Dec 3 - Are We Alone?

December 3 Are We Alone? by:

The 2 stars in the Alpha Centauri system, just 4.2 light-years away. This system is our nearest neighbor among the stars. An additional faint red dwarf star, Proxima, is also nearby. Many have hoped to find an exoplanet - perhaps capable of harboring advanced life - in this system. But a new study lowers those expectations while raising them for the rest of the universe. Image via NASA/ESA/Hubble Space Telescope.

Does complex life exist elsewhere? Study of exoplanet-tilts boosts hopes Are we alone, or are there other intelligent civilizations in our Milky Way galaxy? In recent years, astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, worlds orbiting distant suns, some of which are potentially habitable. Now a new study focuses on the axial tilt of Earthlike exoplanets in binary or double star systems. The study boosts hope for complex life elsewhere ... although not, these astronomers say, within the star system closest to our sun. Read more. Did this black hole swallow a star? We know of a couple of dozen so-called stellar-mass black holes in our Milky Way galaxy. They tend to be between about 5 and 20 times as heavy as our sun. This new black hole - in a distant spiral arm of the galaxy - is 70 times as heavy as the sun. Why is it so heavy? Read more. Pisces? Here's your constellation How to see the constellation Pisces and its alpha star, Al Risha, the star that ties the 2 Fishes together by their tails. Pisces sky lore and science, here.

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift? An EarthSky lunar calendar is sure to delight. Click here to shop now. Your support means the world to us and helps us keep going!

Tonight … 2019's farthest 1st quarter moon  This month's 1st quarter moon comes on December 4 at 6:58 UTC. If you're in the Americas, you can look for it tonight. As viewed from the whole Earth, a 1st quarter moon is high up at sunset, looking like half a pie. There are a dozen 1st quarter moons in 2019, but this one counts as the most distant at 250,990 miles (403,929 km) from Earth. That's because this December's 1st quarter moon aligns more closely with lunar apogee - the moon's farthest point from Earth in its monthly orbit - than any other 1st quarter moon in 2019. Read more.

What to look for on a 1st quarter moon  View at EarthSky Community Photos. | For those of you with telescopes, or telescopic lenses, here's something to watch for on a moon near 1st quarter. Tim Yacyshyn in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, captured this image on October 5. He wrote: "Taken exactly 12 hours after 1st quarter. As you can see, the famous Lunar X stands out quite prominently." Thank you, Tim! Lunar X appears when the moon is near its 1st quarter phase. It's just a high area on the moon, catching sunlight, creating an example of pareidolia on the moon. Read more about Lunar X. Submit your photo to EarthSky here! Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!

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