{"id":28874,"date":"2022-02-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=28874"},"modified":"2022-03-23T13:14:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:14:26","slug":"news-in-brief-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2022\/02\/10\/news-in-brief-6\/","title":{"rendered":"News in brief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A brief roundup of the latest astronomy news<\/p>\n\n

Eccentric mergers <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

For the first time, astronomers have detected the merger of two \u2018eccentric\u2019 black holes with highly elliptical orbits using LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). The odd orbits are a sign they\u2019re consuming other black holes, and could explain previously detected black holes that were much larger than expected.<\/p>\n\n

Monitoring space debris<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Kielder Observatory in Northumberland is joining forces with \u2018space situational awareness\u2019 company Northern Space and Security Limited to battle a growing problem of space junk. Four cameras are being installed at the observatory to track orbital debris from the dark-sky site to help avoid future collisions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

InSight takes a break <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The InSight Mars lander was forced to enter safe mode in a Martian dust storm on 7 January. Thankfully, the skies cleared and it could return to normal operations on the 19th unscathed, if a bit dirtier than before.<\/p>\n\n

Rugby ball planet <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

Tidal forces have pulled exoplanet WASP-103b into the shape of a rugby ball. The CHEOPS Space Telescope has measured the dip in brightness as the planet passes in front of its star accurately enough that astronomers could make out the world\u2019s strange shape from the fluctuating light pattern.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Sun circled by dust?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

The Sun may have once had rings which prevented Earth from becoming a \u2018super-Earth\u2019, as are found around a third of other Sun-like stars. Dust rings are seen around several growing planetary systems, so astronomers simulated them and found they created systems much like our own, with its diminutive terrestrial planets.<\/p>\n\n

China to explore lunar south pole<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

China has announced it is officially heading to the lunar south pole with missions Chang\u2019e 6 through 8, including a sample return mission. The region is thought to be home to water ice deposits, making it the most promising spot to set up a future lunar station.<\/p>\n\n

Photos: ILLUSTRATION \/ ESA, NASA\/FRANK MICHAUX, ALMA (ESO\/NAOJ\/NRAO) B. SAXTON (NRAO\/AUI\/NSF), ILLUSTRATION<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A brief roundup of the latest astronomy news <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"13","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"13","purple_seq_number":"3","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"3","purple_source_article":"article_13-3.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_13-3.xml","purple_source_issue":"March-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"March-2022","purple_external_id":"March-2022-13-3","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"March-2022-13-3","purple_issue_code":"|0000086550||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086550||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.202","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.202","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.202","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.202","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef.jpg",673,655,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef-300x292.jpg",300,292,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef.jpg",673,655,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef.jpg",673,655,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef.jpg",673,655,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/02\/bd026827-daaa-42f0-910d-7575701187ef.jpg",673,655,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A brief roundup of the latest astronomy news","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28874"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29719,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28874\/revisions\/29719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}