Looking for exoplanet life in all the right spectra A Cornell senior has come up with a way to discern life on exoplanets loitering in other cosmic neighborhoods: a spectral field guide. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Luca Parmitano Takes the Wheel and Test Drives a Rover From Space. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano just completed the second round of tests where he remotely-controlled a rover on Earth from the ISS. The post Luca Parmitano Takes the Wheel and Test Drives a Rover From Space. appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
First Giant Planet around White Dwarf Found Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have, for the first time, found evidence of a giant planet associated with a white dwarf star. The planet orbits the hot white dwarf, the remnant of a Sun-like star, at close range, causing its atmosphere to be stripped away and form a disc of gas around the star. This unique system hints at what our own Solar System might look like in the distant future. ESO News Feed Go to SourceRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: December 4, 2019 – Dr. Becky Smethurst’s “Space: 10 Things You Should Know” Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Brian Koberlein (BrianKoberlein.com / @BrianKoberlein) Sondy Springmann (@sondy) Michael Rodruck (@michaelrodruck) Tonight we air Fraser’s pre-recorded interview with Dr. Becky Smethurst from Tuesday, November 26th. Dr. Smethurst is a research fellow at Christ Church College, Oxford University who is researching how galaxies and their central supermassive black holes … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: December 4, 2019 – Dr. Becky Smethurst’s “Space: 10 Things You Should Know”” The post Weekly Space Hangout: December 4, 2019 – Dr. Becky Smethurst’s “Space: 10 ThingsRead More →
Landslides Work Differently on Mars, and Now We Might Know Why Some landslides, both here on Earth and on Mars, behave in a puzzling way: They flow a lot further than friction should allow them too. They can also be massive, including a well-preserved one in Valles Marineris that is the same size as the state of Rhode Island. Scientists have speculated that it might be … Continue reading “Landslides Work Differently on Mars, and Now We Might Know Why” The post Landslides Work Differently on Mars, and Now We Might Know Why appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
NASA’s exoplanet-hunting mission catches a natural comet outburst in unprecedented detail Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers at the University of Maryland (UMD), in College Park, Maryland, have captured a clear start-to-finish image sequence of an explosive emission of dust, ice and gases during the close approach of comet 46P/Wirtanen in late 2018. This is the most complete and detailed observation to date of the formation and dissipation of a naturally-occurring comet outburst. The team members reported their results in the November 22 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Using Balloons to Launch Rockets LEO Aerospace is developing a “Rockoon” system that will provide commercial launch services for microsatellites, as well as a platforms for conducting everything from scientific research to emergency rescues. The post Using Balloons to Launch Rockets appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Gas giant composition not determined by host star A surprising analysis of the composition of gas giant exoplanets and their host stars shows that there isn’t a strong correlation between their compositions when it comes to elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, according to new work led by Carnegie’s Johanna Teske and published in the Astronomical Journal. This finding has important implications for our understanding of the planetary formation process. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Heavyweight in the heart of the Abell 85 central galaxy In space, black holes appear in different sizes and masses. The record is now held by a specimen in the Abell 85 cluster of galaxies, where an ultra-massive black hole with 40 billion times the mass of our sun sits in the middle of the central galaxy Holm 15A. Astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the University Observatory Munich discovered this by evaluating photometric data from the Wendelstein Observatory as well as new spectral observations with the Very Large Telescope. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Gamma-ray binary HESS J0632+057 contains a pulsar, study suggests Using NuSTAR spacecraft and the VERITAS array of telescopes, an international team of astronomers has investigated a gamma-ray binary known as HESS J0632+057. The study found that a compact object in this system is most likely a pulsar—a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star emitting beams of electromagnetic radiation. The finding is reported in a paper published November 21 on arXiv. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Exoplanet satellite encapsulated At Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, ESA’s Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops, is being encapsulated into the flight adapter of the Soyuz-Fregat rocket that will lift it into space on 17 December. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Astronomers propose a novel method of finding atmospheres on rocky worlds When NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2021, one of its most anticipated contributions to astronomy will be the study of exoplanets—planets orbiting distant stars. Among the most pressing questions in exoplanet science is: Can a small, rocky exoplanet orbiting close to a red dwarf star hold onto an atmosphere? phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Carnival of Space #640 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 #640. 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 #640” The post Carnival of Space #640 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Giant Meteor Impacts Might Have Triggered Early Earth’s Plate Tectonics A new study by an Australian-US team has found that a large impact that happened ca. 3.2 billion years ago could be what started Earth’s tectonics activity, which could be crucial to why Earth is able to support life. The post Giant Meteor Impacts Might Have Triggered Early Earth’s Plate Tectonics appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Messier 94 – the Cat’s Eye Galaxy Located in the constellation Canes Venatici, roughly 15 million light years from Earth, is the spiral galaxy known as the Cat’s Eye Galaxy (aka. Messier 94) The post Messier 94 – the Cat’s Eye Galaxy appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Black hole or newborn stars? SOFIA finds galactic puzzle Universities Space Research Association (USRA) today announced that scientists on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) found a strange black hole that is changing its galactic surroundings in a way that is usually associated with newborn stars. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Mercury transit observed at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory About 13 times per century, fleeting Mercury can be seen passing directly in front of the Sun in what is called a transit. The most recent Mercury transit occurred on November 11, 2019. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Solar Wind Around Pluto instrument confirms solar wind slows farther away from the sun Measurements taken by the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft are providing important new insights from some of the farthest reaches of space ever explored. In a paper recently published in the Astrophysical Journal, a team led by Southwest Research Institute shows how the solar wind—the supersonic stream of charged particles blown out by the Sun—evolves at increasing distances from the Sun. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Hubble detects dynamic galactic duo Some galaxies are closer friends than others. While many live their own separate, solitary lives, others stray a little too close to a near neighbor and take their friendship even deeper. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Cancer Seems to Have Trouble Spreading in Microgravity A team of Australian researchers have found evidence that microgravity can disrupt the spread of cancer cells, which could lead to new treatments. The post Cancer Seems to Have Trouble Spreading in Microgravity appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
