... 2008 September 8 . Rosetta Spacecraft Passes Asteroid Steins . Credit Copyright: Rosetta Team , ESA . ... Such was the case on Friday for ESA 's Rosetta spacecraft on its way to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. ... Space scientists will now study the data taken by Rosetta of asteroid Steins in an effort to better understand its composition, origin, and why the asteroid reflects light so well. ... About APOD | ... NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply . ...

Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... Washington Explanation: For the first time, the entire surface of planet Mercury has been mapped. Detailed observations of the innermost planet 's surprising crust have been ongoing since the robotic MESSENGER spacecraft first passed Mercury in 2008 and began orbiting in 2011. Previously, much of the Mercury's surface was unknown as it is too far for Earth-bound telescopes to see clearly, while the Mariner 10 flybys in the 1970s observed only about half. ...

... November 12, 1996 . Comet Hale-Bopp Passes M14 . ... Explanation : Comet Hale-Bopp continues its slow trek across the night sky, and can now be seen superposed near the bright globular cluster M14 . Will Comet Hale-Bopp become as bright in early 1997 as Comet Hyakutake did in early 1996? It is still too early to tell. ... Because of the size of coma , some speculate that the nucleus of Hale-Bopp is unusually large. ... Tomorrow's picture: Seven Jets from Comet Hale-Bopp . ... About APOD . ...

Astronotes Armagh Planetarium's Stellar Blog! ... Solar System . ... Moon . ... Comets and Asteroids . ... What changed our view of Chariklo is the discovery of a ring system around it, the first such feature found around a Solar System body smaller than a gas giant planet. ... Almost certainly the rings were born when a collision with a smaller asteroid blasted millions of tonnes of debris off CharikloтАЩs surface. ... A ring system detected around the Centaur (10199) Chariklo (Braga-Rigas et al.) ...

... Главная . ... Новости . ... Проекты . Любителям астрономии . Проект ISON . ... Подробнее . ... Категория: Новости проекта ISON . ... Метки: Космический мусор ,љ Астероиды ,љ Гамма-всплески ,љ Любителям астрономии ,љ Кометы љ . ... Метки: Космический мусор ,љ Астероиды ,љ Любителям астрономии љ . ... Новости обсерваторий проекта] - Обсерватория Кубанского государственного университета от Иванов А - 09.04.2016 11:08:49 . ... 1999-2013 Copyright "Астрономия и Телескопостроение" . ...

... Today this year's largest group of sunspots will cross the Sun's central meridian. ... The next day, the number of spots in the group reached five, and the day after, on June 2nd, it was possible to count thirteen sunspots on solar disk, which had been clear prior to this. ... This year's two most powerful active areas, which passed across the solar disk at the beginning of May, 2009, are set to appear in the Sun's eastern sector in two days, on June 6th. ...

... When the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by the planet Uranus in January 1986, astronomers were treated to their first close-up glimpse of the satellites that orbit the seventh planet. ... But by far the most intriguing of those 15 satellites was a jigsaw-puzzle world called Miranda . ... How dark was it at Miranda? One of the Voyager scientists put it this way: Taking pictures in the Uranus system is like trying to do photography in a ballpark at night when the only light comes from a single candle. ...

... Spacecraft . ... To space by cannon? Finally, the deep space explorers --spacecraft which break away from the Earth's gravity . ... The "Luna" series of the USSR conducted 7 soft landing of unmanned probes, two of them with wheeled robotic "Lunokhods," and two of those missions returned samples to Earth. Others spacecraft have visited the major planets of the Solar system. ... The Mariner series have explored Venus and Mars--and Mariner 10 even reached Mercury, for three separate encounters! ...

... An artificial comet holds secrets to Earths life . ... Astronomers recently discovered that Scholz's star passed close to the Sun 70,000 years ago. Wouldn't its gravity have sent Oort Cloud comets raining into the inner planets? ... COMETS | OORT CLOUD . Based on the number of long-period comets that enter the inner solar system, astronomers estimate there are probably trillions of them in the Oort Cloud. Get instant access to subscriber content on Astronomy.com! ... Discover | ...