Astron

Interacting galaxies (colliding galaxies) are galaxies whose gravitational fields result in a disturbance of one another. An example of a minor interaction is a satellite galaxy 's disturbing the primary galaxy's spiral arms . An example of a major interaction is a galactic collision, which may lead to a galaxy merger . Google  

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a, M51a, and NGC 5194, is an interacting [7] grand-design [8] spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus [9] in the constellation Canes Venatici . It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. [10] Recently it was estimated to be 23 ± 4 million light-years from the Milky Way , [3] but different methods yield distances between 15 and 35 million light-years. Messier 51 is one of the best known galaxies in the sky. [11] The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195 , [12] are easily observed by amateur astronomers , and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars . [13] The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms ) and galaxy interactions. Google

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is a non-profit private operating foundation directed by the technologist Wayne Rosing , located in Goleta, California . The telescopes are located at both northern and southern hemisphere sites distributed in longitude around the Earth. For some astronomical objects, the longitudinal spacing of telescopes allows continuous observations over 24 hours or longer. The operating network currently consists of two 2-meter telescopes, nine 1-meter telescopes, and seven 40-cm telescopes, placed at six astronomical observatories. The network operates as a single, integrated, observing facility, using a software scheduler that continuously optimizes the planned observing schedule of each individual telescope. https://www.google.com/search?q=las+cumbres+observatory&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8   https://lco.global/    

A giant planet has been found orbiting an ultracool dwarf star — the largest planet compared to its star ever found — leaving scientists baffled at how the duo could have formed. The planet NGTS-1b is situated 600 light-years from our solar system, according to a statement from the University of Warwick, and it is a gas giant about the size of Jupiter. Its star, on the other hand, is just half the mass and radius of the sun. The planet orbits its star at 3 percent the distance from the Earth to the sun, and it whips around a full orbit every 2.6 Earth days. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1710.11099v1.pdf https://www.space.com/38625-monster-planet-circles-tiny-star.html  

Scientists detect gravitational waves from a new kind of nova, sparking a new era in astronomy Some 130 million years ago, in a galaxy far away, the smoldering cores of two collapsed stars smashed into each other. The resulting explosion sent a burst of gamma rays streaming through space and rippled the very fabric of the universe. On Aug. 17, those signals reached Earth — and sparked an astronomy revolution.   WaPo New Nova      

The solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 was a total eclipse visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States , passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. As a partial solar eclipse , it was visible on land from Nunavut in northern Canada to as far south as northern South America . In northwestern Europe and Africa, it was partially visible in the late evening. In Asia it was visible only at the eastern extremity, the Chukchi Peninsula .   Yahoo

Parker Solar Probe (previously NASA Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, or Solar Probe+) is a planned NASA robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the Sun . It will approach to within 8.5 solar radii (5.9 million kilometers or 3.67 million miles) to the 'surface' ( photosphere ) of the Sun. [2] The project was announced as a new mission start in the fiscal 2009 budget year. On May 1, 2008 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory announced it will design and build the spacecraft, on a schedule to launch it in 2015. [3] The launch date has since been pushed back to 2018, [4] with the Delta IV Heavy as the launch vehicle. [1] On May 31st, 2017 the probe was renamed after solar astrophysicist Eugene Parker [5] . According to NASA, this was the first time in history a space vessel was named after a living person. [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe   NASA PSP

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/a-whole-new-jupiter-first-science-results-from-nasa-s-juno-mission Early science results from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter portray the largest planet in our solar system as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world, with Earth-sized polar cyclones, plunging storm systems that travel deep into the heart of the gas giant, and a mammoth, lumpy magnetic field that may indicate it was generated closer to the planet’s surface than previously thought. “We are excited to share these early discoveries, which help us better understand what makes Jupiter so fascinating,” said Diane Brown, Juno program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It was a long trip to get to Jupiter, but these first results already demonstrate it was well worth the journey.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o9FiTf1vZE

High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter . The 65 kg (143 lb), $40 million USD instrument was built under the direction of the University of Arizona 's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. It consists of a 0.5 m (19.7 in) aperture reflecting telescope , the largest so far of any deep space mission, which allows it to take pictures of Mars with resolutions of 0.3 m/pixel (about 1 foot), resolving objects below a meter across. HiRISE has imaged Mars landers on the surface, including the ongoing Curiosity and Opportunity rover missions . [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiRISE   Portal   http://www.uahirise.org/  

Comparative planetary science or comparative planetology is a branch of space science and planetary science in which different natural processes and systems are studied by their effects and phenomena on and between multiple bodies . The planetary processes in question include geology, hydrology, atmospheric physics, and interactions such as impact cratering, space weathering, and magnetospheric physics in the solar wind, and possibly biology, via astrobiology . Comparison of multiple bodies assists the researcher, if for no other reason than the Earth is far more accessible than any other body. Those distant bodies may then be evaluated in the context of processes already characterized on Earth. Conversely, other bodies (including extrasolar ones ) may provide additional examples, edge cases, and counterexamples to earthbound processes; without a greater context, studying these phenomena in relation to Earth alone may result in low sample sizes and observational biases.

