He's sending his girlfriend to space, literally
Jeff Bezos' girlfriend is gearing up for her own mission to space, more
In this weekâs Latest in space digest: NASA finds unbelievable bear face formation on Mars, How to spot this extremely rare comet thatâs now passing by Earth, Jeff Bezos is sending his girlfriend to space, and more.
But first: In the past month NASA has discovered even more planets beyond our solar system using the James Webb Space Telescope and other sciencey techniques weâre not going to pretend to understand.
As of today, weâve confirmed 5,241 exoplanets â 195 of which are terrestrial. Terrestrial planets are rocky, with iron-rich cores, like Earth, that have the ability to host life under the right conditions.
If you donât like those odds, NASA estimates that the Milky Way Galaxy is home to at least 100 billion planets.
Jeff Bezos is sending his gf to space âïž
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Lauren SĂĄnchez, girlfriend to Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, announced she herself will be going up. SĂĄnchez, will lead the first-ever all-female space mission in 2024 on the Blue Origin New Shephard rocket.
Who will be joining her to make herstory? At this moment, we donât have exact names. âItâs going to be women who are making a difference in the world and who are impactful and have a message to send,â she stated.
Stay tuned for more @latestinspace.
This comet wonât be seen for another 50,000 years
C/2022 E3 or more notably known as the ârare green comet,â was last visible in the night sky during the Stone Age. Its orbit around the Sun is so long, it only becomes visible from Earth every 50,000 years â and today itâs happening!
The comet is designated C/2022 E3 or ZTF after the Zwicky Transient Facility, which first spotted the comet passing Jupiter in early 2022 while conducting its routine survey of the northern night sky from Palomar Observatory in San Diego, California.
How/when can I spot the comet?
It should be visible without a telescope on February 1 in the early evening sky at around 6:49 p.m ET for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. If you live in the South Hemisphere you may have to wait until later this week for the best view. The comet will appear near the bright star Polaris, also known as the North Star.
DM us if you get a good shot!
NASA finds a bear on Mars, kind of đ»
NASAâs newest discovery might just be the most adorable yet. Last month, the space agencyâs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured what can only be the face of a bear carved into the red planet. You canât make this stuff up.
The image was taken on December 12 from the orbiterâs HiRISE camera thatâs been snapping photos of the red planet since 2006. The University of Arizona shared the image publically in a tweet last week, and it took the Internet by storm.
Spoilers: The eyes of the feature are two impact craters. The âV-shaped collapse structureâ resembling a snout is a hill. And the circular facial pattern that outlines the head âmight be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater,â the University of Arizonaâs Lunar and Planetary Laboratory says. âMaybe the nose is a volcanic or mud vent, and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?â
Weirdly enough, this isnât the first time scientists have seen images with an eerie resemblance to things on Earth. Check these other images taken:
Upcoming space events this month:
Feb 1: Green Comet Closest to Earth
Feb 5: Snow Micromoon
Micromoons can appear up to 14% smaller than supermoons (which occur when a full moon is very close to Earth)
Feb 20: Super New Moon
This occurs when the Moon is near perigee (the point in the Moon's orbit where it is closest to Earth)
Feb 26: Falcon 9 Crew 6 launch to the International Space Station
Late Feb (TBD): SpaceX Starship orbital test flight
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