20 years after inception, 6 years of construction and more than a year of testing, ESA's new Sun-exploring spacecraft was successfully launched by the US Atlas V 411 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 04:04 UTC on…
The Virtual Telescope Project will bring us live views of the first Supermoon of the year on February 8, 2020, as it rises above the unique skyline of Rome. The online, free session will start at 16:00 UTC. Supermoon is a popular term indicating a Full Moon or a New…
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 CW flew past Earth at a very close distance of 0.04 LD / 0.00011 AU (16 455 km / 10 225 mi) at 12:50 UTC on February 1, 2020. This is well within the orbit of our geostationary satellites ~ 35 800 km (22 300 miles). The…
A large green fireball was recorded over Lebanon at 20:15 UTC (22:15 LT) on January 21, 2020. It was reportedly captured by Nizar Nurr near the peak of Mount Sannine. According to KameraOne, it's one of the brightest meteors ever captured over Lebanon. Featured…
Two newly-discovered asteroids designated 2020 BA15 and 2020 BZ13 flew past Earth within 1 lunar distance on January 28 and 29, respectively. Since the start of the year, our sky surveys have identified a total of 9 asteroids whose orbits took them within 1 lunar…
A very bright meteor streaked through the night sky over the Urals, Russia at 22:13 UTC on January 29, 2020 (03:13 LT, January 30). Photographer Ilya Jankowsky captured it from the town of Irbit, Sverdlovsk Oblast. According to RT, the object was also seen from…
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 BT14 will flyby Earth at 08:19 UTC on February 3, 2020, at a distance of 0.49 LD / 0.00126 AU (188 493 km / 117 124 miles). This is the second known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance this month, making a…
A newly-discovered Aten-class asteroid designated 2020 CA will flyby Earth at 15:49 UTC on February 2, 2020, at a distance of 0.57 LD / 0.00147 AU (219 908 km / 136 645 miles). With 3 other new <1LD approaches since our last update, this is the 9th known asteroid…
February 1 – IC2395 well placed for observation. Across much of the world, the open star cluster IC2395 in Vela will be well placed for observation. It will reach its highest point in the sky at around midnight local time. At a declination of -48°09', it is…
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 BA13 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.51 LD / 0.00132 AU (197 469 km / 122 701 miles) on January 27, 2020. This is the 5th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year. 2020 BA13…
