1. “The universe is far more wondrous than anything we can imagine” says Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson. “We’ve got black holes  filleting stars…life on Earth could have been seeded by Mars.”

    Sit back and enjoy Andy Greenhaw’s funky remix of Dr. Tyson’s appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience.

    Happy Friday!

  2. A key unknown in lunar science is to what extent the Moon is a melted, radially layered planet like Earth or a primordial unmelted relic of the early solar system, like many asteroids. A new era of lunar exploration is underway, offering major new insights into this decades-old question. In this week’s podcast, planetary scientist Ben Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reviews current understanding of the lunar interior and shares new results from spacecraft observations and studies of Apollo samples.  Image: NASA/JPL/Galileo Spacecraft

    A key unknown in lunar science is to what extent the Moon is a melted, radially layered planet like Earth or a primordial unmelted relic of the early solar system, like many asteroids. A new era of lunar exploration is underway, offering major new insights into this decades-old question.

    In this week’s podcast, planetary scientist Ben Weiss of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reviews current understanding of the lunar interior and shares new results from spacecraft observations and studies of Apollo samples. 

    Image: NASA/JPL/Galileo Spacecraft

  3. A solar flare that occurred around 2 a.m. Thursday morning may create a spectacular display of the Northern Lights tonight. According to Accuweather, the Northern Lights could be visible from the Arctic to New York, the Dakotas, Washington, and Michigan. 

    To catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights at the Museum, just visit the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals. The wolf diorama depicts a winter night near Gunflint Lake, Minnesota: two wolves chase an unseen deer as the Northern Lights glimmer behind them. 

  4. Update: Watch the full Asimov Debate video here. Have plans tonight? We’re live streaming the 2013 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: The Existence of Nothing, hosted by Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Tune in at amnh.org/live. The fun begins at 7:30 pm EST. Image (c) AMNH/R. Mickens

    Update: Watch the full Asimov Debate video here.

    Have plans tonight? We’re live streaming the 2013 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: The Existence of Nothing, hosted by Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson. 

    Tune in at amnh.org/live. The fun begins at 7:30 pm EST.

    Image (c) AMNH/R. Mickens

  5. Fly 128 light years away from Earth to the location of the star HR 8799. Astronomers have determined the chemical fingerprints, or spectra, of all four planets surrounding HR 8799. They found them to be unlike any other known object in the universe.

  6. Astronomers have conducted a remote reconnaissance of a distant solar system with a new telescope imaging system that sifts through the blinding light of stars. Using a suite of high-tech instrumentation and software called Project 1640, the scientists collected the first chemical fingerprints, or spectra, of this system’s four red exoplanets, which orbit a star, called HR8799, 128 light years away from Earth.

    “An image is worth a thousand words, but a spectrum is worth a million,” said Ben R. Oppenheimer, principal investigator for Project 1640 and chair of the Astrophysics Department at the American Museum of Natural History.

    Read the full story.

  7. How do researchers track asteroids? And how often have asteroids collided with Earth? (Hint: far more than the number of impact craters on our planet would suggest.)  For more on the odds and potential hazards of asteroid impacts, and the process of tracking the orbits of near-Earth asteroids, check out this video. Image: Paul Chodas (via How Do Researchers Track Near-Earth Asteroids?)

    How do researchers track asteroids? And how often have asteroids collided with Earth? (Hint: far more than the number of impact craters on our planet would suggest.) 

    For more on the odds and potential hazards of asteroid impacts, and the process of tracking the orbits of near-Earth asteroids, check out this video.

    Image: Paul Chodas

    (via How Do Researchers Track Near-Earth Asteroids?)

  8. News reports of a meteor breaking up in the Siberian sky are pouring in. Today, another space rock—asteroid 2012 DA14—is flying by Earth more closely than any asteroid whose orbit astrophysicists have calculated beforehand.So, what’s the difference between a meteor, a meteorite, and an asteroid? Find out. 

    News reports of a meteor breaking up in the Siberian sky are pouring in. Today, another space rock—asteroid 2012 DA14—is flying by Earth more closely than any asteroid whose orbit astrophysicists have calculated beforehand.

    So, what’s the difference between a meteor, a meteorite, and an asteroid? Find out. 

  9. Have questions about the meteor strike in Russia or today’s asteroid flyby? Museum Curator Denton Ebel will answer questions today on Twitter at noon ET. Just tag your questions with #asteroidchat. Dr. Ebel is a geologist specializing in meteorites: pieces of planets and “left-overs” from the formation of the solar system. The distant, resource-rich asteroid belt is his field area. Follow the conversation here. (GIF via theatlantic)

    Have questions about the meteor strike in Russia or today’s asteroid flyby?

    Museum Curator Denton Ebel will answer questions today on Twitter at noon ET. Just tag your questions with #asteroidchat.

    Dr. Ebel is a geologist specializing in meteorites: pieces of planets and “left-overs” from the formation of the solar system. The distant, resource-rich asteroid belt is his field area.

    Follow the conversation here.

    (GIF via theatlantic)

  10. Tomorrow night, a small asteroid will travel nearer Earth than any space rock astronomers have identified beforehand. “It’s the closest that we’ve seen ahead of time,” says Denton S. Ebel, curator in the Museum’s Division of Physical Sciences (Earth and Planetary Sciences).  The Moon is nearly 240,000 miles from Earth, but this asteroid, called 2012 DA14, will travel as close as about 17,200 miles from the planet, over Indonesia. This GIF was created in 2012, after the asteroid was first observed moving across the sky. Have questions about asteroid 2012 DA14? Ask Dr. Ebel tomorrow on Twitter at noon ET. Tag your questions with #asteroidchat and follow along here.

    Tomorrow night, a small asteroid will travel nearer Earth than any space rock astronomers have identified beforehand. “It’s the closest that we’ve seen ahead of time,” says Denton S. Ebel, curator in the Museum’s Division of Physical Sciences (Earth and Planetary Sciences). 

    The Moon is nearly 240,000 miles from Earth, but this asteroid, called 2012 DA14, will travel as close as about 17,200 miles from the planet, over Indonesia. This GIF was created in 2012, after the asteroid was first observed moving across the sky.

    Have questions about asteroid 2012 DA14? Ask Dr. Ebel tomorrow on Twitter at noon ET. Tag your questions with #asteroidchat and follow along here.