Dec 30 - Top Stories This Week

December 30 Top Stories This Week by:

Oumuamua's path in our solar system Astronomer Guy Ottewell shows you the trajectory through our solar system of this visitor from interstellar space.  Sorry cat-lovers: New study says dogs are smarter Study counted the cells in animals' brains associated with thinking, planning and complex behavior. Fossils suggest a universe filled with life According to these researchers, fossils in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks suggest life in our universe is widespread. Pine Island iceberg under midnight sun In September, a new iceberg calved from Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier. On December 15, near midnight, the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image. Astronomers spy a red giant's bubbling surface Each bubble on its surface would extend from our sun to Venus. New year's largest supermoon ahead Enjoy the most super supermoon of 2018 as it lights up the nighttime from dusk to dawn early this coming week. See brightest star Sirius at midnight on New Year's Eve Sirius reaches its highest point in the sky around midnight now.  Celebrating Pleiades, or Seven Sisters   Wonderful photos here. Look for this tiny, misty dipper in your sky. Tonight … Moon hides Aldebaran We all can see Aldebaran - brightest star in Taurus the Bull - near tonight's moon. Those in northeastern North America, Greenland, Iceland and northern Europe can see the moon pass in front of Aldebaran.

Welcome 2018 with an EarthSky lunar calendar Our lunar calendar shows the moon phase for each day of the coming year. Also ... check out the new colors and designs of our EarthSky Cares Tees. A percentage of proceeds collected will be donated to select organizations.

Tonight … Moon hides Aldebaran This chart shows the moon on December 29 and 31, but not 30. On the scale of this chart, the December 30 moon would blot the star Aldebaran from view. In the real sky, most everyone around the world will see the moon near Aldebaran on December 30. But some won't see the star. The moon will, indeed, have blotted it from view. Read more.

Celebrating the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters This photo is from Project Nightflight. Click in for more beautiful Pleiades photos by others in the EarthSky community. And look for this tiny, misty dipper in your night sky. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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