compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

-BBC

Kirkcudbright school’s conversion to dark sky center begins
Work has started to convert an old school in southern Scotland into a dark sky visitor center. The £2.5m project at the former Johnston Primary in Kirkcudbright will include a planetarium. The school overhaul will see a wide range of other facilities included…more

-BBC

Water found for first time on ‘potentially habitable’ planet
Astronomers have for the first time discovered water in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting within the habitable zone of a distant star. The finding makes the world – which is called K2-18b – a plausible candidate in the search for alien life. Details were published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy…more

-NASA

Eerie black spot on Jupiter
NASA has captured stunning images of Jupiter pictured with an Earth-sized black spot on its surface.
It’s actually an enormous shadow from an eclipse caused by Jupiter’s moon Io passing in front of the Sun…more

-SPL

Has another interstellar visitor been found?
An amateur astronomer has discovered a comet that could come from outside our Solar System.
If so, it would be the second interstellar object after the elongated body known as ‘Oumuamua was identified in 2017. Here’s a visualization of C/2019 Q4 created with JPL Horizons data…more

-BBC

Team plans color film of black hole at galaxy’s center
The team that took the first ever image of a black hole has announced plans to capture “razor sharp” full color video of the one at the center of our galaxy. Satellites would be launched to supplement the existing network of eight telescopes to make this movie…more