Jan 17 - Ancient Silk Road Irrigation

January 17 Ancient Silk Road Irrigation by:

Drone recon finds ancient Silk Road irrigation system Scientists used drones to map this previously-unknown 1,600-year-old irrigation system in arid northwest China, one of the world's driest climates. Zooming star points to black hole in globular star cluster Globular star clusters contain our galaxy's most ancient stars. Astronomers didn't expect to find a 4-solar-mass black hole in one, but ... voila! Supercomputer insights on mysterious black hole jets Scientists used the Blue Waters supercomputer to show that a black hole's relativistic jets and accretion disk both may be spinning - and precessing over time - around an axis separate from the black hole itself. Tonight … Will you see a young moon? It'll be tough to see, but, especially if you're in the Americas or on a Pacific island, you have a shot at it.

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Will you see the young moon tonight? You might see it from the Americas, or on a Pacific island. If you miss it, look tomorrow evening.

Cloud tower, view from space An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this photo of a massive vertical cloud formation above the Bahamas’ Andros Island. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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Jan 16 - Milky Way as Melting Pot

January 16 Milky Way as Melting Pot by:

Our Milky Way as a "melting pot" Where do stars we see at night come from? Newly confirmed streams of stars - thought to be coming to our Milky Way from other galaxies - suggest not all Milky Way were born here. New moon is January 16-17 This new moon is most nearly between the Earth and sun for this month. It crosses the sky with the sun during the day. Lengths of lunar months in 2018   This new moon ends the longest lunar month of the 21st century and begins the longest lunar month of 2018. Tonight … Contemplate the apex of the sun's way Our sun moves around the center of the galaxy, toward the star Vega. Astronomers call this motion the apex of the sun's way. One circuit - about 230 million years - is called a cosmic year.

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Contemplate the apex of the sun's way We move toward this star, the blue-white star Vega, in our journey around the galaxy. Photo via Fred Espenak. Used with permission.

Farewell, old moon Juan Manuel Pérez Rayego in Mérida, Mexico wrote Monday morning: "Mercury down, moon and Saturn above, before a cold dawn." More photos of morning planets here. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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