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Eddie Irizarry

Eddie Irizarry

Eddie Irizarry of the Sociedad de Astronomía del Caribe (Astronomical Society of the Caribbean) has been a NASA Solar System Ambassador since 2004. He loves public outreach and has published multiple astronomy articles for EarthSky, as well as for newspapers in Puerto Rico. He has also offered dozens of conferences related to asteroids and comets at the Arecibo Observatory.

No, asteroid 2006 QV89 won’t strike Earth in September

Posted by in Space | 3 weeks ago
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There’ve been scare stories online this month about asteroid 2006 QV89, a space rock that’ll pass closest to Earth on September 9, 2019. Should you be scared? No.
Weather satellite image of a bright flash above the ocean.

A small asteroid hit us last weekend

Posted by in Space | 4 weeks ago
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Asteroid 2019 MO exploded in our atmosphere with an energy of about 3 to 5 kilotons of TNT. Such events happen once or twice yearly, astronomers say. Most are unexpected, but this space rock was detected hours before it struck.

Video: Asteroid 1999 KW4 as it swept past

Posted by in Space | 2 months ago
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It wasn’t visible to the eye, but some telescope users in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere caught it at its May 25 closest approach. Now Northern Hemisphere observers will get their chance. Charts here, and check out this cool video!
Video still of April 6, 2019 meteor.

Another asteroid disintegrates over Russia

Posted by in Human World | Space | 3 months ago
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A bright meteor was caught in many dashcam videos – in broad daylight – on April 6, 2019, over the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk. See a video compilation here.
Line-drawing illustration of the passage of 2019 FC1.

Speedy asteroid buzzed Earth last week, 1 day before being detected

Posted by in Space | 4 months ago
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A small asteroid – now designated as 2019 FC1 – flew closer to us than the moon on March 28, 2019. Astronomers detected it 1 day later. It’s the largest of 14 asteroids to pass closer to us than the moon since 2019 began.

Woot! 4,001 exoplanets and counting 

Posted by in Space | 4 months ago
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The Exoplanet Team, led by the Observatoire de Paris, announced this week that the list of known exoplanets – planets orbiting distant stars – has grown to 4,001!

Irregular space rock in foreground, Earth in background.

Small asteroid to sweep closer than moon’s distance

Posted by in Space | 4 months ago
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The house-sized asteroid – designated 2019 EA2 – will pass safely by our planet on the night of March 21-22, 2019.

Eclipse shows moon move in reverse

Posted by in Human World | Space | 5 months ago
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Check out this interesting eclipse of the sun by Earth’s moon on March 6. A NASA spacecraft saw it. During the eclipse, the moon appears to reverse its direction!

Cuba meteor seen from the air

Posted by in Today's Image | 5 months ago
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On February 1, 2019, a small asteroid – thought to be the size of a van – disintegrated over Viñales, Cuba. Many caught the meteor and its smoke trail from the ground. Cruz María Ruiz caught them from an airplane.

Fast comet closest to Earth this week

Posted by in Astronomy Essentials | Space | 5 months ago
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Fast-moving comet C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) will pass closest to us – 28 million miles away – on February 12. Charts and more here.