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Lunation 1262

Sweeping planets 🧹

Space & Astronomy News

• Is ΛCDM done for? It's withstood a lot of challenges, and the latest is a new statistically unfavorable comparison with the "timescape" model that argues what looked like accelerating expansion due to dark energy could be from gravity of the structure of the universe's matter. It will take more than one study to overturn an established theory, but it'll certainly be interesting to see how more observational evidence factors in!
  • ​Supernovae evidence for foundational change to cosmological models​
• As an astronomy enthusiast, you may already know that the carbon on which all known life is based is created in stars (we are, indeed, stardust). That's awesome enough, but how cool is it that the carbon also probably made its way outside of the galaxy at some point!
  • ​The carbon in our bodies probably left the galaxy and came back on cosmic ‘conveyer belt’​
• The unexpectedly long stay of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the ISS just got even longer, as NASA pushed back the expected date of the Crew-10 launch (they'll be returning on that vehicle). No earlier than late March now, and they were originally supposed to come back in June! Also, congratulations to CAPT Williams, who was selected as a 2025 Distinguished Graduate of the Naval Academy (also my own alma mater, beat Army! '09!).
  • ​NASA Adjusts Crew-10 Launch Date​

Learn a Little: How do planets sweep, anyway?

Planets sweep out equal areas over equal times—what does Kepler's second law really mean?

ICYMI: Unveiling the Oort Cloud

You probably didn't miss it, as it's the most popular video on my channel, but just in case! Learn more about the cloud of small bodies in the outer reaches of the solar system.

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See you next waxing gibbous!