The Open Exoplanet Catalogue is a catalogue of all discovered extra-solar planets. It is a new kind of astronomical database. It is decentralized and completely open. We welcome contributions and corrections from both professional astronomers and the general public.  http://www.openexoplanetcatalogue.com/  

TRAPPIST-1, also known as 2MASS J23062928-0502285, [6] is an ultracool dwarf star [4] [7] located 39.13 light-years (12.0 pc) away in the constellation Aquarius . A team of astronomers headed by Michaël Gillon of the Institut d’Astrophysique et Géophysique at the University of Liège [8] in Belgium used the TRAPPIST (Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama desert , Chile , [9] to observe TRAPPIST-1 and search for orbiting planets. By utilising transit photometry , they discovered seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the dwarf star; the innermost two are tidally locked to their host star while the outermost appears to lie either within the system's habitable zone or just outside of it. [7] [10] The team made their observations from September to December 2015 and published its findings in the May 2016 issue of the journal Nature . [9] [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1   Portal  

Betelgeuse, also designated Alpha Orionis (α Orionis, abbreviated Alpha Ori, α Ori), is the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion . Distinctly reddish, it is a semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.0 and 1.3, the widest range of any first-magnitude star . Betelgeuse is one of three stars that make up the Winter Triangle asterism, and it marks the center of the Winter Hexagon . It would be the brightest star in the night sky if the human eye could view all wavelengths of radiation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse   Portal  

The Solar System [a] is the gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. [b] Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets , [c] with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies . Of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly, the moons , two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury . [d] The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud . The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun, with most of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter . The four smaller inner planets, Mercury , Venus , Earth and Mars , are terrestrial planets , being primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer planets are giant planets , being substantially more massive than the terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn , are gas giants , being compose

The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is an astronomical observatory and the world's largest optical / near-infrared extremely large telescope now under construction. Part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), it is located on top of Cerro Armazones in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile . The design comprises a reflecting telescope with a 39.3-metre-diameter segmented primary mirror and a 4.2-metre-diameter secondary mirror, and will be supported by adaptive optics , six laser guide star units and multiple large science instruments. [8] The observatory aims to gather 13 times more light than the largest optical telescopes existing today, be able to correct for atmospheric distortions and provide images 16 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope . [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Extremely_Large_Telescope   Portal  

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is a ground-based extremely large telescope under construction, planned for completion in 2025. [6] It will consist of seven 8.4 m (27.6 ft) diameter primary segments, [7] with the resolving power of a 24.5 m (80.4 ft) primary mirror and collecting area equivalent to a 22.0 m (72.2 ft) one, [8] which is about 368 square meters. [5] The telescope is expected to have the resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope , and will be the largest optical observatory in the world, at the time of its first light . As of December 2015, four mirrors have been cast and the construction of the summit facility has begun. [4] [9] A total of seven primary mirrors are planned, but it will begin operation with four. [10] [11] The $1 billion project is US-led in partnership with Australia, Brazil, and Korea, with Chile as the host country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Magellan_Telescope Portal  

Spaceflight is the movement of spacecraft into and through outer space , primarily using rocket technology for propulsion . Spaceflight is used in space exploration , the endeavour to reach, explore, and exploit the space outside the Earth 's atmosphere, and also in commercial activities like space tourism and satellite telecommunications . It is generally based on the use of rockets to transport machines, animals, and humans to, and subsequently through, space. Additional non-commercial uses of spaceflight include space observatories , reconnaissance satellites and other earth observation satellites . Objects launched into space may follow a sub-orbital trajectory and return to Earth immediately, stay in orbit around Earth, travel in the space between the planets , or aim to leave the space dominated by the Sun completely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Spaceflight  

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion MPCV) is an American spacecraft intended to carry a crew of four [7] astronauts to destinations at or beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Currently under development by NASA [9] for launch on the Space Launch System , [10] Orion is intended to facilitate human exploration of asteroids and of Mars and to retrieve crew or supplies from the International Space Station if needed. [11] The Orion MPCV was announced by NASA on May 24, 2011, and is currently under development. [11] Its design is based on the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle from the cancelled Constellation program . [12] It has two main modules. The Orion command module is being built by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans . [13] The Orion Service Module , provided by the European Space Agency , [14] [15] is being built by Airbus Defence and Space . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(spacecraft)   Portal  

Schiaparelli EDM lander [skjapaˈɾɛlːi] was the Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) of the ExoMars programme—a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos . [4] It was built in Italy and was intended to test technology for future soft landings on the surface of Mars . [5] It also had a limited but focused science payload that would have measured atmospheric electricity on Mars and local meteorological conditions. [2] [6] [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiaparelli_EDM_lander   Portal  

The 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.  Latest & Greatest! https://aas.org/meetings/aas229 aas229-abstracts-pdf.pdf

Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn . It is a Flagship -class NASA – ESA – ASI robotic spacecraft . [4] Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2016. It has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004. [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens   Destination Titan (Vid) Portal