Jan 13 - Top Stories This Week

January 13 Top Stories This Week by:

Research reveals secrets of extinct Tasmanian tigers Genome suggests that, if Tasmanian tigers hadn't been hunted to extinction, they might still have struggled to survive. What was that bright flash over Russia? A flash seen on January 7 at first caused fears of a U.S. air strike on North Korea. Fast radio bursts: A mystery unfolds Astronomers now think the repeating bursts were twisted by the extreme environment around a supernova or supermassive black hole. Largest known prime number discovered It’s nearly one million digits larger than the previous record prime number. Best photos: Snowflakes A lot of us might be getting tired of snow but we're never tired of snowflake pics! Best photos: Morning planets The moon swept past Jupiter and Mars this week. Now it's aiming for Mercury and Saturn, which are in conjunction this weekend. Before daybreak … Saturn, Mercury, moon The Mercury/Saturn conjunction is today, so they are close before dawn. On Sunday morning, the moon will be pointing toward these planets near the sunrise. Tonight … New Year's Eve, in the Julian calendar Happy Julian New Year! January 13, 2018 marks the last day of the year in the old-style Julian calendar. Why, and what happened when the calendars switched. What is a sun pillar, or light pillar? Shafts of light extending from the sun, caused by ice crystals drifting in Earth's air. Great photos!

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Photos: Moon, Jupiter, Mars Martin Gstoehl in Valduz, Liechtenstein caught the moon, Jupiter, Mars – and a little streak of the International Space Station – on January 11.

Before daybreak … Saturn, Mercury, moon To see Saturn and Mercury, you'll need an unobstructed horizon - sunrise direction - shortly before sunup. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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