Multiple Choice: How many moons in our Solar System are larger than a planet in our Solar System?
A. Zero
B. One
C. Two
D. Three
Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.
NASA may face problems getting Martian rocks back to Earth, but the rocks that already made it this far are being sold to the highest bidder.
Earlier this week a rock from Mars sold for $5.3 million at a Sotheby’s New York auction. Officially named NWA 16788, the meteorite weighs 54 pounds. Located in the Sahara Desert in 2023, it is believed to have traveled to Earth after being blasted off the Martian surface by an incoming asteroid.
So who bought it? That information has not been shared, but if Elon Musk bought it I would consider that cheating. He needs to get to Mars on his own and fulfill his destiny (while giving the rest of us a break).
This week’s image is from the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) aboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which was launched in 2018 to observe the Sun. It shows the solar winds in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. The probe was about 3.8 million miles away from the Sun’s surface.
Here is a little more from NASA regarding the image:
The new WISPR images reveal the corona and solar wind, a constant stream of electrically charged particles from the Sun that rage across the solar system. The solar wind expands throughout of the solar system with wide-ranging effects. Together with outbursts of material and magnetic currents from the Sun, it helps generate auroras, strip planetary atmospheres, and induce electric currents that can overwhelm power grids and affect communications at Earth. Understanding the impact of solar wind starts with understanding its origins at the Sun.
The WISPR images give scientists a closer look at what happens to the solar wind shortly after it is released from the corona. The images show the important boundary where the Sun’s magnetic field direction switches from northward to southward, called the heliospheric current sheet. It also captures the collision of multiple coronal mass ejections, or CMEs — large outbursts of charged particles that are a key driver of space weather — for the first time in high resolution.
Check out this helpful video from NASA describing the mission of the Parker Solar Probe.
“They simply don’t want the public to see the meticulously assembled and scientifically validated information about what climate change is already doing to our farms, forests, and fisheries, as well as to storms, floods, wildfires, and coast property — and about how all those damages will grow in the absence of concerted remedial action.”
–Statement by climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, regarding NASA’s removal of national climate assessments from its website. Of course, the daily news about floods and fires will continue to keep us aware of ongoing terra-forming here on planet Earth. You can also find information about the last National Climate Assessment at this USDA site, for now at least.
On this day in 1966, China launched a male puppy named Xiao Bao (meaning Little Leopard) into space. He was used to test the effects of space and was safely recovered after the flight.
Thirteen days later a female puppy named Shan Shan (meaning Coral) was also launched into space. She too was safely recovered.
This is a much better tale than that of Laika, the dog that the USSR sent into orbit in 1957. As stray dog from the streets of Moscow, she only lasted a few hours after the launch, eventually dying of hyperthermia.
Our Awesome Universe 