Peterhans, Kerbis Peterhans, David Sewell, Kerbis, Nduhiu, de Flamingh, Ripan, Andrew Wasike, Flamingh, ” de Flamingh, “ Patterson, John Warburton, Lee, Aditya Dicky Singh, Malhi, Love Dalén, Dalén, wasn’t, ” Gnoske Organizations: CNN, Uganda Railway, Chicago’s Field, Field Museum, University of Illinois, Field, The, Roosevelt University, Alamy, National Museums of, University of Nairobi, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Stockholm University, “ Locations: Kenya, Uganda, University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign, Chicago, Samburu, National Museums of Kenya, Tsavo, Cape, Africa

☆ Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS will soon fly by Earth
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Ashley Strickland | Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A recently discovered comet, known as C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, will make its closest approach of Earth on Saturday. Sky-gazers won’t want to miss the event since it may be the last time the comet will be seen in the night sky for another 80,000 years. It will just appear to hang there, and it will slowly change position from night to night,” Cooke said. C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS appears brighter in an image taken by the Virtual Telescope Project three days after the comet reached its perihelion. “For many people, and especially children, seeing a bright comet in the night sky is a beautiful and life-changing experience,” Kareta said.

Persons: CNN —, Gianluca Masi, Bill Cooke, It’s, ” Cooke, ”, Teddy Kareta, Cooke, ” Kareta Organizations: CNN, Southern Hemisphere, Northern Hemisphere, NASA, Telescope, Marshall Space, Lowell, Virtual Telescope, American Meteor Society, Taurids Locations: Italy, Meteoroid, Huntsville , Alabama, South Africa, Flagstaff , Arizona

☆ NOAA: Solar storm set to arrive, possibly creating auroras as well as affecting communications, GPS systems and power
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The severe solar storm, classified as a level 4 on a scale from 1 to 5, also could disrupt communications, the power grid and satellite operations, according to officials at the center. “Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface,” according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. But if the storm escalates to a G5, auroras could be visible across southern states and elsewhere around the world. Before then, the last G5 storm to hit Earth was in 2003, resulting in power outages in Sweden and damaging power transformers in South Africa. The solar storm in May was the most successfully mitigated space weather storm in history, Dahl said.

Persons: won’t, Shawn Dahl, Hurricane Milton, Dahl, auroras, John Deere, ” Dahl, we’re, ” Organizations: CNN, Prediction, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hurricane, Dynamics, NASA, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: United States, Alabama, Northern California, American, Eastern, Sweden, South Africa

☆ Hera mission will launch to explore asteroid system intentionally hit by NASA DART spacecraft
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —A European spacecraft and two shoebox-size satellites are about to launch to survey the aftermath from NASA’s DART mission, which intentionally slammed into an asteroid named Dimorphos and altered its orbit two years ago. The European Space Agency’s Hera mission is expected to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 10:52 a.m. The spacecraft and its two CubeSat companions are slated to arrive at the asteroid Dimorphos, and the larger asteroid it orbits named Didymos, in late 2026. NASA planned the DART, or Double Asteroid Redirection Test, mission to carry out a full-scale assessment of asteroid deflection technology on behalf of planetary defense. But many questions remain, including whether the DART spacecraft merely left behind a crater or if its momentum completely reshaped Dimorphos.

Persons: NASA’s, Hera doesn’t, ”, Patrick Michel, Hera, Berthier, Santana, Ros, Petrescu, Micheli, Milani, Andrea Milani, Michel said, Dimorphos, Michel, DRACO, ” Michel Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, ESA, NASA, DART, National Centre for Scientific Research, Les, Italy’s University of Pisa, Science Locations: Florida, France, La Réunion, Dimorphos, Giza, Mars, Didymos

☆ How to watch the Draconid meteor shower
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Keep your eyes on the night skies to see the elusive Draconid meteor shower, expected to peak Monday evening into early Tuesday. However, the Draconid meteor shower is on the sparse side. A meteor streaks across the sky during the Draconid meteor shower as seen over Howick rocks in Northumberland in northeast England in October 2021. If you live in an urban area, you might want to take a drive to avoid city lights, which can make the meteor shower seem faint. Meanwhile, sky-gazers can anticipate a busy meteor shower season to close out 2024.

