Données astronomiques
Soleil
05:55
21:56
Durée du jour
16h 0min (-1min 30s)
Midi solaire
13:55
Crépuscule civil
05:16 — 22:35
Heure dorée
20:56 — 21:56
Lune
Dernier croissant
Illumination : 32%
Ciel à observer
Prochain rendez-vous céleste : Maximum des Delta Aquarides, le 30 juillet (jusqu'à 25 météores par heure) — dans 21 jours
Image astronomique du jour
Swift Boost Mission
Sometimes we can all use a little help from a friend. NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory needs a boost to stay in orbit after almost 22 years of service. This video shows an artist's visualization of the Swift Boost Mission: The Katalyst's LINK spacecraft was launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket on July 3 and it is now en route to rendezvous with Swift and boost it to a higher orbit over the course of the next several months. This type of maneuver has never been attempted before. If successful, it will be the technology demonstration of a new key capability to extended the lifetime of spacecraft in low Earth orbit, whose orbits decay over time. Swift has an array of instruments that observe the most energetic explosions in the Universe in gamma-rays, X-rays and ultraviolet, and the unique ability to repoint in their direction within tens of seconds. Astronomers around the world, and indeed all fans of cosmic explosions, are anxiously hoping for a successful mission!