Copernical Team
Juice returns for a lunar-Earth flyby
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ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) is coming back to Earth.
Our fearless traveller is getting a nudge from Earth this summer, in the first of four ‘gravity assist manoeuvres’ that will put Juice on precisely the right path to arrive at Jupiter with the correct speed and direction in July 2031.
This is the second big milestone in Juice’s journey to Jupiter, with the first being the launch into space on 14 April 2023. This second helping hand takes a very different form, with Juice flying past the Moon on 19 August, lining it up to fly past
Two meteor showers will flash across the sky around the same time in late July
Get ready for a meteor shower doubleheader.
The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks in late July. And this year, it will coincide with a second smaller meteor shower, the Alpha Capricornids.
The Delta Aquariids occur every year in North America's late summer. This year's peak activity happens early Tuesday morning, with an expected 15 to 20 meteors visible per hour in the Northern Hemisphere, under dark skies. Viewing should be even better in the Southern Hemisphere. The shower lasts through August 21, according to the American Meteor Society.
Around the same time, the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower should produce around five meteors per hour and lasts through August 15.
Here's what to know about the Delta Aquariids and other meteor showers.
What is a meteor shower?
Multiple meteor showers occur annually and you don't need special equipment to see them.
Most meteor showers originate from the debris of comets. The source of the Delta Aquariids is thought to be from the comet 96P/Machholz. The Alpha Capricornids originate from the comet 169P/NEAT.
When rocks from space enter Earth's atmosphere, the resistance from the air makes them very hot.
ESA blasts off at Gamescom
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"This is a momentous occasion for AST SpaceMobile. These first f China's Climate and Carbon Monitoring Satellites Now Operational
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Researchers propose that the carbon dioxide on Ariel's surfac NASA-Backed Burst Test Advances Orbital Reef Development
A critical component of the Orbital Reef commercial space station, developed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space with NASA funding, has successfully completed a full-scale burst pressure test. This achievement marks significant progress in NASA's efforts to establish new low Earth orbit destinations.
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