Science

Jupiter and Saturn are about to do something not seen for nearly 800 years

The two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, have fascinated astronomers for hundreds of years. But the two gas giants will do something next month not seen since the Middle Ages — they will look like a double planet.

The rare occurrence will happen after sunset on Dec. 21, 2020, the start of the winter solstice.

“Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another,” said Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan in a statement. “You’d have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.”

A view showing how the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction will appear in a telescope pointed toward the western horizon at 6 p.m. CST, Dec. 21, 2020. The image is adapted from graphics by open-source planetarium software Stellarium. (This work, “jupsat1,” is adapted from Stellarium by Patrick Hartigan, used under GPL-2.0, and provided under CC BY 4.0 courtesy of Patrick Hartigan)

JUPITER, SATURN SPOTTED OVER LEGENDARY BRONZE AGE STRUCTURE

Between Dec. 16 and Dec. 25, the two planets will be separated by less than a full moon, Hartigan added.

“On the evening of closest approach on Dec. 21 they will look like a double planet, separated by only fifth the diameter of the full moon,” Hartigan explained. “For most telescope viewers, each planet and several of their largest moons will be visible in the same field of view that evening.”

The celestial event can be observed anywhere on earth, but Hartigan noted the farther north someone is, “the less time they have to catch a glimpse.”

OCEAN ON JUPITER’S MOON ‘COULD BE HABITABLE,’ RESEARCHERS SAY

Stargazers should try to see the event next month or risk waiting a long time for the next occurrence. The two planets won’t be this close to each other again until March 15, 2080, and sometime after the year 2400, Hartigan explained.

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T. rex and triceratops fossils unearthed in ferocious battle, to be displayed for first time

It’s a display 67 million years in the making.

Remarkable fossils are set to go on display for the first time ever, showcasing a T. rex and a Triceratops fighting a ferocious battle to the death.

The fossils, nicknamed “Dueling Dinosaurs,” will be seen by the public for the first time at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The stunning fossils, which include “the best-preserved skeletons of Triceratops and T. rex unearthed to date — including the only 100% complete skeleton of T. rex yet discovered,” according to a statement from the museum, were initially discovered in 2006.

Artist’s rendering of battling Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops horridus. Illustration: Anthony Hutchings. (Credit: Friends of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences)

ENORMOUS T. REX SKELETON SOLD AT AUCTION FOR $32M: ‘ONE OF THE BEST SPECIMENS EVER DISCOVERED’

“Becoming the home of the Dueling Dinosaurs is further evidence that the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is one of the finest museums in the world,” said Susi Hamilton, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, in the statement. “We look forward to inviting dinosaur lovers of all ages to experience this awe-inspiring fossil and learn from our talented team of paleontologists as they undertake a one-of-a-kind research project to uncover and analyze them.”

The fossils were a gift to the museum from the nonprofit Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Believed to be preserved in a “potential predator-prey encounter,” the fossils have not been studied and are still entombed in the sediment from the region in Montana where they were discovered.

Due to the “rare burial conditions,” each bone is still in its natural position, giving experts access to data that would be lost during excavation, including body outlines, skin impressions and potential evidence of interaction, including teeth of the T. rex in the triceratops’ body.

(Credit: Matt Zeher)

FRIGHTENING TYRANNOSAURUS REX WAS A ‘MARATHON’ WALKER, NEW STUDY SAYS

“We have not yet studied this specimen; it is a scientific frontier,” Dr. Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and associate research professor at North Carolina State University, added. “The preservation is phenomenal, and we plan to use every technological innovation available to reveal new information on the biology of T. rex and Triceratops. This fossil will forever change our view of the world’s two favorite dinosaurs.”

Researchers have learned a great deal about the anatomy of the Tyrannosaur in recent months.

In January, a new study confirmed the most fearsome dinosaur to ever walk the Earth underwent a massive growth spurt as a teenager, citing two fossils found in the early 20th century.

