space science
-
Astronomer Spotted Asteroid Hours Before It Hit Earth
An asteroid measuring around 3.05 m wide has burnt up in the skies north of Iceland. This sort of thing happens from time to time, but this incident was notable in that the asteroid was spotted less two hours before the impact.
-
Webb Space Telescope Could Get a Good Look at the Next ‘Oumuamua
As the Webb Space Telescope continues gearing up for its first observations, researchers are getting excited about the technology’s ability to look at interstellar objects that pass through our solar system.
-
NASA’s Asteroid Detector Was Upgraded to Scan the Entire Sky Every Day
NASA’s ATLAS, a planetary defence system that scans the sky for near-Earth objects, has been upgraded to search the entire night sky — half of it in either hemisphere — once every 24 hours. The surveillance system is vital for tracking objects like asteroids and debris that are on a collision course with Earth.
-
Astronomers Spot an Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football
A team of astronomers studying distant exoplanets found one that seems to be shaped like a football — or a rugby ball, depending on your frame of reference — rather than the usual sphere. The team suspects the planet’s shape is caused by the intense tidal forces of its host star.