Persons: Michel Giacobini, Owen Humphreys, Zinner, Ridley Scott's, Darrin Zammit Lupi Organizations: CNN, PA, Meteor, Southern Hemisphere, NASA, Reuters, American Meteor Society, Taurids Locations: Howick, Northumberland, England, Fort Ricasoli, Kalkara, Malta

☆ Scientists grow mystery tree from 1,000-year-old seed
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-05 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But it doesn’t mean that scientists aren’t interested in bringing the past back to life in some form. Dig thisThe tree, which the study authors believe may have a biblical connection, is seen at 12 years old. Remarkably, the tree thrived and now stands 10 feet (3 meters) tall, although it has never flowered or produced fruit. Using DNA sequencing, the researchers identified the mystery tree as part of the Commiphora genus, but its exact species is unknown and likely extinct. Scientists aim to extract DNA from the remains to learn more about those buried there and whether they were related.

Persons: — it’s, aren’t, Guy Eisner, Sarah Sallon, Louis, Tom Little, Alfred Nobel, didn’t, Johannes Fritz, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Natural Medicine Research, Reuters Archaeologists, Vikings, International Union for Conservation of, NASA, —, US Navy, — Marvel, CNN Space, Science Locations: ”, Judean, Jerusalem, India, Åsum, Denmark, Denmark’s, Swedish, Morocco, Europe, Austrian

☆ Next solar eclipse: When and where to view the celestial event
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Jackie Wattles | Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The silvery orb is near or at the farthest point in its orbit from our planet, so it can’t completely block the sun as it does during a total solar eclipse. Another annular solar eclipse will arrive on February 17, 2026. Finally, a total solar eclipse — such as the one that drew millions of spectators across North America last April — will once again grace the skies on August 12, 2026. To witness any of these solar eclipse events, be sure to use certified eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer to shield your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays and observe the event safely. But don’t look through any optical device — camera lens, telescope, binoculars — while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer, according to NASA.

Persons: —, Greg Wood Organizations: CNN, South America, NASA, North America, Getty, New Zealand, Democratic Locations: South, United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, Africa, Oceania, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Antarctica, South America, Cove, AFP, Russia, Spain, Portugal, North America, New, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines

☆ October’s ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse: Time, path and where to see it
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

If you’re in the path of the partial or annular eclipse and plan to observe either celestial spectacle, make sure you have a pair of certified eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer. The eclipse pathThe annular eclipse will begin at 12:50 p.m. A global map shows the path of the annular solar eclipse on October 2. If you don’t have certified eclipse glasses or use a handheld solar viewer to observe the annular eclipse, you can use a telescope, binoculars or camera that has a special solar filter on the front, which acts the same way eclipse glasses would. The small space between will reflect the sun’s crescent during a partial eclipse or a ring during the annular eclipse.

Persons: Kent Nishimura, you’re Organizations: CNN, South America, NASA, Pacific, Atlantic Coast, American Meteor Society, Taurids Locations: South, Pacific, Rapa Nui, Easter, Argentina, Chile, Hawaii, American Samoa, Brazil, Fiji, French Polynesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Pitcairn Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Uruguay, South Georgia, Falkland, Falkland Islands

☆ Arrowheads carried by Bronze Age warriors reveal who fought on Europe’s oldest battlefield
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-28 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But to archaeologists, the Tollense Valley is considered Europe’s oldest battlefield. The biggest mysteries that researchers aim to uncover are why the battle occurred and who fought in it. A long time agoYears of excavations in the Tollense Valley have uncovered evidence that the site was the scene of Europe's oldest battlefield 3,250 years ago. S. SauerDozens of bronze and flint arrowheads recovered from the Tollense Valley are revealing details about the able-bodied warriors who fought in the Bronze Age battle. The research team analyzed and compared the arrowheads, some of which were still embedded in the remains of the fallen.

