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moon phases december 2023

What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2023

By Tariq Malik last updated

Reference See what moon phase it is tonight and find out when you can see the rest of the moon phases for 2023.

Reference
A spacecraft fires thrusters near an asteroid in artist's depiction

OSIRIS-APEX prepares for 1st close solar encounter on way to asteroid Apophis

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

NASA's revitalized OSIRIS-REx probe has begun tucking in one of its solar panels to protect itself from the sun.

Asteroids
a metal cylinder lays on its side with metal bracings and a view screen. much of the visible cannister is clear, revealing lit red/orange rods.

Nuclear power on the moon: Rolls-Royce unveils reactor mockup

By Tereza Pultarova published

Tech giant Rolls-Royce unveiled a mockup lunar nuclear reactor at the U.K. Space Conference in Belfast last month.

The moon
a small blue moon orbits a larger orange planet. stars can be seen in the distance, one of which is close to the pair

Space mysteries: Why are there no gas moons?

By Keith Cooper last updated

Space mysteries We have rocky moons, ocean moons and ice moons, but where are all the gas moons?

Space mysteries
China's Zhurong Mars rover captured this panorama of the Red Planet. Visible in the foreground are the rover's solar panels and communications equipment.

China could use a foldable helicopter to collect samples on Mars

By Andrew Jones published

A new journal article outlines the design for a quadcopter that could assist China's mission to collect samples from Mars.

Mars
an image of the sun with a massive black hole on its surface

Gigantic 'hole' in the sun wider than 60 Earths is spewing superfast solar wind right at us

By Harry Baker published

A monstrous dark patch, known as a coronal hole, recently appeared near the sun's equator. The temporary gap enables unusually fast solar wind to race toward Earth.

The Sun
three notable celestial bodies are seen as lit crescents, one in the foreground takes up half the image, the second is much smaller at the top, with a shining third near the bottom right as the first two's star. other dimmer stars are present.

Pluto's 'almost twin' dwarf planet Eris is surprisingly squishy

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Pluto's 'almost twin' dwarf planet Eris has a rocky core blanketed by an icy shell, which appears to be flexing slowly.

Dwarf Planets
green and yellow auroras in the sky

Historic magnetic storms help scientists learn what to expect when one hits

By Elizabeth Fernandez published

Magnetic storms can create amazing auroras, but they also have the capacity to impact our power grid.

Climate Change
An illustration shows the rings from the surface of the ice-rock centaur Chiron.

Mighty morphin' Centaur rings — a distant icy object's rings are transforming

By Keith Cooper published

What is causing the structure of the dust to evolve, and where exactly the dust comes from, is still a mystery.

Comets
Earth can be seen behind the open bay of a white space shuttle

From Earth orbit to the moon: Europe's I-Hab continues Spacelab 40-year legacy

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

A legacy of European-built and operated space modules, which began in Earth orbit and is now heading for the moon, got its start with Spacelab 40 years ago.

The moon
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