December 2024 Astronomy Roundup ✨
Here’s a look at this month’s top astronomy news! 🚀
📸 A New View of our Galactic Neighbours: On December 3rd, NASA astronaut Don Pettit used a custom star tracker to capture stunning images of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds from the International Space Station. These “clouds” are actually dwarf galaxies which orbit our Milky Way! (Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit)
🪐 Perseverance Rover Conquers Jezero Crater: NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully ascended 1,640 feet to the rim of Jezero Crater on December 10th, unlocking new opportunities for studying Mars’ ancient geology and history! (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
🌌 XMM-Newton Celebrates 25 Years: ESA’s X-ray observatory XMM-Newton marked its 25th anniversary on December 10th. The mission has revolutionized our understanding of high-energy cosmic phenomena like black holes and neutron stars. (Image credit: ESA/XXM-Newton)
🌠 Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks: The Geminid meteor shower lit up the skies throughout December, peaking on the 13th. Occurring every year, the Geminids are rather unique for a meteor shower, being produced by the break-up of an asteroid rather than a comet! (Image credit: Subaru Telescope)
🔭 Chandra and Webb Reveal a Cosmic Wreath: Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was combined with an image from the James Webb Space Telescope on December 17th to reveal a stunning new view of NGC 602, a star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. (Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler)
☀️ Parker Solar Probe’s Record Flyby: On December 24th, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe set a new record, getting within 3.8 million miles of the Sun to study its outer atmosphere and solar wind. Travelling at almost 700,000 km/h, the probe is the fastest object humans have ever built! (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)
What was your favorite astronomy highlight this December? 🌟
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