Space and Astronomy Megathread (MERGED) - Part 1

She says that she's been busy writing a book, which was why her channel was dead for months. She announced her return two weeks ago:



This was her first video back:

 

Yeah, I know. Just glad she's back.

 

Portugal Just Launched a National Space Agency!

Surprised that they didn't have one already.

 

NASA's Voyager and Pioneer Probes Launched Decades Ago and Are Still Out There. Here's Where They'll End Up.

 

Here's a great video about where the Voyagers are at the moment. A surprisingly emotional video.

 

Something Strange Punched a Hole in the Milky Way. But What Exactly Is It?

 

NASA drops insane map of 4,000 planets outside our solar system

 

This is not an April Fool's joke. It appears that soon everyone on Earth can be as rich as Jeff Bezos !! There's more than enough Gold to make everyone on Earth Rich $$ ! Or maybe not, there's only One thing that prevents this from happening, Economics !

Giant asteroid could make us billionaires

Why 16 Psyche, a gaint asteroid full of gold, won't make us richer

 

Gold is only a rarity because of its quantity and availability on earth. But if our species is going to move beyond this planet and is going to start mining off planet we're going to have to accept and allow things like gold to become common. We shouldnt not mine certain minerals just to artificially maintain archaic economic status quos. Just like how salt is no longer a precious mineral that only the rich can afford. If there is an asteroid with that much gold it should be mined of all its gold, brought to earth, and it should be used. I'm sure there are many many many applications and future innovations that require gold but are currently being put on hold or hampered by gold scarcity and it's current value on earth.

 

"Curiosity’s Mastcam snapped the panorama images from a location 327 meters (1,073 feet) above the rover’s landing site, which is out of view behind a slight rise. But nearby Yellowknife Bay, where Curiosity found carbon compounds and evidence of an ancient freshwater lake environment, is visible, along with weathered relics of ancient stream beds that once carried water into Gale Crater some three billion years ago."

Article with more info: Curiosity snaps spectacular Mars panorama – Astronomy Now

 

Very impressive.

 

I've been watching documentaries all week because of the anniversary. I really loved the 8 Days one from PBS as the audio captured a lot of the down moments from the astronauts that we don't normally see. It humanizes them.

 

So what is with the rash of Area 51 videos on YouTube as of late?

 

Ancient Mars tsunami hints at surprisingly wet world


That's interesting

 

Jupiter just got slammed by something so big we saw it from Earth

 

A couple of short, educational “dramas” about how hard it might be to find Earth-like exo-planets:


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h/t Phil Plait