New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
That soon-to-reenter Cosmos 482 is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details.
The former Soviet Union's Cosmos 482 was lofted back in 1972. But that country's attempted Venus probe ran amuck during its rocket-assisted toss to the cloud-veiled world. Payload leftovers were marooned in Earth orbit, specifically the spacecraft's lander module/capsule intended to parachute onto the hellish landscape of Venus.
"As this is a lander that was designed to survive passage through the Venus atmosphere, it is possible that it will survive reentry through the Earth atmosphere intact, and impact intact," reported Marco Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands. "There are many uncertain factors in this though, including that this will be a long shallow reentry trajectory and the age of the object," observes Langbroek, who now pegs the current nominal forecast for its reentry on May 10, plus/minus 2.2 days.
Meanwhile, satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands, has snagged a first set of images of only the capsule in Earth orbit. "We see a clear compact ball! This set is already fantastic, I think," he said.
Those first set of high resolution images, Vandebergh said, are compared to a Starlink satellite bus in operational orbit. He notes that Cosmos 482 is roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) closer than the Starlink bus which, according to data, is around 1.3 meters by 2.7 meters.
Vandebergh said he is stunned by what he is seeing on collected imagery frames.
"Several frames seems to confirm what I thought to see in the 2014 images, [that] there is a compact ball but several frames show a weak elongated structure at one particular side of the ball," Vandebergh added. He has speculated in the past it was possible that this might be the parachute that came out.
"It is not impossible that the object is tumbling," Vandebergh notes, "so the chute would be sometimes visible," assuming that it is the chute. He cautioned that more time is needed to better analyze what's showing up in the imagery.
That best analysis of the imagery is a work in progress, Vandebergh concluded, so stay tuned!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rise and shine: SpaceX Falcon 9 glows through Space Coast clouds
He's a pro at creating something amazing out of the mundane, but FLORIDA TODAY's Malcolm Denemark was not expecting a great photo from the June 3 Starlink 12-19 mission. Regardless, as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared away from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:43 a.m., carrying a batch of Starlink internet satellites, Denemark's eye on the sky yielded this serene, cloud-parting Photo of the Week. "There were no visible stars or planets, meaning heavy cloud cover and not good for a time exposure streak shot," said the veteran photographer, who was shooting from Cocoa Beach. "It turned out the clouds were not quite as thick as they looked ... a ghostly streak shot came out, but I shot this as a backup, with the rocket's glow illuminating the clouds over the beach." This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Rocket's glow lights up the clouds over Brevard | Photo of the Week
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
The sun: Facts about the bright star at the center of the solar system
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Quick facts about the sun How big it is: 865,000 miles (1.392 million kilometers) across How far away it is: 93 million miles (150 million km) What type of star it is: A yellow dwarf star The sun is the star at the center of our solar system. It's the largest, brightest and most massive object in the solar system, and it provides the light and heat that life on Earth depends on. Powered by a process called nuclear fusion, the sun can get hotter than 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). The sun has been around for over 4 billion years, but one day, it will run out of fuel. Read on to learn more about what our local star is made of, how it formed and what will happen when it dies. Over 1 million Earths could fit inside the sun. The sun may look yellow from Earth, but it actually releases every color of light, meaning its true color is white. The sun is unique in that it's the only star in our solar system. Up to 85% of stars have at least one companion star. The sun contains over 99% of the mass of our entire solar system. Like Earth, the sun also rotates on its axis. Each rotation takes about 27 Earth days. The sun is a ball of gas and plasma made mostly of hydrogen. The sun uses these vast stores of hydrogen to generate the heat and light that sustain our planet. It does this through a process called nuclear fusion, in which two hydrogen atoms combine to create a different element, helium. The sun is about three-quarters hydrogen and one-quarter helium, with tiny amounts of metals. The larger a star is, the more rapidly it burns through its hydrogen. Some of the largest known stars — such as those with masses 40 times that of the sun — will live just 1 million years. By contrast, the sun will have a lifetime of around 10 billion years. Different parts of the sun reach different temperatures. The sun's core gets as hot as 27 million F (15 million C). The part of the sun we can see from Earth is called the photosphere, which is the "surface" of the huge ball of plasma. The temperature of the photosphere is about 9,900 F (5,500 C). Above the photosphere is the loose outer atmosphere of the sun, known as the corona. We can't see the corona from Earth under ordinary conditions, though it can