Jan 3 - Spacecraft Lands on Moon's Far Side!

January 3 Spacecraft Lands on Moon's Far Side! by:

The Chinese Chang’e-4 moon lander touched down in the Von Kármán crater moon's far side. No, the far side of the moon does not always stay dark. In fact, Chang'e-4 mission controllers waited for sunrise over this region to set the lander down. Simulation of lunar far side last night, via Alan Dyer (@amazingskyguy on Twitter). China's Chang’e-4 lands on moon's far side China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft set down last night, according to clocks in the Americas. It's a historic event, the first time a spacecraft has landed on the side of the moon we can't see from Earth. Read more. Latest sunrises (north) and sunsets (south) Happening now ... the latest sunrises (Northern Hemisphere) and sunsets (Southern Hemisphere). That's despite the fact that the shortest and longest days come at the solstices. Why the difference? Because nature is subtle on a tilted Earth pursuing an elliptical orbit around the sun. Read more. Has Mars' methane gone missing? The 1st results from ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter mission at Mars have been released and - surprise - no atmospheric methane. That's even though methane on Mars has been observed multiple times before. Where is it? Ultima Thule seen in detail What a week for space exploration! Ultima Thule - most distant object yet seen by an earthly spacecraft - is now revealed as a "contact binary," created when two small bodies in the early solar system stuck together. Read more. Here's the most detailed image so far of Ultima Thule - a Kuiper Belt object, some 4 billion miles from our sun - via New Horizons. The spacecraft captured it at 05:01 UTC on January 1, just 30 minutes before closest approach, from a range of 18,000 miles (28,000 km). Image via NASA/Johns Hopkins/SwRI.

Thank you all for shopping at The EarthSky Store! Your support helps EarthSky keep going. Kids tees, long sleeved tees, lunar phase posters, toys, and more. Your support means the world to us and allows us to keep going. Click here to shop.

New Year's Day clouds over El Paso These are called lenticular clouds. They usually - but not always - form where stable moist air flows over a mountain or range of mountains. Patricia Lea wrote: "Happy New Year from El Paso, Texas. Enjoy." Thanks, Patricia!

Dark skies for 2019's Quadrantid meteors From mid-northern latitudes, the radiant point for the Quadrantid shower doesn’t climb over the horizon until after midnight. Best time to watch is probably late night January 3 until dawn January 4. Northerly latitudes are favored. No moon this year! Read more. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

by:

update your profile | unsubscribe