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Portal:Astronomy/Events/2015

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This article is about the year 2015 in astronomy.

Equinox & Solstice

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  • March 20: March Equinox - This is also the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • June 22:June Solstice - This is the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • September 23: September Equinox - This is also the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • December 22: December Solstice - This is the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere.

Eclipses

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Two solar and two lunar eclipses take place in 2015 as follows.

Spaceflight

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  • March: NASA's Dawn spacecraft arrived at the dwarf planet Ceres. First visit to a dwarf planet.[1]
  • April: NASA's MESSENGER to impact to Mercury.
  • July: The ESA and NASA plan to launch the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, a gravity research probe and technology testbed.
  • July 14 – NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is expected to fly by Pluto and Charon and explore the area for five months, until the distance becomes too great. The space probe will then continue farther into the Kuiper belt and perform another flyby on suitable KBO during New Horizons' Kuiper-belt mission.[2] It is the first flyby of Pluto and Charon & 2nd visit to a dwarf planet.
  • November: Japanese space probe Akatsuki, formerly known as the Venus Climate Orbiter (VCO) and Planet-C, 2nd flyby of Venus and 2nd attempt at Venus Orbit insertion.

Events

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January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

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  • July 14 – NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto and Charon, exploring the area for five months until the distance became too great. New Horizons is now in the Kuiper belt and will eventually leave the Solar System. First flyby of Pluto and Charon & 2nd visit to a dwarf planet.

August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NASA's Dawn Fills out its Ceres Dance Card". NASA. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  2. ^ "New Horizons". NASA. August 24, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2013.