Earth

Massive asteroid passes between Earth and Moon

The object, named 2023 DZ2, was discovered a month ago.

BBC reports as predicted by scientists, it passed within 175,000km of the Earth on Saturday after flying past the Moon.

It is rare for such a huge asteroid - estimated to be between 40 and 90m in diameter - to come so close to the planet.

Astronomers described it as a once-in-a decade event.

According to Nasa, it was an important opportunity for astronomers to increase their knowledge of asteroids, in the event that a dangerous object were discovered with the potential to hit Earth.

Asteroid to pass Earth closer than some satellites

About the size of a minibus, the space rock, known as 2023 BU, will whip over the southern tip of South America.

With a closest expected approach of 3600km, it counts as a close shave.

It illustrates how there are still asteroids of significant size lurking near Earth that remain to be detected.

This one was only picked up last weekend by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov, who operates from Nauchnyi in Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Follow up observations have refined what we know about 2023 BU's size and, crucially, its orbit.

Piece of SpaceX capsule crashes to Earth in field

But on closer inspection - and verification from experts - he learned it had fallen from space.

The Australian Space Agency (ASA) later said it came from a SpaceX capsule.

Experts described the discovery as "rare" and "exciting" - but said such events may become more common.

The object landed on 9 July in a large area of fields, but was not discovered by Mr Miners until several weeks later.

Two other pieces were later found nearby, and the ASA asked anyone who came across further items to contact a debris hotline set up by SpaceX.

The world's strangest sperm

The egg meanwhile is the largest cell and similarly intricate. Looking further out into the natural world, the diversity of these sex cells, or gametes, is truly remarkable.

Most species have two gametes, which we term male and female.

Alien solar system of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby dwarf star could be rich with water and life

The complex alien solar system hosts the largest number yet of detected worlds capable of having liquid water on their surface, report a team of astronomers today in the journal Nature.

Astronaut John Glenn dies at 95

Wednesday, it was announced that Glenn had been hospitalized "more than a week ago," according to Ohio State University spokesman Hank Wilson. He was at The James Cancer Hospital, which is located at Ohio State University. His illness was not disclosed.

Glenn had heart valve replacement surgery in 2014.

How NASA plans to discover other Earths with the help of Starshade

Astronomers can currently detect planets outside our solar system through indirect methods like observing the changes in light from the distant stars when its planet passes across it. They have been doing this for more than 15 years, but unfortunately have not documented clear pictures of any exoplanets.

Firstly, even the closest star is several light years away. So when the astronomers observe these stars from an astronomical distance, their orbiting planets appear very close to the star. That defect disables the telescope from detecting them.

Juno probe enters into orbit around Jupiter

The Juno satellite, which left Earth five years ago, had to fire a rocket engine to slow its approach to the planet and get caught by its gravity.

A sequence of tones transmitted from the spacecraft confirmed the braking manoeuvre had gone as planned.

Receipt of the radio messages prompted wild cheering at Nasa's mission control in Pasadena, California.

"All stations on Juno co-ord, we have the tone for burn cut-off on Delta B," Juno Mission Control had announced. "Roger Juno, welcome to Jupiter."