In September 2019, a study was published that suggested the terrifying dinosaur had a stiff skull that allowed it to not shatter its own bones with its bite force, while simultaneously devouring its kill.

In addition to having a stiff skull, T. rex likely had something similar to an “air conditioner” in its head, allowing it to stay cool while hunting, according to a separate study.

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Colorado lawmakers set sights on future Space Command headquarters

Colorado Springs would be an ideal location for future Space Command headquarters, say lawmakers in the Centennial State.

Last week the Department of the Air Force announced the six candidate locations being considered for the headquarters of the U.S. Space Command.

The six locations include Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, Port San Antonio, Texas; and Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama, the Department of the Air Force said in a statement.

Peterson Air Force Base is currently the Command’s provisional headquarters. The long-term Space Command headquarters will be selected in early 2021.

SPACE COMMAND HEADQUARTERS WILL BE IN ONE OF THESE SIX STATES, AIR FORCE ANNOUNCES

Virtual and on-site visits will now be conducted at the six candidate locations before the headquarters site is chosen, according to the Department of the Air Force.

“Colorado is the perfect place for @US_SpaceCom’s permanent home and is well prepared to make its final pitch during the upcoming site visits,” tweeted Republican Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner.

“I am of course very happy Peterson Air Force Base has been selected as a finalist candidate to be the permanent home of U.S. Space Command, but I can’t say I’m surprised,” said Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who represents Colorado Springs, in a statement emailed to Fox News. “Colorado Springs is America’s center of excellence for national security space, and has cultivated space warfighters and the supporting industrial base for decades. In fact, the space-related industry and academic ecosystem throughout the Front Range is a unique asset to the United States, and puts the state of Colorado head-and-shoulders above any other candidate.”

Earlier this year the Department of the Air Force said that it wants the headquarters location to rate 50 or higher on the AARP livability index and be in the top 150 metro areas.

WHAT IS THE ‘SPACE FORCE’ AND HOW WILL IT FIT INTO THE US MILITARY?

“Colorado Springs is without question the ideal location to serve as the permanent home of U.S. Space Command considering our incredible quality of life, five military installations, significant existing talent base, and experience as a community that has long supported the U.S. Armed Forces,” said Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers in a statement emailed to Fox News. “Along with these assets, we also already have the infrastructure to house this operation, and much of USSPACECOM’s future leadership will be trained right here at the U.S. Air Force Academy.”

“We’re thrilled that Colorado Springs has advanced in the process,” added Reggie Ash, chief defense development officer at Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC. “Our community is committed to space and this announcement contributes to our mission to maintain our status as a national defense leader. Colorado Springs is the center of gravity of national security space; and we have the military assets, infrastructure, and professional space workforce to support the breadth of U.S. Space Command’s operations.”

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Space Force made its first launch earlier this year when it sent a military satellite into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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Florida officials consider suggesting Burmese snakes taking over Everglades be eaten

Only in Florida.

A species of snake has become so invasive that officials in Florida are considering issuing an advisory on how to eat them, despite the fact they’re loaded with mercury.

The Burmese python, which can often reach lengths approaching 20 feet, is overrunning the Florida Everglades, forcing officials to think outside the box, USA Today reports.

MASSIVE 10-FOOT LONG ALLIGATOR SPOTTED ON GOLF COURSE IN FLORIDA

The news outlet reported that Eric Sutton, director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is conducting mercury tests on the meat of the python to determine how it could be safely consumed. The Environmental Protection Agency has guidelines on how to prepare and eat fish that are thought to be high in mercury.

In addition to eating the snakes, the state is hiring more hunters, investing in technology to better identify the snakes and training python-sniffing dogs.

A study performed nearly 10 years ago found that Everglades National Park pythons carried up to 3.5 parts per million of mercury, nearly eight times the 0.46 parts per million recommendation set forth by the EPA.

