moon Archives - Colin Stuart https://www.colinstuart.net/tag/moon/ Astronomy author and speaker Tue, 09 Mar 2021 11:09:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.5 https://www.colinstuart.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-Saturn1-32x32.png moon Archives - Colin Stuart https://www.colinstuart.net/tag/moon/ 32 32 166732936 The day hasn’t always been 24 hours long, and it’s getting longer https://www.colinstuart.net/4887-2/ https://www.colinstuart.net/4887-2/#respond Wed, 17 May 2017 11:37:08 +0000 https://colinstuart.net/?p=4887 The day may be 24 hours long now, but that hasn’t always been the case. Nor will it be the case in the far future. The Earth’s rotation is slowing under the gravitational influence of the Moon. Billions of years ago, the day was just 18 hours long. The Moon and the Earth tug on […]

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]]> https://www.colinstuart.net/4887-2/feed/ 0 4887 Mars Orbiter spies Phobos in front of Red Planet https://www.colinstuart.net/mars-orbiter-spies-phobos-in-front-of-red-planet/ https://www.colinstuart.net/mars-orbiter-spies-phobos-in-front-of-red-planet/#respond Thu, 05 Feb 2015 10:57:18 +0000 http://www.colinstuart.net/?p=1835 Unlike our Moon, which is about one quarter the size of Earth, Phobos, the largest of Mars’s two moons is tiny – just 25 kilometres across. That makes it smaller than London. In this new image, released from The Mars Orbiter, Phobos is seen passing in front of Mars back in October. The gorgeous views […]

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]]> https://www.colinstuart.net/mars-orbiter-spies-phobos-in-front-of-red-planet/feed/ 0 1835 Moon revealed around asteroid that recently buzzed past Earth https://www.colinstuart.net/moon-revealed-around-asteroid-that-recently-buzzed-past-earth/ https://www.colinstuart.net/moon-revealed-around-asteroid-that-recently-buzzed-past-earth/#respond Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:43:29 +0000 http://www.colinstuart.net/?p=1809 NASA has released new data from yesterday’s cosmic fly-past when asteroid 2004 BL86 zoomed past the Earth at a slightly greater distance than our Moon. Those observations appear to reveal the asteroid has a moon of its own. The main asteroid is 325 metres across and its companion measures 70 metres. Click the image below to see an […]

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]]> https://www.colinstuart.net/moon-revealed-around-asteroid-that-recently-buzzed-past-earth/feed/ 0 1809 Chinese lander images Pinwheel galaxy from the surface of the Moon https://www.colinstuart.net/chinese-lander-images-pinwheel-galaxy-from-the-surface-of-the-moon/ https://www.colinstuart.net/chinese-lander-images-pinwheel-galaxy-from-the-surface-of-the-moon/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2015 14:43:03 +0000 http://www.colinstuart.net/?p=1760 I was blown away yesterday when I discovered that China’s Chang’e 3 lunar mission has recently snapped this image of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) from the surface of the Moon. Taken through the lander’s Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) on December 2, it shows the mission is still active – details of the mission aren’t always forthcoming. […]

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