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NASA's Lucy probe is set to fly on April 20, 2025

NASA's Lucy probe is scheduled to make a significant flyby of the asteroid Donaldjohanson on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. Here are some detailed aspects of this mission: Mission Objectives: The Lucy mission aims to study the Trojan asteroids, which are believed to be remnants from the early solar system. By examining these asteroids, scientists hope to gain insights into the formation and evolution of the solar system. Asteroid Donaldjohanson: Named after paleontologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the famous Australopithecus fossil "Lucy," this asteroid orbits the Sun in a region known as the L4 Trojan camp, situated ahead of Jupiter in its orbit. It is one of the many Trojan asteroids that are thought to contain primitive materials. Flyby Details: During the flyby, Lucy will use its suite of scientific instruments to gather data about Donaldjohanson's surface composition, geology, and morphology. The close encounter will allow for high-resolution im...

NASA's Hubble surveys gigantic galaxy

Galaxies are like snowflakes. Though the universe contains innumerable galaxies flung across time and space, no two ever look alike. One of the most photogenic is the huge spiral galaxy UGC 2885, located 232 million light-years away in the northern constellation, Perseus. It's a whopper even by galactic standards. The galaxy is 2.5 times wider than our Milky Way and contains 10 times as many stars, about 1 trillion. This galaxy has lived a quiescent life by not colliding with other large galaxies. It has gradually bulked up on intergalactic hydrogen to make new stars at a slow and steady pace over many billions of years. The galaxy has been nicknamed "Rubin's galaxy," after astronomer Vera Rubin (1928—2016). Rubin used the galaxy to look for invisible dark matter. The galaxy is embedded inside a vast halo of dark matter. The amount of dark matter can be estimated by measuring its gravitational influence on the galaxy's rotation rate.

from Astronomy News - Space News, Exploration News, Earth Science News, Earth Science https://ift.tt/36uyOR9

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