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Why Are Particles Getting Ejected Off of Asteroid Bennu? NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018, and just one week later, it discovered something unusual about Bennu: the asteroid was ejecting particles into space. The spacecraft’s navigation camera first spotted the particles, but scientists initially thought they were just stars in the background. After closer scrutiny, the OSIRIS-REx team realized they … Continue reading “Why Are Particles Getting Ejected Off of Asteroid Bennu?” The post Why Are Particles Getting Ejected Off of Asteroid Bennu? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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China’s Yutu-2 Rover has now Traveled Over 345 Meters Across the Surface of the Moon As of Dec. 4th, the Yutu 2 rover element of the Chang’e-4 mission had traveled a total of over 345 m (377 yards) on the lunar surface. The post China’s Yutu-2 Rover has now Traveled Over 345 Meters Across the Surface of the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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A neutron star with an unusual magnetic field structure Scientists from Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI), and Pulkovo Observatory discovered a unique neutron star, the magnetic field of which is apparent only when the star is seen under a certain angle relative to the observer. Previously, all neutron stars could be grouped into two large families: the first one included objects where the magnetic field manifests itself during the whole spin cycle, and the other one included objects where the magnetic field is not measured at all. The neutron star GRO J2058+42 studied byRead More →

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How Enceladus got its stripes Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is of great interest to scientists due to its subsurface ocean, making it a prime target for those searching for life elsewhere. New research led by Carnegie’s Doug Hemingway reveals the physics governing the fissures through which oceanwater erupts from the moon’s icy surface, giving its south pole an unusual “tiger stripe” appearance. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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IRAS 18379–1707 is a metal-poor high-velocity star, observations find Astronomers have conducted high-resolution spectroscopic observations of IRAS 18379–1707 (or LS 5112), a candidate post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) star in the Milky Way galaxy. Results of the observations provide more details about the properties of this object, revealing that it is a metal-poor, high-velocity star. The findings are detailed in a paper published November 28 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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How did supermassive black holes grow so fast? Black holes in the early universe pose a bit of a problem. Based on observations from telescopes on Earth and in space, we know that some black holes grew to be a billion times the mass of the sun just one billion years after the Big Bang. Our current models of black hole growth, however, can’t explain this speed of growth. So how did these supermassive black holes come about? phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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A New Way to Measure the Age of the Milky Way Using data collected by Kepler’s K2 observation campaign, an international team of scientists was able to more accurately predict the ages of stars in the Milky Way’s thick disk. The post A New Way to Measure the Age of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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It’s Time to Decide. Where Should OSIRIS-REx Take a Sample from Bennu? NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018. During the past year, it’s been imaging the surface of the asteroid extensively, looking for a spot to take a sample from. Though the spacecraft has multiple science objectives, and a suite of instruments to meet them, the sample return is the key objective. Now, NASA … Continue reading “It’s Time to Decide. Where Should OSIRIS-REx Take a Sample from Bennu?” The post It’s Time to Decide. Where Should OSIRIS-REx Take a Sample from Bennu? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

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Neptune-Sized Planet Found Orbiting a Dead White Dwarf Star. Here’s the Crazy Part, the Planet is 4 Times Bigger Than the Star Astronomers have discovered a large Neptune-sized planet orbiting a white dwarf star. The planet is four times bigger than the star, and the white dwarf appears to be slowly destroying the planet: the heat from the white dwarf is evaporating material from the planet’s atmosphere, forming a comet-like tail. A white dwarf is the end … Continue reading “Neptune-Sized Planet Found Orbiting a Dead White Dwarf Star. Here’s the Crazy Part, the Planet is 4 Times Bigger Than the Star” The post Neptune-SizedRead More →

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Astronauts are Going to Attach a “Robot Hotel” to the Outside of the International Space Station The Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) unit recently launched for the ISS, where it will be integrated and provide a home for the station’s robotic helpers. The post Astronauts are Going to Attach a “Robot Hotel” to the Outside of the International Space Station appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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A Microorganism With a Taste for Meteorites Could Help us Understand the Formation of Life on Earth A new study by a team astrobiologists shows how certain types of extreme bacteria thrive on meteors, which could reveal things about the origins of life on Earth. The post A Microorganism With a Taste for Meteorites Could Help us Understand the Formation of Life on Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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There’s a New Record for the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Seen: 40 Billion Solar Masses Astronomers have spotted a 40 billion solar mass black hole in the Abell 85 cluster of galaxies. They found the behemoth using spectral observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT.) There are only a few direct mass measurements for black holes, and at about 700 million light years from Earth, this is the most distant … Continue reading “There’s a New Record for the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Seen: 40 Billion Solar Masses” The post There’s a New Record for the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Seen: 40Read More →

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Scientists reveal potential new class of X-ray star system research A scientist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has announced the discovery that mass in triple star systems takes on the characteristics of recipient stars before mass is actually transferred, which may allow scientists to re-examine previously labeled binary star systems for evidence of a third companion. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Evidence suggests some super-puffs might be ringed exoplanets A pair of researchers from the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science and the California Institute of Technology have reported evidence that some super-puff exoplanets might be ringed exoplanets. Anthony Piro and Shreyas Vissapragada have written a paper describing their theory and the evidence supporting it and have posted it on the arXiv preprint server. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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New clues about the origin of stellar masses An international team led by the Astrophysics Department-AIM Laboratory of CEA-Irfu has just obtained new clues about the origin of star mass distribution, combining observational data from the large interferometer ALMA and the APEX radio telescope operated by the European Austral Observatory (ESO) and the Herschel Space Observatory. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Astronomers probe the nature of a peculiar pulsar wind nebula Using ESA’s XMM-Newton spacecraft, astronomers have investigated the nature of a peculiar pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in the supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 87. Results of the study, presented in a paper published November 26, shed more light on the morphology and spectral properties of this object. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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IKEA’s New Collection is Inspired by the Challenges of Living on Mars The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is a simulated Martian habitat in Utah. It’s owned by the Mars Society, and it’s the society’s second such station. The MDRS is a research facility, and while there, scientists must live as if they were on Mars, including wearing simulated space suits. One group of visitors wasn’t there … Continue reading “IKEA’s New Collection is Inspired by the Challenges of Living on Mars” The post IKEA’s New Collection is Inspired by the Challenges of Living on Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →