orbiting
In a first, astronomers detect giant planet orbiting a dead star
A tiny white dwarf, WD 1856, is orbited closely by a huge planet. NASA Goddard Around 80 light-years from Earth lies the white dwarf WD 1856, a dead star that entered the final stages of its life around 6 billion years ago. This slow death is typically quite lonely. In the process of dying, some …
New ‘mini-moon’ orbiting Earth — for now, astronomers say
A visiting mini-moon is circling Earth, according to astronomers who discovered the cosmic squatter in our planet’s orbit. The tiny asteroid, dubbed 2020 CD3, was spotted by astronomers in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 15. “BIG NEWS,” Kacper Wierzchos, a researcher with the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab, tweeted …
Planet 9 could be an ancient black hole orbiting the sun
At the edge of our solar system, some unknown object is manipulating the paths of chunks of ice as they circle the sun. These objects’ oval-shaped orbits all point in the same direction and tilt the same way, suggesting that an unseen force is herding them. At first, scientists thought the culprit was a mysterious …
Chandrayaan-2: India spacecraft begins orbiting Moon
Image copyright AFP Image caption The rocket weighs as much as a fully-loaded jumbo jet India’s second lunar exploration mission has entered the Moon’s orbit, nearly a month after blasting off, officials have said. Chandrayaan-2 began its orbit of the Moon at 09:02 local time (04:32 GMT) on Tuesday. The craft completed the manoeuvre in …
NASA’s spacecraft is orbiting closer to an asteroid than ever before
After a maneuver, the spacecraft in NASA’s asteroid study mission is orbiting closer to a planetary body than any spacecraft has ever come, the space agency said. The mission recently entered a new phase where the spacecraft will orbit about 2,231 feet, or 0.4 miles, above the asteroid Bennu’s surface. During this phase, known as …