Persons: Sauer, Al Hadid, ”, Martijn Oei, carolinus, Grearson, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN —, United Arab Emirates, ., California Institute of Technology, Grearson Harvard, Stanford, CNN Space, Science Locations: Germany, Bavaria, Moravia, Dubai, United Arab, China —, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Falkland, Antarctica

☆ Sea robins are fish that use their legs to ‘taste’ the seafloor
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Some types of sea robins, a peculiar bottom-dwelling ocean fish, use taste bud-covered legs to sense and dig up prey along the seafloor, according to new research. A species of sea robins called Prionotus carolinus studied by the researchers used their legs for walking, digging and sensing the seafloor. And the fish that lacked sensory capabilities and used their legs mainly for walking were striped sea robins, or Prionotus evolans. The digging sea robins had shovel-shaped legs that were covered in protrusions called papillae, which are similar to the taste buds on our tongues. Both researchers said they are keen to uncover the exact mechanisms behind the evolution of the sea robins’ sensory appendages.

Persons: David Kingsley, Kingsley, Rudy J, Daphne Donohue Munzer, ” Kingsley, “ I’d, Mike Jones, Amy Herbert, “, ” Herbert, Herbert, Corey Allard, ’ ” Allard, Nick Bellono, ” Bellono, carolinus, ” Allard, Tbx3, Jason Ramsay, Ramsay, Anik, ” Ramsay Organizations: CNN, Marine Biological, Stanford University’s School of Medicine, Stanford, Harvard University, Rhode Island College, Harvard, University of Chicago Locations: Woods Hole , Massachusetts, Harvard, New England

☆ Astronomers spot the most massive black hole jets ever observed
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-24 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Astronomers have observed a massive pair of jets releasing from a supermassive black hole 7.5 billion light-years from Earth. The megastructure spans 23 million light-years in length, making these black hole jets the largest ever seen, according to new research. Black hole jets can accelerate radiation and particles close to the speed of light, causing them to glow in wavelengths visible to radio telescopes. The massive black hole jets could help answer both. Martijn Oei (pictured), lead author of the new study, and his colleagues will continue their search for massive black hole jets.

Persons: Martijn Oei, ” Oei, Europe’s, Oei, “, Aivin Gast, Gast, LOFAR, “ Aivin, Porphyrion, NASA's, Powell, Nelson, Martin Hardcastle, Sasha Tchekhovskoy, ”, Tchekhovskoy Organizations: CNN —, California Institute of Technology, Astrophysics, University of Oxford, NASA, JPL, Caltech, CNN, Keck, NASA's Goddard, University of Hertfordshire, Northwestern University Locations: India, Hawaii, England

☆ Arrowheads shed light on who fought in Europe’s oldest known battle
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-23 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Inselmann collected literature, data and examples of more than 4,700 Bronze Age arrowheads from Central Europe and mapped out where they came from to compare them with the Tollense Valley arrowheads. Otherwise, they would expect to find evidence of arrowheads within ceremonial burials in the region that were practiced during the Bronze Age. “This new information has considerably changed the image of the Bronze Age, which was not as peaceful as believed before,” Terberger said. I consider the conflict as a sign that this major transformation process of Bronze Age society was accompanied by violent conflicts. Ute BrinkerThe scale of conflictThe large scale of battle has researchers rethinking what social organization and warfare were like during the Bronze Age.

Persons: ’ ”, Leif Inselmann, “, Inselmann, ” Inselmann, Thomas Terberger, haven’t, Barry Molloy, Molloy, ” Molloy, ” Terberger, ”, Ute Brinker, —, ’ Organizations: CNN, Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies, Free University of Berlin, Germany’s University of Göttingen, University College Dublin, ” Locations: Germany, Europe, Central Europe, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Bavaria, Moravia, Tollense

☆ Tiny lizard ‘scuba dives’ and hides out from predators
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Reptiles are astonishingly diverse, with extraordinary adaptations such as a tiny lizard in Costa Rica that has evolved a way to “scuba dive,” according to new research. Fantastic creaturesUsing the air bubble helps the anole to stay underwater longer, and the technique may help the tiny lizard hide from predators, researchers say. This ability allows the lizard to stay underwater for a prolonged period of time. Across the universeAn artist's concept depicts NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space, or the space between stars. Along the way, Voyager 1 found a thin ring around Jupiter and two new Jovian moons as well as five new moons orbiting Saturn.

