News 
AAS Random Astro-Facts
AAS Random Astro-FactsApril 26
The attached cartoon is no joke. Astronomers from the Netherlands & USA calculate that 60+ tons per year of organic (carbon-bearing molecules) shed by asteroids & comets are raining down on Mars. The Mars rover Curiosity found evidence of organics there. #gam2018 #RandomAstroFact
April 25
The Extreme Precision Spectrometer is searching for Earth-sized planets with the 4.3-meter (170-inch) Discovery Channel Telescope at Happy Jack, AZ. Visitors are welcome at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, which owns the DCT & where Pluto was discovered. #gam2018 #RandomAstroFact
April 24
The smooth-looking disk galaxy NGC 1277 has double the number of stars of our Milky Way galaxy, yet it is much smaller & stopped forming new stars billions of years ago. NGC 1277 is about 240 million light-years away in the Perseus cluster of galaxies. #gam2018 #RandomAstroFact
April 23
Drone in space: Dragonfly, a dual quadcopter, would fly between spots of interest on Titan to gather science data on Saturn's big moon, which has a thick atmosphere & hydrocarbon lakes. The mission is under study at Johns Hopkins's Applied Physics Lab. #gam2018 #RandomAstroFact
April 22
When a star passes near the giant black hole at a galaxy center it can be torn apart by tidal force. About half the star falls into the hole, the rest is ejected & there's a bright flare. Many such tidal-disruption events have been reported since 1990. #gam2018 #RandomAstroFact
