 | | Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version | | | |  Private space company SpaceX has announced their plans to go public, with an IPO seeking a valuation of $1.5 trillion. The move will apparently help fund the buildout of orbiting data centers. Other stories for today include a rare Tatooine-like exoplanet with a 300-year orbit, astronomers discover 57 ways to image a dying star and Blue Origin targeting Dec. 18 for a tourist flight that will include the first wheelchair user to fly to space. It's also Friday, so as we head into the weekend we have your weekly staff recommendations of "what we're reading/playing/watching." You'll find those suggestions from our team at the bottom of your newsletter. We have all that and more for your daily read. Keep looking up, Kenna Content Manager, Space.com | | | The planet formed 50 million years after the dinosaurs died, making it incredibly young in cosmic terms. | | | "The natural question that comes up is: how many more space telescopes will be affected when all these constellations are launched?" | | | Space quiz! Which early astronomer coined the term "nova"? | | |  | Liftoff of the suborbital NS-37 mission is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET on Dec. 18. | | | The new system will also involve testing new experimental technologies developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and National Reconnaissance Office. | | | | Two new stars, or nova eruptions, have been resolved in unprecedented detail by six optical telescopes operating in unison as an interferometer. | | | "With ALMA, we can now see the atmosphere of a dying star with a level of clarity in a similar way to what we do for the sun." | | | | The move will apparently help fund the buildout of orbiting data centers. | | | Liftoff occurred at 5:01 p.m. EST on Thursday (Dec. 11). | | | | "We did the simplest thing that could be done -- we just mapped them and pieced them together." | | | | On Dec. 12, 1967, NASA launched the Pioneer 8 spacecraft on a mission to study the sun. | | | Hawaiian stargazers got a particularly special treat recently. | | | Whether you're looking to unwind with a mind-bending sci-fi series or lose yourself in a video game during the coming weekend, we've got you covered. Here's what the Space.com team is enjoying at the moment: Anthony Wood, Skywatching Writer: "I'm reading Nigel Slater's Christmas Chronicles (Xmas tradition) and starting Monster Hunter Wilds." Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Content Manager: "I'm currently reading 'The Mountain and the Sea' by Ray Naylor as I write about octopuses so everyone around me told me to read it because (spoiler) it's about octopuses." Brett Tingley, Managing Editor: "I finally started playing Deep Rock Galactic so that when 'asteroid miner' becomes a viable career path, I know to survive in the new capitalist dystopia in the cosmos." | | | | Stay up-to-date on all things space science, news, and entertainment by subscribing to our newsletters. | |  | | | | | | | Future US LLC © | | Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036 | | | | |