Persons: Lindsey Swierk, Kaspar Hauser, ”, Hauser, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Vincent van Gogh, ” Timothy A, Clary, Vincent van Gogh’s, It’s, King Ramses II, — Helga, Zohar, Artemis, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, JPL, Caltech, NASA’s, International, Getty, Orion, Artemis, CNN Space, Science Locations: Costa Rica, Costa Rica’s, Nuremberg, Germany, Bristol, England, AFP, China, France, Egypt

☆ Earth is about to have a temporary ‘mini-moon’
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But as a mini-moon, Asteroid 2024 PT5 isn’t in any danger of colliding with Earth now or over the next few decades, de la Fuente Marcos said. Asteroid 2020 CD3 is considered a long-capture mini-moon, while the newly detected Asteroid 2024 PT5 is a short-capture one. Short mini-moon events can occur several times per decade, but long mini-moon events are rare, and only occur every 10 or 20 years, de la Fuente Marcos said. “In order to become a mini-moon, an incoming body has to approach Earth slowly at close range,” de la Fuente Marcos said. After 56.6 days, the sun’s gravitational pull will bring Asteroid 2024 PT5 back into its normal orbit.

Persons: PT5, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, la Fuente Marcos, orbiters, flybys, It’s, ”, Robert Jedicke, ” Jedicke, Jedicke, “ Organizations: CNN, American Astronomical Society, Astronomers, NASA, Complutense University of Madrid, University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, Gran, Canarias, Telescope Locations: South Africa, Chelyabinsk, Russia, Hiroshima, Japan, Mars, Canary, Earth

☆ Data reveals how the Artemis I mission fared against space radiation
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission was successfully recovered on December 11, 2022, off the coast of Baja California. Regan Geeseman/NASARadiation worriesNASA has studied the impact of space radiation on human health for decades, dating back to the first crewed space missions of the 1960s. Long-duration space missions to the moon and Mars will expose astronauts to radiation from cosmic rays, or high energy particles that move through space. Courtesy NASAPlanning for Artemis IIIf a solar storm were to occur while the Artemis astronauts were in space, it could last for days. NASA astronaut Christina Koch participates on August 1 in crew geology training in Iceland ahead of the Artemis II mission.

Persons: Artemis II, Artemis I, Artemis, torsos, Helga, Zohar, ”, Sergi Vaquer Araujo, Araujo, ” Araujo, NASA’s, Regan Geeseman, Earth’s Van Allen Belts, Van Allen Belts, Stuart George, Kim Shiflett, ” George, George said, Artemis III, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Robert Markowitz, Kelsey Young Organizations: CNN, Orion, European Space Agency, NASA’s Orion, NASA, Space, Apollo, Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Canadian Space Agency, Goddard Space Flight Locations: Artemis, Baja California, Earth’s, Houston, Mars, Florida, Iceland, Greenbelt , Maryland

☆ September’s full harvest supermoon will also create a partial lunar eclipse: How and when to see it
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Sky-gazers around the world will be able to glimpse a partial lunar eclipse while September’s full harvest moon shines brightly Tuesday night. If you’re viewing the moon on Tuesday evening, for about an hour it will also appear as if a bite has been taken out of it due to a partial lunar eclipse. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when Earth moves between the sun and the full moon without being perfectly aligned. During a total lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow can turn the moon’s surface a striking red color, which is known as a blood moon, according to NASA. The moon is seen through the clouds during a partial lunar eclipse over Caracas, Venezuela, early on November 8, 2022.

