The news about pilots seeing a UFO bound for Rio Grande do Sul sparked off the week. Meanwhile, engineers discovered a defect that put a component of the James Webb Telescope in “sleep” mode and returned it to full functionality.
Stay on top of the week’s highlights with the summaries below.
The moon is flat in this picture
In the image above, taken by the Japanese satellite Himawari, the moon is completely flat. The image was “discovered” by Simon Proud, a researcher at the UK’s National Center for Earth Observation, who posted it on social media asking: “Does anyone know what it is?”
The answer is not in the satellite, nor in the moon itself, but in the planet Earth. It’s when observing our natural satellite that Himawari picked up the lunar reflection that passed through a thick layer of the atmosphere due to the angle of the objects, with the moon close to the Earth’s horizon.
Reports of strange lights in Porto Alegre
Airplane pilots bound for Rio Grande do Sul identified bright lights in the night sky and reported the observation. This happened on the night of Friday (4) and Saturday (5) and the total number of views was four times.
According to one of the pilots, the lights would go out and on, and sometimes others would appear. When the nature of the flying object is unknown, we can call it a UFO. Whatever the case, flights were not affected.
A meteor explodes in the sky of Santa Catarina
The Brazilian Meteorological Monitoring Network (BRAMON) recorded a meteor explosion through the Earth’s atmosphere and shone in the sky of Santa Catarina, at an altitude of 89 km. Then he disappeared when he was at an altitude of about 60 km.
According to the data, the object traveled through the atmosphere at a speed of 147,000 km / h. There was no danger to the population.
James Webb “Healed”
After an anomaly in the mid-infrared instrument (MIRI), the James Webb Telescope is back to normal operations. The engineers discovered that the problem lay with friction in a single component, specifically the feedback wheel of wavelength selection.
Now that everything is back to normal, scientists hope to seize a unique opportunity to observe Saturn’s polar regions using Webb.
The assembly of the Tiangong-3 space station has been completed
China has completed the docking of the Mengtian Unit, the third and final unit needed for the Tiangong-3 plant to be completed. “Mengtian, Wentian and Tiangong, the dream has come true,” Commander Qin Dong said, confirming that the astronauts were in the new unit.
It now needs to undergo some testing and analysis so that the station can receive the crew of the Shenzhou-15 mission, which will be launched into space by the end of the year.
Only materials found in space are created on Earth
A substance called thyrate, which does not exist on our planet and is only found on asteroids in space, was created in the laboratory. This substance forms when iron and other compounds in space rocks melt and then cool. The result is ideal for use in high-permanence magnets.
Other topics worth mentioning:
“Friendly zombie guru. Avid pop culture scholar. Freelance travel geek. Wannabe troublemaker. Coffee specialist.”
