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November 28, 2016 - Turn Up The Radio

Turn Up The Radio  The fifth-brightest galaxy in the sky and the closest radio galaxy to our Milky Way, Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is over 11 million light-years away from Earth—a long distance in human terms, but cosmically right in our backyard! An actively-feeding supermassive black hole at the heart of this elliptical galaxy is responsible for enormous jets of superheated material that shine brightly in X-ray wavelengths. As the jets fire out tens of thousands of light-years into space, they encounter clouds of gas and dust, compressing them and inciting the formation of new stars. The hallmark feature of Centaurus A—a thick curved belt of dust that obscures its central region—is thought to be a remnant of a collision between it and a smaller barred spiral galaxy several hundred million years ago.  

Image credit: X-ray: NASA / CXC / SAO; Optical: Detlef Hartmann; Infrared: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Weekly Calendar

November 28 - December 4, 2016

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Moon phase Monday 28

1964: Mariner 4 launched
1983: STS-9 Columbia launched

Moon phase Tuesday 29

New Moon 7:18 AM ET
Juno in conjunction with Sun

1967: First Australian satellite launched

Moon phase Wednesday 30

Mercury 7° south of Moon

1954: Elizabeth Hodges bruised by a ten-pound meteorite in Alabama
2000: STS-97 Endeavour launched

Moon phase Thursday 1

1957: Ballistic shape of Mercury spacecraft proposed by Max Faget
2013: Chang'e-3 spacecraft launched to Moon

Moon phase Friday 2

Vesta appears stationary

1974: Pioneer 11 closest approach to Jupiter during flyby
1988: STS-27 Atlantis launched
1990: STS-35 Columbia launched on Astro-1 mission
1992: STS-53 Discovery launched
1993: STS-61 Endeavour launched
1995: SOHO launched

Moon phase Saturday 3

Venus 6° south of Moon

1973: Pioneer 10 closest approach to Jupiter during flyby
2014: Hayabusa 2 launched on asteroid sample return mission

Moon phase Sunday 4

1639: First transit of Venus observed
1965: Gemini VII launched
1978: Pioneer-Venus 1 orbiter arrives in orbit around Venus
1996: Mars Pathfinder launched
1998: STS-88 Endeavour launched

Suggestions for new history dates or better links? Corrections for errors on this page? Please e-mail me.