EarthSky News - Dec 9 - Top Stories This Week

December 9 Top Stories This Week by:

Land of Terror Not an abstract painting, but a satellite image of the Tanezrouft Basin, a part of the Sahara Desert known as the Land of Terror. Largest land organism is … a fungus Maybe you thought it was the giant sequoia or the African elephant. Not even close. Supermassive black holes photobomb Andromeda galaxy Possibly the most tightly coupled pair of supermassive black holes yet seen. What would Earth be like without its moon? The biggest change would be in the length of Earth's day. Voyager 1 fires thrusters after 37 years Now, the Voyager team is able to use a set of 4 backup thrusters, dormant since 1980. Giant black hole at cosmic dawn The most distant quasar yet known, containing the most-distant-yet supermassive black hole. Asperitas clouds over Tenerife Meet Earth's newest named cloud, the asperitas cloud. See it! Last weekend's full supermoon Photos of last weekend's full supermoon, the closest and brightest full moon of 2017. Tonight … Orion the Hunter and the Milky Way The constellation Orion is very noticeable. Given a dark sky, you can see the luminous band of the Milky Way running behind it.

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? An EarthSky lunar calendar is sure to delight. Or give the gift that gives back! Check out the new colors and designs of our EarthSky Cares Tees. A percentage of proceeds collected will be donated to select organizations.

Tonight … Orion the Hunter and the Milky Way We in the Northern Hemisphere associate this part of the Milky Way with the winter season. But it's a summertime sight for the Southern Hemisphere.

Last quarter moon is December 10 Watch for the last quarter moon Saturday night after midnight or Sunday morning. It'll look like this last quarter moon, captured by Jenney Disimon in Sabah, North Borneo. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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