Quadrantid Meteors Kickoff a Busy January 2019 Happy New Year! The beginning of the first month of the year is always a busy one for astronomy, and January 2019 is no different, as the Earth reaches perihelion, the Quadrantid meteors peak, and a partial solar eclipse crosses the Pacific… all this week. The post Quadrantid Meteors Kickoff a Busy January 2019 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Prototype Version of the SpaceX Starship with a Stainless Steel Skin is Under Construction Elon Musk recently provided updates on the mini-Starship prototype that will making a test flight next year, including the fact that it will be built from a stainless steel alloy. The post Prototype Version of the SpaceX Starship with a Stainless Steel Skin is Under Construction appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars Apparently not all supernovas work. And when they fail, they leave behind a half-chewed remnant, still burning from leftover heat but otherwise lifeless: a zombie star. Astronomers aren’t sure how many of these should-be-dead creatures lurk in the interstellar depths, but with recent simulations scientists are making a list of their telltale signatures so that … Continue reading “A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars” The post A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Messier 75 – the NGC 6864 Globular Cluster Located on the other side of the galaxy, near the southern constellation of Sagittarius, is the globular cluster known as Messier 75 The post Messier 75 – the NGC 6864 Globular Cluster appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Russian Cosmonaut says that the Hole in the ISS was Drilled From the Inside According to statements from cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, the hole found in the ISS was drilled from the inside and the cause remains unknown. The post Russian Cosmonaut says that the Hole in the ISS was Drilled From the Inside appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
NASA’s Technosignatures Report is Out. Every Way to Find Evidence of an Intelligent Civilization NASA’s final report from their Technosignature Workshop is now out and addresses all the ways in which humanity is looking for evidence of extra-terrestrial civilizations. The post NASA’s Technosignatures Report is Out. Every Way to Find Evidence of an Intelligent Civilization appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Something Twice the Size of Earth Slammed into Uranus and Knocked it Over on its Side Astronomers think they know how Uranus got flipped onto its side. According to detailed computer simulations, a body about twice the size of Earth slammed into Uranus between 3 to 4 billion years ago. The impact created an oddity in our Solar System: the only planet that rotates on its side. A study explaining these … Continue reading “Something Twice the Size of Earth Slammed into Uranus and Knocked it Over on its Side” The post Something Twice the Size of Earth Slammed into Uranus and Knocked it OverRead More →
A brief history of black holes Late in 2018, the gravitational wave observatory, LIGO, announced that they had detected the most distant and massive source of ripples of spacetime ever monitored: waves triggered by pairs of black holes colliding in deep space. Only since 2015 have we been able to observe these invisible astronomical bodies, which can be detected only by their gravitational attraction. The history of our hunt for these enigmatic objects traces back to the 18th century, but the crucial phase took place in a suitably dark period of human history – World War II. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
New source of very high energy gamma-ray emission detected in the neighborhood of the supernova remnant G24.7+0.6 Using MAGIC telescopes and NASA’s Fermi spacecraft, an international team of astronomers has discovered a new source of very high energy gamma-ray emission around the supernova remnant (SNR) G24.7+0.6. The detection of the new source, designated MAGIC J1835–069, is detailed in a paper published December 12 on the arXiv pre-print server. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Top Astronomy Events For 2019 You might’ve heard the news. We wrote a book this past year: The Universe Today’s Ultimate Guide to Observing the Cosmos: Everything You Need to Know to Become an Amateur Astronomer. Judging from reader feedback thus far, one of the most popular parts of the book is Chapter 10, where we list the top astronomical events by year for the coming six years. True story… we picked six (2019 to 2024) to stretch out the list to touch on the April 8th, 2024 total solar eclipse. The post Top Astronomy Events For 2019 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today GoRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: Dec 26, 2018 The Year in Review Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Paul M. Sutter (pmsutter.com / @PaulMattSutter) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) Announcements: Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are specific ways you can help: * Donate! (Streamlabs link) https://streamlabs.com/cosmoquestx * Donate and challenge your friends to donate too! (Tiltify … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: Dec 26, 2018 The Year in Review” The post Weekly Space Hangout: Dec 26, 2018 The Year in Review appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
This Crater on Mars Traps the Cold, and Remains Filled With Ice, All Year Round Just in time for the holidays, the ESO’s Mars Express mission revealed a breathtaking image of a Martian crater that is ice-filled all year round. The post This Crater on Mars Traps the Cold, and Remains Filled With Ice, All Year Round appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The Equuleus Constellation Welcome to another edition of Constellation Friday! Today, in honor of the late and great Tammy Plotner, we take a look at the “little horse” – the Equuleus constellation. Enjoy! In the 2nd century CE, Greek-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus (aka. Ptolemy) compiled a list of the then-known 48 constellations. This treatise, known as the Almagest, … Continue reading “The Equuleus Constellation” The post The Equuleus Constellation appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
New Research Reveals How Galaxies Stay Hot and Bothered It’s relatively easy for galaxies to make stars. Start out with a bunch of random blobs of gas and dust. Typically those blobs will be pretty warm. To turn them into stars, you have to cool them off. By dumping all their heat in the form of radiation, they can compress. Dump more heat, compress … Continue reading “New Research Reveals How Galaxies Stay Hot and Bothered” The post New Research Reveals How Galaxies Stay Hot and Bothered appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
InSight Just Placed its Seismometer onto the Surface of Mars to Listen for Marsquakes NASA’s InSight lander has deployed its first instrument on the surface of Mars. On December 19th, the stationary lander used its robotic arm to deploy the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure), marking the first time a seismometer has been placed on the surface of another planet. This is a milestone for the mission, and … Continue reading “InSight Just Placed its Seismometer onto the Surface of Mars to Listen for Marsquakes” The post InSight Just Placed its Seismometer onto the Surface of Mars to Listen for Marsquakes appeared first onRead More →
A big space crash likely made Uranus lopsided Uranus is a lopsided oddity, the only planet to spin on its side. Scientists now think they know how it got that way: It was pushed over by a rock at least twice as big as Earth. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Hubble’s cosmic holiday wreath This festive NASA Hubble Space Telescope image resembles a holiday wreath made of sparkling lights. The bright southern hemisphere star RS Puppis, at the center of the image, is swaddled in a gossamer cocoon of reflective dust illuminated by the glittering star. The super star is ten times more massive than the sun and 200 times larger. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Winter solstice: The astronomy of Christmas From the Neolithic to present times, the amount of sunlight we see in a day has had a profound impact on human culture. We are fast approaching the winter solstice for the Northern hemisphere, which takes place on December 21. This is the longest night of the year – once celebrated as “Yule” by the pagan people of Northern Europe before it became Christmas. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Latest step toward world’s largest telescope that will observe ‘first stars and galaxies ever formed’ A cutting-edge instrument developed by scientists at the University of Oxford has passed critical tests and gained a powerful adaptive optics system. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Seeds of giant galaxies formed in the early universe Modern galaxies show a wide diversity, including dwarf galaxies, irregular galaxies, spiral galaxies, and massive elliptical galaxies. This final type, massive elliptical galaxies, provides astronomers with a puzzle. Although they are the most massive galaxies with the most stars, almost all of their stars are old. At some time during the past the progenitors of massive elliptical galaxies must have rapidly formed many stars and then stopped for some reason. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