“We were not used to seeing numbers like that,” U.S. Geological Survey research scientist David Krabbenhoft told the Palm Beach Post. “These guys are just loaded with mercury.”

Krabbenhoft added it’s possible the high level of mercury in the scintillating snakes could be a result of their inability to process it.

If prepared correctly, however, the unrelenting reptiles may be used in recipes that generally call for chicken or pork, water management district python hunter Donna Kalil told the Post.

“With a stir-fry you can add fresh ginger, garlic and vegetables of your choice and serve it over rice,” Kalil told the news outlet. “Generally, when I pressure-cook it for that, I’ll add some applesauce, spice and hot pepper, which gives it a nice flavor.”

In October, a pair of hunters captured an 18-foot, 9-inch Burmese python that set a record.

In August, Florida wildlife officials announced that 5,000 Burmese pythons had been removed since elimination programs were set up three years ago.

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Fox News’ Michael Hollan contributed to this story.

Elon Musk says Mars will have ‘glass domes’ for people to live in

With Elon Musk increasingly thinking about making humanity a “multiplanetary” species, talk has turned to where people would live.

Naturally, the enigmatic Musk has a plan for that.

The 49-year-old SpaceX CEO said that in order to build a city on Mars, humans would have to live in “glass domes at first.”

Eventually, the Red Planet could be “terraformed to support life, like Earth,” Musk tweeted.

That process will be “too slow to be relevant in our lifetime,” he added, though it’s important that a base is established on Mars sometime soon.

“At least a future spacefaring civilization – discovering our ruins – will be impressed humans got that far,” he said.

In 2015, Musk discussed putting a city on Mars after a successful rocket landing by SpaceX. NASA’s long-term goal is to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s.

Musk published a paper in June 2017 on making humanity a multiplanetary species, laying out plans for having as many as 1 million people on Mars.

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER MARS HAD WATER BEFORE THERE WAS LIFE ON EARTH

After his SpaceX company received its official certification from NASA to carry astronauts to the International Space Station earlier this month, which Musk described as a “great honor,” the 49-year-old said the news would help inspire “confidence in our endeavor to return to the moon, travel to Mars, and ultimately help humanity become multiplanetary.”

Last month, Musk, who once advocated dropping nuclear weapons on Mars to make it more habitable, set a four-year timeline for an unmanned SpaceX mission to Mars but cautioned the timeline was “only a guess.”

In 2018, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO said there was a “70% chance” he would move to Mars but with the caveat that there was a “good chance” of dying on the way to the Red Planet. Two years prior, he laid out an ambitious plan to put human life on Mars.

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Sun sets on Alaskan city as it descends into 66-day ‘polar night’

The sun set for the last time this year in the remote Alaskan city of Utqiaġvik on Wednesday, marking the start of a 66-day period of “polar night.”

“At 1:30pm AKST this afternoon, the sun will set and Utqiaġvik will enter a 66 day period of polar night,” tweeted the National Weather Service Fairbanks. “The sun will rise again on January 23rd, 2021.”

“Goodnight Utqiaġvik!” tweeted the Bureau of Land Management Alaska.

ALASKAN CITY LOSES DAYLIGHT, DESCENDS INTO 65-DAY PERIOD OF ‘CONSTANT DARKNESS’

In this Aug. 12, 2005, file photo, a skin boat display sits next to whale bones and an arch made of a whale jaw on the beach at Brower’s Cafe in Barrow, Alaska.
(AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)

“From the ‘It Could Be Worse’ Department …” tweeted 7 News Boston Meteorologist Josh Wurster.

Located north of the Arctic Circle on the coast of the Chukchi Sea, Utqiaġvik, which was formerly known as Barrow, is the northernmost American city. The city has 4,429 residents, according to its website.

“Although Utqiagvik is a modern community, subsistence hunting, fishing, and whaling are still very important to the local economy,” it says. “Many residents who work full- or part-time continue to hunt and fish for much of their food.”

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In this Oct. 10, 2014, file photo, snow falls around a sign in Barrow, Alaska. Residents in Barrow, the nation’s northernmost community, have voted to change the name of their city back to its traditional Inupiaq name of Utqiagvik.
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

“Polar night is the opposite of midnight sun, when none of the Sun’s disc is visible above the horizon at all,” explains TimeandDate.com. “It only happens within the polar circles.”

Fox News’ Jennifer Earl contributed to this article.

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Spacewalking astronauts prep for 2021 arrival of Russian lab

This photo provided by NASA shows Russian astronauts Commander Sergey Ryzhikov, left in red stripes, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov on a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, as they prepare for next year’s arrival of a long-delayed lab. (NASA via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The International Space Station’s two Russian astronauts ventured out on a spacewalk Wednesday to prepare for next year’s arrival of a long-delayed lab.

Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov — dubbed Sergey 1 and Sergey 2 by flight controllers — left four Americans and one Japanese inside. The space station population grew to seven late Monday with the arrival of a SpaceX capsule, making the company’s second astronaut flight.

Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov, on their first spacewalk, spent nearly two hours doing extra leak checks before exiting from an air lock. The compartment has been at the space station since 2009 but it was being used for the first time by spacewalkers.

“Congratulations. You are out!” Russian Mission Control radioed from near Moscow.

Russia’s old spacewalking compartment will be removed and junked next year to make room for the research lab Nauka — Russian for “science.” Several Russian-directed spacewalks will be required to deal with all this. The plan calls for attaching a cargo ship to the old Pirs module in order to guide it to a fiery reentry.

The new 22-ton lab — stretching 43 feet (13 meters) long — is so big that it will be launched from Kazakhstan by a powerful Proton rocket. Once at the orbiting outpost, it will double as an air lock and docking port.

The science lab’s launch — nearly a decade late because of a long string of repairs — is targeted for sometime early next year.

Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov arrived with an American last month on a Soyuz capsule. Like the newly arrived SpaceX crew, the Russian-launched astronauts will remain on board until spring.

Astronauts give tour inside Crew Dragon live on NASA TV

Four astronauts from SpaceX’s newly launched capsule gave an inside tour live on NASA TV on Monday as they closed in on the International Space Station, their new home until spring.

As they prepared for the space station linkup, the Dragon crew beamed down live window views of New Zealand and a brilliant blue, cloud-streaked Pacific 250 miles below.

The Dragon capsule was due at the orbiting lab late Monday night, after a 27-hour, completely automated flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

This is the second astronaut mission for SpaceX.

The three Americans and one Japanese astronaut will remain at the orbiting lab until their replacements arrive on another Dragon capsule in April. And so it will go, with SpaceX — and eventually Boeing — transporting astronauts to and from the station for NASA.

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Commander Mike Hopkins and his crew — Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi — will join two Russians and one American who flew to the space station last month from Kazakhstan. Glover will be the first African-American to move in for a long haul. A first-time flyer, Glover was presented his gold astronaut pin Monday.

The four named their capsule Resilience to provide hope and inspiration during an especially difficult year for the whole world. They broadcast a tour of their capsule Monday, showing off the touchscreen controls and storage areas.

Walker said it was a little tighter for them than for the two astronauts on the test flight.

“We sort of dance around each other to stay out of each other’s way,” she said.

The awesome visuals were jaw dropping – from earth to space.

“Looks amazing,” Mission Control radioed from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.

“It looks amazing from up here, too,” Hopkins replied.

Leonid meteor shower will light up the sky this week: What to know

After skygazers were treated to two meteor showers last month, November will see the return of the Leonid meteor shower, set to light up the sky early this week.

“The Leonids will next peak on the Nov 16-17, 2020 night,” the American Meteor Society writes on its website, adding the moon will be 5% full, making it easier to see from both hemispheres.

The Leonid meteor shower happens as a result of the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which has a 33-year orbit around the sun. The meteor shower is “debris from earlier returns that also happen to be most dense at the same time,” AMS added.

A burst of 1999 Leonid meteors as seen at 38,000 feet from Leonid Multi Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Leonid MAC) with 50 mm camera. (Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/ISAS/Shinsuke Abe and Hajime Yano)

APOPHIS ASTEROID, NICKNAMED ‘GOD OF CHAOS,’ IS SPEEDING UP

AMS also notes that the Leonids overlaps with the Northern Taurids meteor shower, which peaked on Nov. 11-12.

When the comet returns in 2031 and 2064, it’s possible there will be meteors in excess of 100 per hour, but it’s likely that until then, skywatchers will see roughly 15 shower members per hour, with “perhaps an occasional weak outburst when the earth passes near a debris trail,” AMS explained.

“This shower is called the Leonid shower because the meteors seem to come from a point in the constellation Leo,” NASA states online.

The last Leonid meteor storm happened in 2002, according to the space agency.

Despite this, they are considered a “major” shower by NASA, which added the Leonids are known for their fireballs and earthgazer meteors.

“Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak,” NASA explained, due to their origination from “larger particles of cometary material.”

“Earthgrazers are meteors that streak close to the horizon and are known for their long and colorful tails,” the agency added.

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER MARS HAD WATER BEFORE THERE WAS LIFE ON EARTH

The website timeanddate.com has details on when the meteor shower will be visible around the world.

A meteor forms when a meteoroid, a type of space rock that breaks off from an asteroid — a rocky body orbiting the sun — enters Earth’s atmosphere. As soon as the space debris crosses over, it breaks down into what scientists call a “meteor,” which then vaporizes and — as a result of friction — appears as a bright streak of light in the sky.

“Because of their appearance, these streaks of light some people call meteors ‘shooting stars,'” NASA explains in a blog post. “But scientists know that meteors are not stars at all — they are just bits of rock!”

Other meteor showers this year include the Geminds and Ursids, both expected in December.

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Fox News’ James Rogers and Jennifer Earl contributed to this story.

NASA keeps close eye on Tropical Storm Eta ahead of SpaceX Crew Dragon launch

NASA is keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Eta ahead of Saturday’s launch of the first operational SpaceX Crew Dragon mission.

Eta made landfall along Florida’s West Coast early Thursday and has been bringing heavy rain inland.

The Crew-1 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 7:49 p.m. EST Saturday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft is expected to dock to the International Space Station at 4:20 a.m. on Sunday.

“We are continuing to watch the weather,” a NASA spokesperson told Fox News via email.

NASA’S FIRST SPACEX OPERATIONAL CREW DRAGON MISSION EDGES CLOSER TO LAUNCH

On Thursday, the 45th Space Wing based at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida predicted a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the firm’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket was photographed during a short static fire test ahead of the Crew-1 mission.
(Photo Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

“The primary weather concerns for the launch area will be cumulus clouds and flight through precipitation associated with Tropical Storm Eta,” explained NASA in a blog post on Thursday.

The mission will bring NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon vehicle. It follows a successful Demo-2 mission earlier this year.

The astronauts will participate in a countdown dress rehearsal for the launch Thursday, according to NASA.

ASTRONAUTS HEAD TO LAUNCH SITE FOR SPACEX FLIGHT

The six-month mission is the first crew rotation flight on a U.S. commercial spacecraft.

Previously slated for Oct. 31, the launch was pushed back to Nov. 14 when the Falcon rocket had two engines replaced because of contamination from a red lacquer used in processing.

The astronauts have named their Dragon capsule Resilience given all the challenges of 2020: coronavirus and social isolation, protests against racial injustice, and a particularly difficult election and campaign season. They have been in quarantine for a week or two and taking safety precautions — masks and social distancing — long before that.

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Fox News’ Travis Fedschun, Janice Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

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