- 13 July 2016
Alpha Ophiuchi is also called ‘Rasalhague’ and can be found in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It’s a binary star system with its main star being 2.4 times the mass of the Sun. This star system is the brightest in its constellation and the 69th most luminous in the night sky. It came very close to the Sun around 389,000 years-ago.
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- 11 July 2016
There’s been a lot of excitement and talk about the Juno spacecraft that entered into Jupiter’s orbit on July 4th. However, what those involved didn’t expect was a short film.
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- 8 July 2016
There are billions upon billions of stars in the universe. But did you know each of these stars can be very different from one another? Let’s explore the stars to find out what exactly is going on waaaaaay out there…
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- 6 July 2016
Cancer means “the crab” in Latin and is the faintest of the 12 zodiac signs. It can be found in the second quadrant of the Northern hemisphere and is located specifically between latitudes of +90° and -60°. Like all the Zodiac signs, Cancer was first catalogued in the 2nd century by Ptolemy, who was a Greek astronomer.
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- 5 July 2016
Alpha Leporis is located in the constellation of Lepus, ‘the Hare’, and is also called ‘Arneb’. This 13 million year-old star is considered a lower luminosity yellow-white supergiant that may be entering the last phase of its cycle. It has a mass 14 times the Sun and 129 times its solar radius. Arneb was catalogued in the 2nd century by a Greek astronomer, Ptolemy.
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- 4 July 2016
Today, July 4th, NASA’s Juno spacecraft is on course to enter into Jupiter’s orbit. Here it will circle the gas giant 37 times from pole-to-pole. However, after Juno’s mission is done, it will go down in flames.
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- 1 July 2016
Camelopardalis is the 18th largest constellation covering 757 square degrees in the second quadrant of the Northern hemisphere. It can be viewed specifically at latitudes between +90° and -10°. Camelopardalis represents the giraffe, which was once known as a camel-leopard (it has a long neck like a camel and the spots of a leopard). For this reason it actually gets its name from the Latin derivative of the Greek word for giraffe; camel (Greek kamēlos) and leopard (pardalis).
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- 30 June 2016
Alpha Herculis has been given an ‘Alpha’ designation; however, it’s not the brightest star in its home constellation, it’s actually 129th brightest in the night sky. Its traditional name of Rasalgethi is derived from an Arabic phrase meaning, ‘the head of the Kneeler’. The ‘head’ comes from ancient times when the constellation was shown upside down on star maps.
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- 29 June 2016
Nebulae are super cool cosmic clouds. They are made up of all sorts of things like dust, helium, hydrogen, plasma and gas. They are also places where new stars are “born.”
Let’s explore 5 famous “space nurseries” that are beautiful, yet are weird in appearance.
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- 27 June 2016
On July 4th, Juno is set to fire it’s main engine for 35 minutes which will blast it directly into Jupiter’s orbit to embark on a 20 -month journey around the biggest planet in out solar system. But don’t think this unmanned trip is going to be easy. Jupiter’s atmosphere is rough, to say the least…
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