ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft passed through the ion tail of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) on May 31 and June 1, 2020, and through its dust tail on June 6. This is the 7th space mission to fly through the tail of a comet, and the first one whose upcoming crossing was...
June 07, 2020
Astronomers have detected a new type of cosmic explosion that has the characteristics of a supernova and a gamma-ray burst-- two of the most powerful outbursts in the universe. In 2018, astronomers spotted a cosmic blast that has a strange behavior-- dubbed the...
May 31, 2020
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft has created a map of electric currents around Mars, five years after it entered into its orbit. These currents hold crucial clues in the atmospheric loss that made the red planet incapable of supporting life. "These currents play a...
May 31, 2020
Astronomers at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy (UH IfA) have spotted a new asteroid with a comet-like tail moving in the same orbit as Jupiter. These objects are usually called Trojan asteroids, but this one was described to be the first one...
May 31, 2020
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that its Solar Orbiter probe will have a rare encounter with the Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), passing through the object's ion tail on May 31, 2020 into June 1. Solar Orbiter’s upcoming crossing is the first to be...
May 30, 2020
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 KC5 will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.96 LD / 0.00248 AU (371 002 km / 230 530 miles) at 20:46 UTC on May 29, 2020. This is the 44th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and...
May 29, 2020
A bright fireball exploded over northern Turkey around 17:35 UTC (20:35 LT) on Wednesday evening, May 27, 2020. The American Meteor Society (AMS) received three reports, including from a witness in Tbilisi, Georgia. Based on the AMS' trajectory, the fireball...
May 28, 2020
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 KF5 will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.64 LD / 0.00165 AU (246 836 km / 153 377 miles) at 12:49 UTC on May 28, 2020. Another newly-discovered asteroid -- 2020 KJ4 -- will flyby us just 32 minutes later. However, as far...
May 27, 2020
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 KJ4 will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.37 LD / 0.00096 AU (143 613 km / 89 237 miles) at 13:20 UTC on May 26, 2020. This is the 42nd known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and...
May 26, 2020
The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have revealed possible signs of a star system being born. Around young star, AB Aurigae lies a dense disc of gas and dust, where astronomers have spotted a prominent spiral structure with a...
May 24, 2020
A brilliant fireball streaked across the night sky in central Russia at around 15:40 UTC (22:40 LT) on May 18, 2020. The spectacular event was seen in the southern part of the Krasnoyarsk region, as well as in the republics of Khakassia and Tyva. Eyewitnesses said...
May 21, 2020
Over the past 200 years, Earth's magnetic field has lost around 9% of its strength. Meanwhile, a large region of reduced magnetic intensity has developed between Africa and South America -- known as South Atlantic Anomaly. Over the past 5 years, however, a...
May 20, 2020
A bright fireball lit up the skies over the southeast U.S. at around 04:43 UTC (00:43 LT) on May 14, 2020. The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 64 reports, including from eyewitnesses in Alabama, Florida, and the Carolinas. The witnesses claimed that the...
May 19, 2020
Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 has reported new observations of Ryugu, revealing more secrets about the object's remarkable history-- particularly signs of a close encounter with the Sun. Hayabusa-2 launched in December 2014 and reached Ryugu in 2018. In...
May 19, 2020
A bright fireball streaked across the sky over Louisiana at around 01:45 UTC on May 11, 2020 (20:45 LT on May 10). The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 24 reports about the event from eyewitnesses as far north as Bogue Chitto in Mississippi and as far east as...
May 12, 2020
The closest black hole to Earth-- lying just 1 000 lightyears away-- has been discovered by a team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes. Scientists say more similar black holes could be found in the future. "We were...
May 10, 2020
A fireball exploded over Washington state, U.S. at around 01:57 UTC on May 7, 2020 (18:57 PDT, May 6), with a dozen eyewitness reports submitted to the American Meteor Society (AMS). A loud and deep boom was reported during the event, which startled many people...
May 09, 2020