June 15 - Blue Origin's $28 Million Ticket to Space
June 15 Blue Origin's $28 Million Ticket to Space
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Jeff Bezos – founder of Amazon in 1994 and Blue Origin in 2000 – is planning to be aboard the sub-orbital flight launching July 20, along with the lucky holder of an auctioned ticket to space. Image via Blue Origin. Read more.
Sold! For $28 million. An 11-minute ride to space. On Saturday, a yet-unnamed individual offered that amount in an online auction for a seat aboard - Blue Origin’s suborbital launch rocket New Shepard - alongside the private spaceflight company’s founder, Jeff Bezos. The winner will join Bezos and 2 others for a trip beyond Earth’s atmosphere scheduled for launch on July 20. Read more, plus a replay of the auction.
Illustrations show Earth's inner core as round, like a ball. But Earth's core doesn't tend toward roundness. A new study suggests that Earth's inner core grows asymmetrically, that is, faster on one side than the other. That's apparently been the case since our planet's core began to freeze out from molten iron more than half a billion years ago. The region of the inner core with the fastest growth is located beneath the Banda Sea in Indonesia. Read more.
Can you imagine a magnet so powerful that it could wipe every credit card on Earth, from a distance halfway to the moon? That's the strength of the magnetic field of a magnetar, a type of neutron star. The field is about 1,000 times stronger than a normal neutron star. It's a trillion times stronger than the Earth’s. If you were to venture closer to a magnetar than about 600 miles (1,000 km), the star's magnetic field would tear away electrons from your atoms and convert you into a cloud of ions. Read more.
Equip your phone with an EarthSky pop accessory or ring holder for one-handed comfort, additional grip, and stellar flair on your mobile phone. Order yours and browse more over at the EarthSky Store today!
Have you been watching the moon move up past the planets, in the west after sunset? On Tuesday evening, the moon is near a bright star, Regulus, Heart of the Lion, in the constellation Leo. Read more about Regulus.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeff Grubbs of Tucson, Arizona captured this image on the night of June 7. He wrote: “The night-blooming cereus (Peniocereus greggii) is a cactus of the Sonoran desert. Once a year, the flowers open after sundown, closing and wilting by the following sunrise.” Thank you, Jeff! An EarthSky editor, Eleanor Imster, remembers this flower from her childhood. She told us, "My parents' next door neighbor had one in their greenhouse, which bloomed once per year. They'd go over at midnight to see it and drink champagne." Nice! Thanks, Eleanor!
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