Persons: ”, Noah Petro, Artemis III, Federico Parra Organizations: CNN, NASA, Reconnaissance, Artemis, Saturn, Northern, American Meteor Society, Taurids Locations: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, United States, Caracas, Venezuela, AFP, Chuseok

☆ Voyager 1 survives clogged thruster issue billions of miles away
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Engineers at NASA have successfully fired up a set of thrusters Voyager 1 hasn’t used in decades to solve an issue that could keep the 47-year-old spacecraft from communicating with Earth from billions of miles away. Currently the farthest spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 1 is about 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away. Earlier this year, engineers spotted an issue when the fuel tube inside one of Voyager’s thrusters became clogged. Engineers switched again to the trajectory correction thruster set in 2018 when the second set also appeared clogged. Once the spacecraft has exhausted this thruster set, Voyager 1’s remaining option is the other already clogged set of attitude propulsion thrusters.

Persons: Calla, ”, It’s, Todd Barber, Suzanne Dodd, ” Barber Organizations: CNN — Engineers, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Caltech, Engineers Locations: Pasadena , California

☆ Cave fossils shed light on the disappearance of Neanderthals
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But other chapters, like those describing the loss of our ancient ancestors, are harder to recover as time passes. A chance finding of bones in a cave is revealing clues of a much older tragic mystery. The once-in-a-lifetime find, nicknamed Thorin after a character in “The Hobbit,” has puzzled researchers for nearly a decade. The overall winner of the competition was photographer Ryan Imperio for his photo taken during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. The phenomenon is visible for brief moments during an eclipse when sunlight shines through the moon’s valleys and craters, creating glowing drops of light.

Persons: Duke, Wellington, Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thorin, Ludovic, ”, Yuha Hasegawa, Ryan Imperio, Imperio, Zhu Yubo, Rapa Nui, Christopher Columbus, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Japan’s Nagasaki University, “, International, Astronomy, Polaris, —, NASA, CNN Space, Science Locations: Brussels, Grotte Mandrin, Rhône, New Zealand, El, Rapa, USA, Americas

☆ Stonehenge’s Altar Stone: Research rules out Scottish site as source
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That research, published in the journal Nature, overturned a century-old idea that the stone came from current-day Wales. The Altar Stone, the largest of the bluestones used to build Stonehenge, lies at the heart of the ancient monument in southern England. “The Altar Stone is anomalous in many ways to both the bluestones and the sarsens at Stonehenge,” Bevins said. But discovering that Wales was unlikely to be the origin site for the Altar Stone was a game changer, Bevins said. The researchers compared their findings with samples from the Altar Stone and found no mineralogical connection between the rocks.

Persons: Nick Pearce, ”, Richard Bevins, ” Piecing, ” Bevins, Bevins, Paul Williams, Stenness, T Schaeffer, “ Organizations: CNN, Archaeological Science, Aberystwyth University “, UK’s Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth University Locations: Scotland, Wales, Orkney, England, Orkney’s, Aberystwyth, Wiltshire, Salisbury, Woods, Marlborough, Preseli, British, Orkney's, Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland, Inverness, Aberdeenshire, Britain

☆ Polaris Dawn crew conducts historic spacewalk during SpaceX mission
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Jackie Wattles | Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Editor’s note: Relive the SpaceX Polaris Dawn historic commercial spacewalk as it happened. The Polaris Dawn crew can see a sunrise and sunset about every 106 minutes. Polaris Dawn crew members are seen within the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Instead, the Polaris Dawn crew will receive their life support from long hoses attached to their spacecraft. Polaris Dawn crew member and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis is seen during the first commercial spacewalk.

Persons: —, Polaris Dawn crew’s, Jared Isaacman, Scott “ Kidd ” Poteet, Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis —, Isaacman, “, ” Isaacman, Gillis, ” Mennon, Bill Nelson, ” Nelson, Hatch, we’ve, Garrett Reisman, Sarah Gillis, Elon Musk, ” What’s, they’re, ” Organizations: SpaceX Polaris, CNN, Polaris, SpaceX, Shift4, US Air Force, NASA, Space, ISS Locations: wiggling, U.S

☆ See giant gas bubbles move on the surface of a nearby star
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Astronomers have observed the detailed motions of giant gas bubbles on the surface of a nearby star for the first time, which rise and fall like the inside of a lava lamp. The images show the surface of the star R. Doradus, a red giant star 180 light-years away in the Dorado constellation. The telescope enabled them to collect high-resolution images of the star’s surface over the course of a month. Convection bubbles can be seen moving on the surface of R. Doradus, as seen by the ALMA telescope in Chile. While convection bubbles have been spotted before on the surface of stars, the new observations tracked the motion of bubbles in a way that wasn’t possible earlier.

