NGC 6636 (also NGC 6636-1, MCG 11-22-46, UGC 11221 and PGC 61782; NGC 6636-2, MCG 11-22-47 and PGC 61780) are a pair of magnitude +13.7 and +14.2 spiral galaxies located 202 and 214 million light-years away in the constellation Draco. The galaxies were discovered by American astronomer Lewis A. Swi...
NGC 6704 (also Collinder 390 and OCL 82) is a magnitude +9.2 open star cluster located 9700 light-years away in the constellation Scutum. The double star was discovered by German astronomer Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke using a 7.62 cm (3-inch) Merz refracting telescope at Gottingen on the 23...
NGC 6730 (also ESO 72-9 and PGC 62796) is a magnitude +11.2 elliptical galaxy located 197 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo. The galaxy was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) f/13 speculum reflecting telescope at the Cape of Good Hope on the 2...
NGC 6866 (also Melotte 229, Collinder 412 and OCL 183) is a magnitude +7.6 open star cluster located 3900 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The cluster was discovered by German astronomer Caroline Herschel using a 10.7 cm (4.2 inch) 24x f/6 Newtonian reflector at Datchet, Berkshire, E...
The 35 - 78 metre wide asteroid 2014 MA6 will make a close pass (18.9 lunar distances, 0.0486 AU), travelling at 3.78 km/second, to the Earth-Moon system on the 23rd July 2014 @ 00:57 UT ±00:01. See moreThe Lunar Distance (LD), the distance between Earth and the Moon, equals 384,401 km, (or 0.00256 AU...
The 46 - 100 metre wide asteroid 2014 MJ55 will make a close pass (28.9 lunar distances, 0.0744 AU), travelling at 13.75 km/second, to the Earth-Moon system on the 23rd July 2014 @ 12:26 UT ±00:11. See moreThe Lunar Distance (LD), the distance between Earth and the Moon, equals 384,401 km, (or 0.0025...
Aausat4 The miniature Aausat satellite undergoes repeated temperature variations in a vacuum chamber, cooling the CubeSat to ~10°C and heating it to +45°C for more than two weeks. This harsh baptism will make sure that it can cope with the conditions in space. Aausat is a 10x10x10 cm satellite des...
Excavations at a Roman site in County Durham have revealed the 'Pompeii of the north', say archaeologists. The spectacular discoveries at Binchester Roman Fort near Bishop Auckland have uncovered some of the most well preserved remnants of an empire dating back some 1800 years ago, including one...
Image captured with a 100mm refractor and vesta pro webcam + solar filter New sunspots have appeared over the eastern limb (bottom left) Photo mosaic captured with a 100mm refractor and vesta pro webcam + solar filter
Typhoon Rammasun heads for Vietnam A powerful typhoon is heading towards Vietnam after causing widespread flooding and damage in parts of southern China. In the Philippines, a clean-up is under way after Rammusan made landfall there on Tuesday. See more
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck just before 8 p.m. about 7 miles east of Mount Rainier on Saturday night, but no injuries or damage were reported.
Scientists know Mount Rainier will eventually awaken as Mount St. Helens did in 1980. It could gradually build up and explode, or part of it may coll...
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (22 July 1784 - 17 March 1846) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and systematizer of the Bessel functions (which were discovered by Daniel Bernoulli). He was a contemporary of Carl Gauss, also a mathematician and physicist. The asteroid 1552 Bessel was named in his...
Venera 8 (manufacturer's designation: 3V (V-72)) was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. Venera 8 was a Venus atmospheric probe and lander. The spacecraft took 117 days to reach Venus with one mid-course correction on 6 April 1972, separating from the bus (which conta...
Mariner 1 was the first spacecraft of the Mariner program. Launched on July 22, 1962 as a Venus flyby mission, a range safety officer ordered its destructive abort at 09:26:16 UT, 294.5 seconds after launch. Read more
