EarthSky News - July 29 - Test of Asteroid Defense System

July 29 Test of Asteroid Defense System by:

A test of NASA's asteroid defense system Asteroid 2012 TC4 might give Earth a close shave, or pass more distantly, in October. Scientists are trying to reacquire the asteroid this summer - find it again in space - to determine its precise orbit. This weekend … Mercury farthest from sun Look for Mercury in the western twilight, starting around 45 minutes after sunset. This weekend … Watch for Delta Aquarid meteors The Delta Aquarid shower is long and rambling and overlaps with the Perseids. Since the moon will be bright during this year's Perseid peak, now is the time to watch meteors. Perseid meteors: All you need to know In case you're wondering … Star of the week: Epsilon Lyrae Binoculars reveal that Epsilon Lyrae is a double star - two stars in one. A telescope shows that each component star is also a double. The double double star!

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Next few evenings … Mercury farthest from sun Mercury will be pretty much on line with 2 much brighter celestial objects, the moon and the planet Jupiter.

Awesome beauty of the Eagle Nebula Here is the famous Pillars of Creation photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. It's one of the features within the Eagle Nebula. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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