Astronomy
Two places on opposite sides of Earth may hold the secret to how the moon was born. NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft are about to enter these zones, known as the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, each centered about 93 million miles away along Earth's orbit.
As rare as free parking in New York City, L4 and L5 are among the special points in our solar system around which spacecraft and other objects can loiter. They are where the gravitational pull of a nearby planet or the sun balances the forces from the object's orbital motion. Such points closer to Earth are sometimes used as spaceship "parking lots", like the L1 point a million miles away in the direction of the sun. They are officially called Libration points or Lagrangian points after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, an Italian-French mathematician who helped discover them.
L4 and L5 are where an object's motion can be balanced by the combined gravity of the sun and Earth. "These places may hold small asteroids, which could be leftovers from a Mars-sized planet that formed billions of years ago.about 4.5 billion years ago when the planets were still growing, this hypothetical world, called Theia, may have been nudged out of L4 or L5 by the increasing gravity of the other developing planets like Venus and sent on a collision course with Earth. The resulting impact blasted the outer layers of Theia and Earth into orbit, which eventually coalesced under their own gravity to form the moon."
The STEREO spacecraft are designed to give 3D views of space weather by observing the sun from two points of view and combining the images in the same way your eyes work together to give a 3D view of the world. STEREO "A" is moving slightly ahead of Earth and will pass through L4, and STEREO "B" is moving slightly behind Earth and will pass through L5. "Taking the time to observe L4 and L5 is kind of cool because it's free.
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Astronomy
Twin spacecraft may reveal secret of moon's origin
Two places on opposite sides of Earth may hold the secret to how the moon was born. NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft are about to enter these zones, known as the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, each centered about 93 million miles away along Earth's orbit.
As rare as free parking in New York City, L4 and L5 are among the special points in our solar system around which spacecraft and other objects can loiter. They are where the gravitational pull of a nearby planet or the sun balances the forces from the object's orbital motion. Such points closer to Earth are sometimes used as spaceship "parking lots", like the L1 point a million miles away in the direction of the sun. They are officially called Libration points or Lagrangian points after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, an Italian-French mathematician who helped discover them.
L4 and L5 are where an object's motion can be balanced by the combined gravity of the sun and Earth. "These places may hold small asteroids, which could be leftovers from a Mars-sized planet that formed billions of years ago.about 4.5 billion years ago when the planets were still growing, this hypothetical world, called Theia, may have been nudged out of L4 or L5 by the increasing gravity of the other developing planets like Venus and sent on a collision course with Earth. The resulting impact blasted the outer layers of Theia and Earth into orbit, which eventually coalesced under their own gravity to form the moon."
The STEREO spacecraft are designed to give 3D views of space weather by observing the sun from two points of view and combining the images in the same way your eyes work together to give a 3D view of the world. STEREO "A" is moving slightly ahead of Earth and will pass through L4, and STEREO "B" is moving slightly behind Earth and will pass through L5. "Taking the time to observe L4 and L5 is kind of cool because it's free.
- Our Neighbors In Space
We have a special feeling toward the other planets that circle our sun. Maybe it?s all the science fiction stories about visiting the moon, Mars and other planets. But we love to think about those planets that make up what we call ?the solar...
- Moon Fever
Of all of the celestial bodies that capture our attention and fascination as astronomers, none has a greater influence on life on planet Earth than it?s own satellite, the moon. When you think about it, we regard the moon with such powerful significance...
- Planet Facts
Venus Transit of Venus (Venus in black spot) ...
- Astronomy: Our Space Neighbors
We have a special feeling toward the other planets that circle our sun. Maybe it?s all the science fiction stories about visiting the moon, Mars and other planets. But we love to think about those planets that make up what we call ?the solar...
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Of all of the celestial bodies that capture our attention and fascination as astronomers, none has a greater influence on life on planet Earth than it?s own satellite, the moon. When you think about it, we regard the moon with such powerful significance...