You may have seen Curiosity’s livetweets last night but here’s the other side of the story. Thanks internet!
Venus was there, watching. Aldebaran in Taurus was an orange dot. The ghost of Full Moon Past, the complete lunar disk, was dimly lit by the bluish hue of earthshine. The time was 07:45 on June 18 (GMT).
At 7: 45,
At 9:17,
At 13:56, there was only the smallest glint that we even had a Moon,
Captured by Astronaut Don Pettit
Our best model for the formation of the Moon proposes that a large object about the size of Mars hit the Earth, and then the ejected material formed the Moon.
A question from the astronomy section on one of my papers.
I just wanted an excuse to use this gif.Also, if anyone can tell me who made the original so I can laud them with praises, that would be lovely.
The Transit of Venus. 38535 days 18 hours until we will see the next Transit in 2117.
Planet X? New Evidence of an Unseen Planet at Solar System’s Edge
A planet four times the size of Earth may be skirting the edges of the solar system beyond Pluto, according to new research. Too distant to be easily spotted by Earth-based telescopes, the unseen planet could be gravitationally tugging on small icy objects past Neptune, helping explain the mystery of those objects’ peculiar orbits.
The claim comes from Rodney Gomes, a noted astronomer at the National Observatory of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. Gomes presented his recently completed computer models suggesting the existence of the distant planet at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Timberline Lodge, Ore., earlier this month.
Top of the World
This stunning view of the top of the earth was captured by Astronaut Don Pettit.
About Star Stuff Contemplating the Stars
