Author: Головко Андрій

What’s new for February 2024?

We have a lot of celestial astronomical discoveries.

Venus and Mars will become a special couple, Jupiter and the Moon will play a romantic scene, and M81, also known as the “Bode Galaxy,” asks for caution.

M81 is a spiral galaxy, similar to our Chumatsky Shlyakh, but only a little less, one of the brightest in the night sky. Vaughn is located approximately 11.8 million light rocks away from us, which means that light, as we know, has risen in price in space by more than 11 million rocks, before reaching our eyes….

Finding M81 is not difficult. Take the Big Dipper (or the Plow) as a guide. Start at the star Dubhe and extend the line to Thekda, the star at the opposite end of the Ursa Major, twice as long. Point your telescope or binoculars at this area and you’ll find M81.

In 1774, the astronomer Johann Bode discovered this object, which later received his name and is commonly known as the Bode Galaxy. It was initially classified as a nebula or a faint, faint formation. However, only in the 1920s, thanks to the work of Edwin Hubble, many such faint objects began to be considered as separate galaxies located outside the Milky Way and extremely distant from our planet.

Venus still impresses with its brightness in the morning sky, but the end of February is destined to disappear in the light of the sunrise. The resumption of Venus as an evening object can be enjoyed in July.

Regarding observations in February

1. Full Moon – Venus will be visible in the eastern sky until sunrise, but its brightness will decrease each day.
2. The whole month – Mars will appear in the pre-dawn sky. Although it will not be very bright, its growth should be monitored in the coming months.
3. February 6 – Venus and the crescent moon can be seen in the east when the sky begins to lighten.
4. February 9 – new moon.
5. February 14 – Look for a crescent moon with Jupiter in the southwest after sunset.
6. February 22-28 – The closest approach of Mars and Venus is expected if you have an unobstructed view of the southeastern horizon.
7. February 24 – full moon.

Here are the phases of the moon for February 2024

Blue Origin has unveiled the features and capabilities of its Blue Ring space tug, which promises to revolutionize the commercial space industry.
Last October, the spacecraft was unveiled as an innovative space logistics and delivery solution capable of performing national security, civil and commercial missions.

Equipped with 12 docking ports, the Blue Ring can use a load of up to 500 kilograms per port, and the upper deck allows for the transport of loads weighing up to 2.5 tons.

One of its features is its ability to maneuver in different orbits with a change in speed of up to 3,000 meters per second. The main task of the Blue Ring is the deployment of satellites, as well as the transportation of other spacecraft, making it a functional transport with an operational life of 3 to 5 years.

Blue Ring can also carry out sub-commodification of other spacecraft. This can function as a refueling station where other spacecraft can approach, dock and receive fuel. As Hoffmann noted, the Blue Ring can refuel other vessels of the same type, which opens up prospects for the joint action of several Blue Rings during a space mission.

The first exciting images provided by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal the detailed characteristics of 19 spiral galaxies similar to our own Milky Way.

Launched in December 2021, JWST has the unique ability to record images of the most distant objects with the highest level of detail. Its infrared cameras allow it to reflect light in the infrared wavelength range invisible to the human eye, which opens access to dust clouds and objects hidden within them, as well as to objects beyond the reach of conventional telescopes.

The spiral galaxies imaged by the telescope are located between 15 and 60 million light-years from Earth. These new images are not only stunning in their beauty, but also provide scientists with a unique opportunity to study the structure and evolution of these cosmic formations.

The images show galaxies containing stars shining as bright blue points of light. Stars are located in the characteristic spiral structures of galaxies and accumulate in their centers. The dust clouds that surround the stars are represented as red and orange clouds, which may indicate possible remnants of exploded stars.