Satellites watch as LA wildfires burn out of control | Bill Nye awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom | Venus and the moon light up the sky in gorgeous photos
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The Palisades Fire, which began Tuesday morning (Jan. 7), grew to just under 3,000 acres in less than 24 hours. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes and businesses, with more evacuation orders likely to be issued with the continued threat of powerful wind gusts.
Bill Nye was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his dedication to science education. Nye, popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, television presenter and CEO of the Planetary Society. Nye was among 19 honorees to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- United States' highest civilian honor - at a White House ceremony held on Jan. 4.
The moon and Venus put on quite a show for skywatchers around the world last week. On Jan. 3, 2025, the "Evening Star" Venus and a waxing crescent moon crossed the night sky in an event known as a conjunction, where two objects share the same right ascension or celestial longitude. Both Venus and the moon appeared in the Aquarius constellation, separated by less than three degrees in the sky.
Blue Origin is currently targeting 1 a.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 10, for the launch of its first New Glenn rocket on a mission called NG-1, but the exact time could be later. The mission has a three-hour launch window, so Blue Origin could launch New Glenn any time between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. EST (0900 GMT) on Friday. A livestream for the launch should begin one hour before liftoff.
New research suggests that the carbon that serves as the building blocks of life "took the long way around" the galaxy before coming together to make up our bodies here on Earth. The scientists behind this research discovered that carbon and other elements don't just sit placidly in galaxies after being forged by stars and dispersed by supernova explosions. Instead, these elements hitch a ride on tremendous cosmic currents called "the circumgalactic medium" that leads them out of their galaxies into intergalactic space and then back in to serve as the building blocks of new stars, planets, moons, and even you.
SpaceX's Starship will fly for the seventh time ever early next week, if all goes according to plan. The rocket is scheduled to lift off Monday at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) from Starbase, SpaceX's manufacturing and launch site in South Texas. You'll be able to watch the action live; the company will webcast the flight beginning about 35 minutes before liftoff.
An approaching wildfire has forced the closure of NASA's lead center for robotic planetary exploration. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which lies at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains just north of Los Angeles, has been temporarily shuttered due to the Eaton fire, which is raging nearby.
