Now We Know That Dark Matter Isn’t Primordial Black Holes A new study by an international team of scientists has tested Hawking’s theory of dark matter, and ruled out that it is not likely to be made up of tiny black holes. The post Now We Know That Dark Matter Isn’t Primordial Black Holes appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Unexpected rain on sun links two solar mysteries For five months in mid 2017, Emily Mason did the same thing every day. Arriving to her office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, she sat at her desk, opened up her computer, and stared at images of the Sun—all day, every day. “I probably looked through three or five years’ worth of data,” Mason estimated. Then, in October 2017, she stopped. She realized she had been looking at the wrong thing all along. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Gravitational waves helping to expose black holes, dark matter and theoretical particles Gravitational waves – the invisible ripples in the fabric of space predicted by Albert Einstein – are opening up a new era of astronomy that is allowing scientists to see parts of the universe once thought to be invisible, such as black holes, dark matter and theoretical subatomic particles called axions. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Gamma-ray blazars in the sky When the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies accrete material, they can eject powerful jets of charged particles at speeds approaching that of light. These particles in turn emit radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to gamma-rays. When the jets happen to be aligned toward the Earth, these objects are called blazars, and in a flare they can emit as much radiation as a million billion suns. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Mars Express Saw the Same Methane Spike that Curiosity Detected from the Surface of Mars If you’re not a chemist, an astrobiologist, or a scientist of any sort, and that includes most of us, then a tiny, almost imperceptible whiff of methane in the Martian atmosphere might seem like no big deal. But it is, gentle humans. It is. Why? Because it could be a signal that some living process … Continue reading “Mars Express Saw the Same Methane Spike that Curiosity Detected from the Surface of Mars” The post Mars Express Saw the Same Methane Spike that Curiosity Detected from the Surface of MarsRead More →

The Starhops Have Begun! After a minor delay, SpaceX has conducted the first successful hop test of their Starship Hopper, a key step in validating the systems that will go into the full-scale prototype. The post The Starhops Have Begun! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

AstroSAT observations reveal quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray binary GX 5-1 Using the AstroSAT spacecraft, Indian astronomers have observed the low-mass X-ray binary designated GX 5-1. The observations were published March 28 on the arXiv pre-print repository. The authors report the detection of quasi-periodic oscillations in this binary and discuss its nature. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Carnival of Space #605 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by me at the CosmoQuest blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #605 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. Just email an entry to susie@wshcrew.space, and … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #605” The post Carnival of Space #605 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 3, 2019 – Dr. David Chudwin Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Pamela Gay (astronomycast.com / cosmoquest.org / @starstryder) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) David Chudwin, MD, is the author of the upcoming book I Was a Teenage Space Reporter: From Apollo 11 to Our Future in Space. David decided … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 3, 2019 – Dr. David Chudwin” The post Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 3, 2019 – Dr. David Chudwin appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

India Destroyed a Satellite With a Missile Last Week, and Pieces Were Thrown Into an Orbit That Risks the International Space Station Last week, India shot down one of its own satellites with a missile. According to NASA, the resulting debris field is an “unacceptable” threat to the ISS. The post India Destroyed a Satellite With a Missile Last Week, and Pieces Were Thrown Into an Orbit That Risks the International Space Station appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Mars Helicopter Completes More Test Flights. It’s Almost Ready to go to Mars We’ve known for some time that NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars. The vehicle, called the Mars Helicopter, is undergoing flight testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The little helicopter will make its eventual way to Mars as part of the Mars 2020 Rover mission. The Mars Helicopter is pretty small, less … Continue reading “Mars Helicopter Completes More Test Flights. It’s Almost Ready to go to Mars” The post Mars Helicopter Completes More Test Flights. It’s Almost Ready to go to Mars appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Starhopper Tests Have Gotten Delayed Because of “Ice Formation in the Cryogenic Propellant Prevalves” A technical issue has led to the “hop test” of the miniature version of the SpaceX Starship to be delayed once more. However, the company is still on track with their overall development of the system. The post Starhopper Tests Have Gotten Delayed Because of “Ice Formation in the Cryogenic Propellant Prevalves” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

ESO will be Announcing the First Black Hole Picture on April 10 The rumours you’ve heard are true. And if you haven’t heard the rumours, you should check your internet connection. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has set an important press conference for April 10th, involving the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). They haven’t come right out and said it, but the Media Advisory from the ESO says … Continue reading “ESO will be Announcing the First Black Hole Picture on April 10” The post ESO will be Announcing the First Black Hole Picture on April 10 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

See the Moon Photobomb Saturn in an Amazing Capture It’s always awe-inspiring to see the clockwork motion of the heavens, transpire in real time. In a slow motion Universe, occultations give us the chance to see the cosmos pull off a celestial hat trick. This happen in a blink of an eye type event such as when the Moon, a planet or an asteroid winks out a distant star, or transpire as a leisurely affair as the Moon covers, then uncovers the disk of a planet. The post See the Moon Photobomb Saturn in an Amazing Capture appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today GoRead More →

Giant molecular outflow detected from the quasar PDS 456 Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, astronomers have detected a galaxy-wide molecular outflow from the quasar PDS 456. The findings are presented in a paper published March 25 on arXiv.org, in which the authors investigate the properties of this outflow. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →