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Behind the scenes of recovering NASA’s Hubble In the early morning of October 27, the Hubble Space Telescope targeted a field of galaxies not far from the Great Square in the constellation Pegasus. Contained in the field were star-forming galaxies up to 11 billion light-years away. With the target in its sights, Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 recorded an image. It was the first picture captured by the telescope since it closed its eyes on the universe three weeks earlier, and it was the result of an entire team of engineers and experts working tirelessly to get the telescope exploring the cosmos once again. phys.orgRead More →

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Astronomy Cast Ep. 507: From Fiction to Fact : Ion Drive Ion engines are a mainstay of science fiction, featured in both Star Trek and Wars. But this is a very real technology, successfully used on several missions out there in the Solar System right now. How do they work and what are the limits? We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm EST … Continue reading “Astronomy Cast Ep. 507: From Fiction to Fact : Ion Drive” The post Astronomy Cast Ep. 507: From Fiction to Fact : Ion Drive appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Hubble’s First Picture After Returning to Service. The Telescope is Fully Operational Again with Three Working Gyros The Hubble Space Telescope is a hero in the astronomy world. And when it suffered a malfunctioning gyro on October 5th, it took a heroic effort on the part of the Hubble team to get it working again. Now we have Hubble’s first picture after its return to service. Hubble’s first picture after its troubles … Continue reading “Hubble’s First Picture After Returning to Service. The Telescope is Fully Operational Again with Three Working Gyros” The post Hubble’s First Picture After Returning to Service. The Telescope is FullyRead More →

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InSight Deploys its Solar Cells, Prepared for Surface Operations on Mars! The InSight Lander, which had touched down on the Martian surface just hours before, has deployed its solar cells and is ready to begin science operations! The post InSight Deploys its Solar Cells, Prepared for Surface Operations on Mars! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Some of the Stars in this Cluster are Almost as Old as the Universe Itself While Others Formed in a Second Generation. It Looks Young and Old at the Same Time Star clusters are not rare. They’re one of the most common arrangements of stars in the Universe. But star cluster NGC 1866, as seen in this image from Hubble, is different than its brethren. Most clusters are populated by stars the same age, BUT NGC 1866 is like an all-ages club. There are two kinds … Continue reading “Some of the Stars in this Cluster are Almost as Old as the Universe Itself WhileRead More →

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How scientists are working together to solve one of the universe’s mysteries One of the most baffling puzzles of modern astrophysics is the nature of Fast Radio Bursts, which were discovered in 2007. These are seemingly rare, extremely bright flashes of light with radio wavelengths. They last only milliseconds; originate outside our galaxy, the Milky Way; come from regions with enormously strong magnetic fields; and pass through a significant amount of gas or dust before reaching Earth. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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New ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar discovered Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuSTAR space telescopes, a team of astronomers from Germany has detected a new ultra-luminous pulsar in the galaxy NGC 300. The finding of this pulsar, which received designation NGC 300 ULX1, is detailed in a paper published November 9 on the arXiv pre-print repository. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Enormous dwarf satellite galaxy of Milky Way discovered Using data from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, astronomers have discovered a new Milky Way satellite in the constellation Antlia. The newly found dwarf galaxy, named Antlia 2, is several times larger when compared to other systems of similar luminosity. The finding is detailed in a paper published November 9 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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The Cygnus Loop The Cygnus Loop (also known as the Veil Nebula) is a supernova remnant, the detritus of the explosive death of a massive star about ten to twenty thousand years ago. Detailed modeling of its spectacular filamentary shape suggests that the explosion occurred inside an interstellar cavity created by the progenitor star. As is common in astronomy, many of the precise physical properties of the object are rendered uncertain by the uncertainty of its distance. For decades scientists used a value of about 2500 light-years based on analyses of its gas motions by Hubble in 1937 and Minkowski in 1958. Many recent distanceRead More →

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InSight Lander Touches Down! Begins Mission to Unlock the Secrets of Mars Earlier today, after a seven month journey through space, NASA’s InSight Lander mission touched down on the Martian surface. The post InSight Lander Touches Down! Begins Mission to Unlock the Secrets of Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Carnival of Space #588 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by me at the CosmoQuest blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #588 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 #588” The post Carnival of Space #588 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Messier 72 – the NGC 6981 Globular Cluster Welcome back to Messier Monday! Today, we continue in our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at the globular cluster known as Messier 72. During the 18th century, famed French astronomer Charles Messier noticed the presence of several “nebulous objects”  while surveying the night sky. Originally mistaking these objects for comets, he … Continue reading “Messier 72 – the NGC 6981 Globular Cluster” The post Messier 72 – the NGC 6981 Globular Cluster appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Globular clusters could offer clues on formation and evolution of inner Milky Way Brazilian astronomer Denilso Camargo has recently discovered five new globular clusters in the Milky Way’s bulge that could offer essential clues on the formation and evolution of our galaxy’s innermost regions. The newly identified clusters, which are old and metal-poor, have also the potential to improve our understanding of the structure as well as kinematics of the galactic bulge. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Astronomers investigate unusually bright single pulses from a millisecond pulsar Astronomers have conducted a study of unusually bright single pulses (BSPs) from the millisecond pulsar PSR B1744−24A. The new research, which determined properties of these pulses, could contribute to understanding the nature of BSPs. The study is presented in a paper published November 5 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

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Name Change Alert! SpaceX’s BFR is Now Just Called “Starship” In September of 2016, Musk treated the world to an early sneak-peak at his proposed super-heavy launch vehicle. Previously known as the Mars Colonial Transporter, the renamed Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) was the centerpiece to Musk’s long-term vision of conducting commercial trips to orbit, to the Moon, and even to Mars. Since that time, the … Continue reading “Name Change Alert! SpaceX’s BFR is Now Just Called “Starship”” The post Name Change Alert! SpaceX’s BFR is Now Just Called “Starship” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

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Europe’s Vision of a Future Moon Base. Made out of Moon Dust. We all know that the time is past due for a Moon base. But the cost of sending everything needed from Earth to build a base is prohibitive. Earth’s gravity well is too deep and too strong to get everything there with rockets. So what’s the solution? According to the ESA, the solution is Additive … Continue reading “Europe’s Vision of a Future Moon Base. Made out of Moon Dust.” The post Europe’s Vision of a Future Moon Base. Made out of Moon Dust. appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →