Weekly - Jupiter dethrones Saturn in moon count and more
5 points in 5 minutes
Africa inaugurates its space agency
On Jan 25 the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Egyptian Government signed an agreement, thus inaugurating the African Space Agency (AfSA).
AI to help find extraterrestrial intelligence
SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) has decided to use artificial intelligence to search for alien intelligence. The AI will search for narrowband radio frequencies (Frequencies between 150-174 MHz or 421-470 MHz) This is because it could be a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence and technology as it requires a purposely built transmitter. The AI built by an undergrad student Peter Ma from the University of Toronto has already detected 8 new signals of interest after analyzing 150TB of data from 820 nearby stars.
Jupiter has the most moons after all!
Last week scientists discovered 12 new moons of Jupiter, thus placing the total count at 92. Jupiter has now been declared the planet with the most moons after beating Saturn which has 82 moons.
Green comet whizzes past Earth
Last week stargazers from around the planet had their eyes glued to the skies in hopes to catch a glimpse of the green comet. The once-in 50,000-year comet passed closest to the earth on February 1st. For more info click here.
Astronomers discover habitable planet very close to the earth
Last week a team of astronomers led by MPIA scientist Diana Kossakowski discovered a new planet Wolf 1069 b which they believe is habitable. The planet is one of the closest habitable planets discovered to date. It is only 31 lightyears away!