be photographed during a total solar eclipse. The sun formed around 4.5 billion years ago. At that time, the area of the Milky Way galaxy that would become the solar system was a dense cloud of gas — the leftovers of an earlier generation of stars. The densest region of this cloud collapsed and created a seed, called a protostar, that would become the sun. As this young protostar grew, planets, moons and asteroids formed from the remaining raw material, and then began circling around the growing sun as they were sucked into orbit by the star's powerful gravity. At the heart of the sun, this same force sparked nuclear fusion. The heat and light from this nuclear reaction allowed life on Earth to evolve and prosper. However, this reaction will eventually lead to the sun's death when it runs out of nuclear fuel. The sun is around halfway through its lifetime. Our star is locked in a constant battle as outward pressure from nuclear fusion fights the inward pull of gravity. When the sun runs out of hydrogen in about 5 billion years, the inward force of gravity will win. The center of the sun will collapse, compressing into a dense core. Helium will start fusing into even denser elements, like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. While this happens, the heat generated by the fusing of these elements will push the sun's outer shell to swell. This will be bad news for the inner planets of the solar system — including Earth. As the sun becomes a type of star called a red giant, its outer shell will expand to the orbit of Mars, gobbling up Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. But the red-giant phase is not when the sun will die. The outer layers that swell during the red-giant phase will become a shell of gas called a surrounding planetary nebula. This shell will be shed after approximately 1 billion years. This will expose the star's smoldering core, which, by this point, will be a dense ball called a white dwarf. As a white dwarf, the sun will dim. The material from the planetary nebula will spread out into the galaxy and form the building blocks of the next generation of stars and planets. Image 1 of 5 Space agencies have launched many spacecraft that help us observe and gather data about the sun. Pictured here is an artist's concept of the sun being observed by NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Image 2 of 5 The red giant star Camelopardalis. The sun will eventually become a red giant, and as it expands, it will engulf its nearest planets, including Earth. Image 3 of 5 Sunspots are darker, cooler areas that temporarily appear on the sun. They're caused by changes in the sun's magnetic field. Image 4 of 5 Solar storms happen when the sun releases flares of energy and particles. Image 5 of 5 Auroras on Earth happen when charged particles from the sun interact with our planet's atmosphere. Is Earth getting closer to the sun, or farther away? Where on Earth does the sun rise first? What color is the sun?
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Catch Jupiter and Mercury side by side in the evening sky this week
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The nights surrounding June 7 will see Jupiter and Mercury crowd together close to the horizon in the northwestern sky. Stargazers in the U.S. will need a clear horizon to spot the planetary duo hanging less than 10 degrees (about a fist's width at arm's length) above the western horizon when the sun sets on June 6, with Jupiter positioned to the upper left of Mercury. The planets will only be visible for around 45 minutes after sunset, at which time they will follow our star below the horizon. The following evenings will see fleet-footed Mercury draw level with Jupiter, before rising above and away from the gas giant in the night sky as a result of the smaller world's tight orbit around the sun. On June 7, the planets will pass a little over two degrees from each other - close enough to fit comfortably inside the field of view of a pair of 10x50 binoculars. Ensure that the sun has set entirely below the horizon before you point any binoculars or telescopic gear in its direction. Side by side in the night sky, the two points of light appear similar in nature, belying the extreme differences of the solar system bodies they represent. Jupiter is a gas giant and the largest planet in our solar system, capable of fitting the smallest planet - rocky Mercury - within its expanse many thousands of times over. Want to find the planets of our solar system for yourself? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. Their orbits are similarly divergent. It takes Jupiter 12 Earth years to complete a single lap of our star while travelling at an average orbital distance of 484 million miles (778 million kilometers). Counterintuitively, the gas giant has the shortest day of any planet in the solar system, taking a mere 9.9 hours to spin on its axis, according to NASA. Mercury, on the other hand, is separated on average by 29 million miles (47 million kilometers) from our star and completes a circuit of the sun every 88 Earth days — much shorter than the 176 Earth days that it takes for the tortured world to complete a full day-night cycle. Night sky enthusiasts hoping to explore the planets of our solar system for themselves should check out our guides to the best binocular and telescope deals. Those new to the night sky should also read our guide detailing the top smartphone stargazing apps available in 2025. Editor's Note: If you capture a picture of Jupiter and Mercury and want to share it with readers, then please send it along with your comments, name and the location of the shoot to spacephotos@
