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Asteroid Narrowly Misses Earth – Burns Up in Shocking Fireball Over the Philippines!
A small asteroid, measuring about 3 feet (1 meter) in diameter, burned up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere today. The asteroid, named 2024 RW1, entered the atmosphere around 12:46 p.m. ET (1646 GMT) over the western Pacific Ocean, near Luzon Island in the Philippines, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
The asteroid was detected just hours before impact by Jacqueline Fazekas, a research technologist at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. This survey is dedicated to monitoring and cataloging near-Earth objects. Remarkably, 2024 RW1 is only the ninth asteroid ever to be discovered before it impacted Earth, ESA noted in a social media post.
NASA’s Asteroid Watch had predicted that the asteroid could create a visible fireball, which was confirmed by several videos posted on social media showing a bright green flash in the sky above the Philippines. The event was also detected by multiple sensors, as reported by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
The early detection of 2024 RW1 highlights the growing focus on planetary defense, which involves identifying and tracking near-Earth asteroids that could pose a threat. In recent efforts to enhance planetary defense, NASA's DART mission successfully altered the path of an asteroid by crashing an impactor into it in 2022. Looking ahead, NASA plans to launch an infrared telescope, NEO Surveyor, to detect more asteroids, while China aims to develop its own asteroid deflection mission by 2030.
Hubble Unveils Stunning "Cosmic Fossil" – A Mysterious Galaxy Frozen in Time!
The Hubble Space Telescope has made a jaw-dropping discovery: an ancient, isolated "cosmic fossil" that could unlock secrets about galaxy formation. Meet the Tucana Dwarf galaxy, located a staggering 3 million light-years away at the edge of the Local Group of galaxies, including our very own Milky Way. This hidden gem is packed with older stars, suggesting it might hold untouched traces of the early universe, NASA revealed.
Thanks to Hubble’s breathtaking new image released on Aug. 23, the Tucana Dwarf galaxy now dazzles with billions of twinkling stars, scattered against the inky blackness of space. While they shimmer in the picture, these stars are actually dim due to their advanced age. NASA categorizes this relic as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy—a small, faint galaxy with almost no dust and an ancient stellar population.
In their announcement, NASA scientists highlighted that the Tucana Dwarf is "much smaller and less luminous than most other dwarf galaxies," adding that its older stars and sparse dust make it appear dimmer.
This cosmic recluse, sitting 3.6 million light-years away from the center of our galaxy cluster, may have once had a close encounter with the massive Andromeda galaxy 11 billion years ago. Scientists believe that the gravitational forces of Andromeda flung the Tucana Dwarf to its current remote location.
Thanks to Hubble's powerful cameras, astronomers are now studying the galaxy’s structure and evolution in hopes of shedding light on one of the most critical periods in the universe's history—the epoch of reionization, when the very first stars and galaxies began to shine billions of years ago!
Vega Rocket’s Final Launch Closes 12 Years of Success for ESA
Vega, the lightweight yet powerful rocket, joined the fleet of launch vehicles at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in 2012. Standing 30 meters tall and weighing 137 tonnes on the launch pad, Vega uses three solid-propellant stages and a final liquid-propellant stage to reach orbit. Remarkably, it carries its payloads into space in just six minutes.
Designed for launching small satellites into polar orbits, Vega has a strong track record of successful missions. Among its notable payloads are ESA’s technology demonstrator Proba-V, which monitors Earth's vegetation, and the wind-monitoring satellite Aeolus. Vega's heaviest payload was the 1,906-kg LISA Pathfinder, a mission paving the way for future gravitational wave detection in space.
In 2015, Vega made headlines by launching three ESA missions in a single year. One of these was the IXV reentry demonstrator, which showcased Europe’s capability to launch a vehicle into space and return it safely to Earth. This mission set the stage for the development of the Space Rider spacecraft, a reusable vehicle designed for research and in-orbit demonstration missions, complementing the Vega rocket family.
Vega also pioneered ride-sharing options for smaller payloads with its Vespa secondary payload adapter, first used in 2013. In 2020, a variant called the Small Spacecraft Mission Service launched over 50 satellites in a single flight, highlighting Vega’s versatility in satellite deployment.
After 12 years of service, Vega's final mission will be to launch the Sentinel-2C satellite. This mission fittingly concludes Vega’s impressive run, which began with the launches of its predecessors, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B, bringing full circle its role in deploying vital Earth observation satellites for ESA.Vega Rocket’s Final Launch Closes 12 Years of Success for ESA.
Welcoming all Space Enthusiasts to secure an internship with Agnirva.com - an ISRO Registered Space Tutor
In this 8-week Online Space Internship, you will learn the ABCs of the space sector and become a certified Space Enthusiast. You don't really have to have a strong background in science - just curiosity. What's more, you will join a growing network of global space enthusiasts.
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