Persons: ”, Wouter Vlemmings, Vlemmings, ‘, ” Vlemmings, Theo Khouri, Chalmers, ALMA, Behzad Bojnordi, Claudia Paladini, Paladini, ” Paladini Organizations: CNN —, Chalmers University of Technology, NASA, Chalmers, Energy, European Southern Observatory, Sun Locations: Sweden, ALMA, Chile

☆ Two NASA telescopes capture closest pair of supermassive black holes
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Two telescopes have spotted the closest pair of supermassive black holes to date. Active galactic nuclei are supermassive black holes that release bright jets of material and high winds that can shape the very galaxies where they are found. Astronomers discovered these black holes dancing around one another at the center of a pair of colliding galaxies called MCG-03-34-64, which is 800 million light-years away. Astronomers serendipitously found the black holes when Hubble’s observations revealed three spikes of bright light within the glowing gas of a galaxy. Both supermassive black holes once served as the centers of their respective galaxies, but a galactic merger brought the two objects much closer together.

Persons: Chandra, serendipitously, ”, Anna Trindade Falcão, Hubble, Falcão, “, Karl G, ” Falcão, haven’t, LISA Organizations: CNN, Hubble, Astronomers, Astrophysical, Center, Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, NASA, ESA, European Space Agency Locations: Cambridge , Massachusetts, Socorro , New Mexico

☆ Fossils show that massive pterosaurs could fly millions of years ago
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The newly discovered fossils preserved 3D structures within the delicate wing bones, which typically are found flattened like pancakes within rock layers. CT scans of the fossils provided a rare glimpse inside the wing bones belonging to two species of pterosaurs, including one new to science. These are not unlike those found in the wing bones of modern birds that flap their wings to fly, Rosenbach said. In contrast, spiral ridges within Arambourgiania’s wing bones resembled the interiors of vulture wing bones, which are thought to resist the forces associated with soaring. “They represent the largest animals with the capacity to fly,” Rosenbach said of the extinct reptiles.

Persons: Kierstin Rosenbach, It’s, Tal Inab, “, philadelphiae, Jordan, Rosenbach, ” Rosenbach, Kierstin, Monique Perez, Stacy Kaneko, Danielle Goodvin, Jeff Wilson Mantilla, ”, Michael Benton, Benton, “ It’s, Dr Organizations: CNN, University of Michigan, University of Michigan’s, of Paleontology, University of Bristol Locations: what’s, Jordan, Africa, Ann Arbor, Arambourgiania, United Kingdom

☆ NASA’s Europa Clipper gets the green light to launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The approval was a relief to the Europa Clipper team after the discovery in May of a possible issue with transistors on the spacecraft. Europa Clipper carries 10 science instruments that could determine whether life is possible on another place in our solar system besides Earth. Now, Europa Clipper has been approved to launch, with no changes to the mission plan, goals or trajectory. Exploring an ocean worldWhen Curt Niebur, Europa Clipper program scientist, began working at NASA in 2003, he faced the task of pushing a Europa mission forward. Each year, the effort to get Europa Clipper designed and built has seemed more difficult, he said.

Persons: NASA’s, we’re, ”, Nicola Fox, Jupiter’s, Jordan Evans, Evans, “, ” Evans, Curt Niebur, ” Niebur, It’s, we’ve, That’s, Niebur, Laurie Leshin Organizations: CNN, Clipper, NASA, Europa Clipper, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight, Science, JPL, “, Juno Locations: Pasadena , California, Laurel , Maryland, Greenbelt , Maryland, flybys, Europa, gush

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