Feb 5 - Deflecting an Asteroid

February 5 Deflecting an Asteroid by:

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft struck a 4-mile-wide (6-km-wide) comet - called Tempel 1 - on July 4, 2005. This image was acquired 67 seconds after impact. Now a new impact mission is being planned. Image via ESA. A plan to knock an asteroid off course In what's being called humankind’s 1st planetary defense test, space scientists are planning to visit a double asteroid - Didymos and its tiny moon - and crash into the moon in attempt to change its orbit. Read more. A plan to create artificial meteors Everyone loves a good meteor shower, but what about an artificial one? A Japanese company plans to create one and has just launched hundreds of pellets to space. They'll ultimately rain down again in colorful displays. Read more. Today in science: Maarten Schmidt and quasars In 1963, astronomer Maarten Schmidt had a sudden revelation that quasars are exceedingly distant and unimaginably luminous. His insight changed our notion of what the universe is like. Read more. Astronomer Maarten Schmidt. Image via CalTech.

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Tonight … See the Double Cluster in Perseus First, find the M- or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. The Double Cluster - 2 open star clusters - is nearby and beautiful in a dark sky. Read more.

Mulligan Swamp. South Australia View larger at EarthSky Community Photos. | John Carter in Australia - where there's an  ongoing heat wave - captured this image last weekend. He wrote: “Being a hot night, I couldn't sleep. So I got up, grabbed my camera gear, and drove out to a local swamp called Mullinger Swamp. This swamp, on a windless night, is always good for Milky Way reflections. Sometimes the water is so calm it's like a sheet of glass!” Thank you, John. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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