There are a few interesting things up in this July’s night sky and specialised press, more than worth a post about them.
First of all, prepare your telescopes and look for the newfound NEOWISE comet just crossing our sky, visible even to the naked eye. The comet was discovered by NASA in March thanks to NEOWISE space telescope and its trail of dust and ice can be seen millions of miles away from Earth. The best moment will be on July 23, when the comet will be at its closest.
If you’re based in the northern hemisphere, look at north-east sky above the horizon about 2.30 am, just before sunrise.
Is ‘Planet Nine’ actually a grapefruit-sized black hole? The ‘missing planet’ keeps attracting the specialised press’s attention, and not only. “A coming sky survey will help test a wild idea — that a grapefruit-sized black hole lurks undiscovered in the outer solar system. Over the past few years, researchers have noticed an odd clustering in the orbits of multiple trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which dwell in the dark depths of the far outer solar system. Some scientists have hypothesized that the TNOs’ paths have been sculpted by the gravitational pull of a big object way out there, something five to 10 times more massive than Earth (though others think the TNOs may just be tugging on each other). This big “perturber,” if it exists, may be a planet — the so-called “Planet Nine,” or “Planet X” or “Planet Next” for those who will always regard Pluto as the ninth planet,” (read the whole story here).
SpaceX delays launch of Starlink. Troubles continue for Space X and its programmed launch of satellites. To keep updated on the progress with their ongoing scheduled launch, bookmark this.
I haven’t seen this one yet but remember being disappointed with the appearance of Kahoutek and Halley, so when I unexpectedly spotted Hale–Bopp out of a window one evening it was mesmerising. I tend to be late to bed so I keep meaning to peer round a corner window in the requisite direction — except it’s been quite cloudy in recent days.
I have good expectations for the weather –it’s July 🙂 Let’s see if we get lucky.
Hah! It’s currently raining here (it’s Wales, after all!) but we’ve a few more days to go…
The idea of a comet that would be visible to the naked eye is a fascinating one, and I would not mind setting an alarm for that *ungodly* hour just to see it… 🙂
Same here! I will give it a try 🙂