Large exoplanet could have the right conditions for life Astronomers have found an exoplanet more than twice the size of Earth to be potentially habitable, opening the search for life to planets significantly larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Future Astronauts Could Enjoy Fresh Vegetables From an Autonomous Orbital Greenhouse A team from a Russian polytechnic university is working on an autonomous space module where fresh vegetables could be grown for astronauts. The post Future Astronauts Could Enjoy Fresh Vegetables From an Autonomous Orbital Greenhouse appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The Life of Katherine Johnson Shows that ‘Hidden Figures’ Are Important to History NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson did more than just calculate rocket trajectories for early space missions. Her story, when it was finally told, completely changed people’s perceptions about who has been – and who can be — important in history. Margot Lee Shetterly, who wrote about Johnson’s life in the book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream … Continue reading “The Life of Katherine Johnson Shows that ‘Hidden Figures’ Are Important to History” The post The Life of Katherine Johnson Shows that ‘Hidden Figures’ Are Important to History appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →
Solar Storms Might Confuse Whale Navigation, and Make Them More Likely to Strand Themselves The Gray Whale is the 10th largest creature alive today, and the 9 creatures larger than it are all whales, too. Gray Whales are known for their epic migration routes, sometimes covering more than 16,000 km (10,000 miles) on their two-way trips between their feeding grounds and their breeding grounds. Researchers don’t have a complete … Continue reading “Solar Storms Might Confuse Whale Navigation, and Make Them More Likely to Strand Themselves” The post Solar Storms Might Confuse Whale Navigation, and Make Them More Likely to Strand Themselves appeared first onRead More →
Help find the location of newly discovered black holes in the LOFAR Radio Galaxy Zoo project Scientists are asking for the public’s help to find the origin of hundreds of thousands of galaxies that have been discovered by the largest radio telescope ever built: LOFAR. Where do these mysterious objects that extend for thousands of light-years come from? A new citizen science project, LOFAR Radio Galaxy Zoo, gives anyone with a computer the exciting possibility to join the quest to find out where the black holes at the center of these galaxies are located. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Gemini South telescope captures exquisite planetary nebula The latest image from the international Gemini Observatory showcases the striking planetary nebula CVMP 1. This object is the result of the death throes of a giant star and is a glorious but relatively short-lived astronomical spectacle. As the progenitor star of this planetary nebula slowly cools, this celestial hourglass will run out of time and will slowly fade from view over many thousands of years. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Thermonuclear X-ray bursts and dips detected from the X-ray binary 4U 1323-62 Using the AstroSat satellite, astronomers have investigated a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) known as 4U 1323-62, reporting the detection of thermonuclear X-ray bursts and dips from the source. The discovery was presented in a paper published February 19 on the arXiv pre-print repository. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: February 26, 2020 – Czarina Salido of Time In Cosmology is ‘Taking Up Space’ Hosts: Dr. Pamela Gay (Cosmoquest.org / @StarStryder ) Allen Versfeld (https://www.urban-astronomer.com/ / @uastronomer) Beth Johnson (@planetarypan) Moiya McTier (https://www.moiyamctier.com/ / @GoAstroMo) This week we welcome Czarina Salido to the Weekly Space Hangout. Czarina is the Executive Director of Time In Cosmology and the founder of the 501(3)(c) non-profit Taking Up Space. Taking Up Space is a program that sends Native … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: February 26, 2020 – Czarina Salido of Time In Cosmology is ‘Taking Up Space’” The post Weekly Space Hangout: February 26, 2020 – Czarina Salido of TimeRead More →
Detecting Exoplanets Through Their Exoauroras A team of scientists from the Netherlands have proposed an exciting new approach for finding exoplanets: look for signs of auroras! The post Detecting Exoplanets Through Their Exoauroras appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
InSight has been Sensing Dust Devils Sweep Past its Landing Site The InSight lander has been on the surface of Mars for about a year, and a half dozen papers were just published outlining some results from the mission. Though InSight’s primary mission is to gather evidence on the interior of Mars—InSight stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport—the lander also keeps … Continue reading “InSight has been Sensing Dust Devils Sweep Past its Landing Site” The post InSight has been Sensing Dust Devils Sweep Past its Landing Site appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Carnival of Space #652 It’s that time again! This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Pamela Hoffman at the Everyday Spacer blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #652. And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to all the past Carnivals of Space. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #652” The post Carnival of Space #652 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Betelgeuse Is Brightening Again After an usual period of dimming Betelgeuse is growing brighter. But no supernova yet. The post Betelgeuse Is Brightening Again appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
After a Challenging First Year on Mars, InSight Shows Us that Mars is Seismically Active The NASA and DLR InSight lander has been on Mars for over a year now. The mission has faced significant challenges getting its HP3 (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package) into the subsurface, but the spacecraft’s other instruments are working as intended. Now, researchers have published six papers outlining some of the mission’s scientific results. … Continue reading “After a Challenging First Year on Mars, InSight Shows Us that Mars is Seismically Active” The post After a Challenging First Year on Mars, InSight Shows Us that Mars is Seismically ActiveRead More →
Comet Y4 Atlas in Outburst: First Good Comet for 2020? Good news: Though we’ve been going through a cometary dry spell as of late, we may have our first good naked eye comet for 2020: Comet C/2019 Y4 ATLAS. The post Comet Y4 Atlas in Outburst: First Good Comet for 2020? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
This is how ESA telescope Euclid is going to visualize dark matter How can you see something that’s invisible? Well, with Euclid! This future ESA telescope will map the structure of the universe and teach us more about invisible dark matter and dark energy. Scientific coordinator of Euclid and Leiden astronomer Henk Hoekstra explains how this works. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Two new double-lined spectroscopic binary white dwarfs identified by astronomers A team of U.S.-Canadian astronomers has conducted radial velocity observations of four binary white dwarf candidates. They report that two of them, designated WD 0311−649 and WD 1606+422, are apparently double-lined spectroscopic binary systems. The finding is detailed in a paper published February 14 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Future space detector LISA could reveal the secret life and death of stars A team of astrophysicists led by Ph.D. student Mike Lau, from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), recently predicted that gravitational waves of double neutron stars may be detected by the future space satellite LISA. The results were presented at the 14th annual Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ANITA) science workshop 2020. These measurements may help decipher the life and death of stars. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
A New Kind of Rocket that’s Lightweight and Easier to Construct: a Rotating Detonating Engine. Unfortunately, it’s Also Completely Unpredictable A new type of engine – known as the rotating detonation engine – could revolutionize rocketry and make space exploration more cost-effective The post A New Kind of Rocket that’s Lightweight and Easier to Construct: a Rotating Detonating Engine. Unfortunately, it’s Also Completely Unpredictable appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
New binary millisecond pulsar discovered in NGC 6205 Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers have detected a new binary millisecond pulsar (MSP) in the globular cluster NGC 6205. The newly found pulsar received designation PSR J1641+3627F. The finding is reported in a paper published February 14 on the arXiv pre-print repository. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Hubble fingerprints a galaxy The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is no stranger to spiral galaxies. The telescope has brought us some of the most beautiful images ever taken of our spiral neighbors—and the galaxy known as NGC 4689 is no exception. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
