Dec 23 - New Horizons Approaching Ultima Thule

December 23 New Horizons Approaching Ultima Thule by:

EarthSky News will take 2 days off for friends and family. Back December 26. Best wishes to all from the EarthSky team!   Ultima Thule - an object in our solar system's distant Kuiper Belt - is marked in yellow. The 2 concentric circles illustrate 2 possible flyby distances for New Horizons. The mission has decided to fly along the closer path, toward the target point marked by an X. Read more. New Horizons approaching Ultima Thule New Horizons is the craft that swept past Pluto in 2015. It's been given a "go" to take the optimal path past its next target, Ultima Thule, a billion miles beyond Pluto. The encounter will be January 1, 2019. Read more. The case of the vanishing exoplanet Astronomers have found an exoplanet - 2nd of its kind now - that's gradually "evaporating." It may have lost 35% of its original mass, so far. Read more. 50th anniversary of 1st Earthrise photo from moon Tomorrow marks 50 years since Apollo 8 astronauts captured one of the best-known photos of the 20th century – Earthrise from the moon. Watch a video. December 24, 1968, from the crew of Apollo 8. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s not an Earthrise in the sense of moonrise from Earth, of course. As seen from any one spot on the moon’s near-side, Earth doesn’t rise or set, but simply hangs in one spot in the lunar sky. The astronauts saw Earth rise because they were moving, in a spacecraft, above the moon’s surface. What we're reading   Indonesia tsunami kills at least 222 after striking without warning The cause remains unclear, but 1-meter high waves took coastal residents by surprise on Saturday evening without earthquake tremors that typically presage tsunamis - or any official warnings.

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December 23 and 24 … Moon and Gemini The moon is in front of the constellation Gemini tonight, near its brightest stars Castor and Pollux. On December 24, you'll find the moon farther from these stars but still near enough to help you find them. Read more.

December 25 and 26 … Moon and a Royal Star On the nights of December 25 and 26, look for the moon and Regulus, the Royal Star, coming up above your eastern horizon. If you miss it, you can get up before daybreak to view the waning gibbous moon and Regulus much higher up in the sky. Read more. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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