2018 in science: Difference between revisions

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*21 September – The Japanese ''[[Hayabusa2]]'' probe deploys two landers on the surface of the large asteroid [[162173 Ryugu|Ryugu]].<ref>{{citation |title=Japanese Probe Drops Tiny Hopping Robots Toward Big Asteroid Ryugu |url=https://www.space.com/41898-hayabusa2-deploys-hopping-robots-asteroid-ryugu.html |date=21 September 2018 |work=Space.com|access-date=21 September 2018 }}</ref>

*24 September

**Data from the ''[[Cassini–Huygens]]'' spacecraft, which explored [[Saturn]] and its moons between 2004 and 2017, reveals what appear to be three giant [[dust storm]]s ([[:File:PIA22484-SaturnMoon-Titan-3DustStorms-20180924.jpg|see image]]), for the first time, in the equatorial regions of the moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]] between the years 2009–20102009 and 2010.<ref name="NASA-20180924">{{cite web |last1=McCartney |first1=Gretchen |last2=Brown |first2=Dwayne |last3=Wendel |first3=JoAnna |last4=Bauer |first4=Markus |title=Dust Storms on Titan Spotted for the First Time |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7243 |date=24 September 2018 |work=[[NASA]] |access-date=24 September 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Dust storms on Titan spotted by Cassini for the first time |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Dust_storms_on_Titan_spotted_by_Cassini_for_the_first_time |date=24 September 2018 |work=ESA|access-date=24 September 2018 }}</ref>

**Astronomers describe several possible home [[star system]]s from which the [[interstellar object]] [['Oumuamua]], found passing through the [[Solar System]] in October 2017, may have begun its [[interstellar space|interstellar journey]].<ref name="ARX-20180924">{{cite journal |arxiv=1809.09009|last1=Liang|first1=Qi-Yu|title=Plausible home stars of the interstellar object 'Oumuamua found in Gaia DR2|journal=The Astronomical Journal|volume=156|issue=5|pages=205|last2=Venkatramani|first2=Aditya V.|last3=Cantu|first3=Sergio H.|last4=Nicholson|first4=Travis L.|last5=Gullans|first5=Michael J.|last6=Gorshkov|first6=Alexey V.|last7=Thompson|first7=Jeff D.|last8=Chin|first8=Cheng|last9=Lukin|first9=Mikhail D.|last10=Vuletic|first10=Vladan|year=2018|doi=10.3847/1538-3881/aae3eb|bibcode=2018AJ....156..205B|s2cid=119051284 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Studies suggest that the interstellar object is neither an [[asteroid]] nor a [[comet]].<ref name="ARX-20180920">{{cite journal |last=Rafikov |first=Roman R. |title=Spin Evolution and Cometary Interpretation of the Interstellar Minor Object 1I/2017 'Oumuamua |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=867 |issue=1 |pages=L17 |date=20 September 2018 |arxiv=1809.06389 |bibcode=2018ApJ...867L..17R |doi=10.3847/2041-8213/aae977 |s2cid=119346078 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="QM-20181010">{{cite web |last=Skibba |first=Ramin |title=Interstellar Visitor Found to Be Unlike a Comet or an Asteroid |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/interstellar-comet-oumuamua-might-not-actually-be-a-comet-20181010/ |date=10 October 2018 |work=[[Quanta Magazine]] |access-date=10 October 2018 }}</ref>

[[File:Giantbirds.png|thumb|right|200px|25 September: ''[[Elephant bird|Vorombe titan]]'' (similar to purple above; maroon, an [[ostrich]]; all others non-avian [[theropod]] [[dinosaur]]s), an extinct [[elephant bird]], determined to be the largest [[bird]] known to have existed.<ref name="RS-20180926" /><ref name="EA-20180925" /><ref name="NYT-20180926" />]]