Stingray Glider to Explore the Cloudtops of Venus Researchers at the University of Buffalo’s CASH Lab are working on a glider inspired by the stingray to explore Venus. The post Stingray Glider to Explore the Cloudtops of Venus appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Two of Neptune’s Moons Dance Around Each Other as they Orbit Like a long-married couple accustomed to each other’s kitchen habits, two of Neptune’s moons are masters at sharing space without colliding. And though both situations may appear odd to an observer, there’s a certain dance-like quality to them both. We’re talking about Thalassa and Naiad, two Neptunian moons discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989. The … Continue reading “Two of Neptune’s Moons Dance Around Each Other as they Orbit” The post Two of Neptune’s Moons Dance Around Each Other as they Orbit appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
New Horizon’s Flyby Target 2014 MU69 Gets its Official Name: Arrokoth The KBO formerly known as Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) has officially been named “Arrokoth”, the traditional Powhatan-Algonquin language. The post New Horizon’s Flyby Target 2014 MU69 Gets its Official Name: Arrokoth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Tatooines everywhere? Many of the Exoplanets Already Discovered are in Multi-Star Systems Right now, we know of about 4,000 confirmed exoplanets, mostly thanks to the Kepler mission. TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, will likely raise that 4000 by a lot. But what about the stars that all of these planets orbit? A new study from the Astrophysical Institute and University Observatory of the University of Jena … Continue reading “Tatooines everywhere? Many of the Exoplanets Already Discovered are in Multi-Star Systems” The post Tatooines everywhere? Many of the Exoplanets Already Discovered are in Multi-Star Systems appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
Nearly extreme black holes which attempt to regrow hair become bald again Black holes ‘have no hair’: no attributes that can be used to tell them apart. Extreme black holes (spinning at maximally allowed rate) can have an additional property, permanent hair that is made of a massless scalar field. Nearly extreme black holes (like Gargantua, the black hole featured in the movie “Interstellar”) have hair that is a transient phenomenon: nearly extreme black holes that attempt to regrow hair will lose it and become bald again. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Astrophysicists find when galaxies rotate, size matters The direction in which a galaxy spins depends on its mass, researchers have found. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Hubble spots a curious spiral The universe is simply so vast that it can be difficult to maintain a sense of scale. Many galaxies we see through telescopes such as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the source of this beautiful image, look relatively similar: spiraling arms, a glowing center, and a mixture of bright specks of star formation and dark ripples of cosmic dust weaving throughout. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
NASA finds Neptune moons locked in ‘dance of avoidance’ Even by the wild standards of the outer solar system, the strange orbits that carry Neptune’s two innermost moons are unprecedented, according to newly published research. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Making planets in a rocket How are celestial bodies created? Aside from philosophical questions, researchers are taking practical steps to investigate the very first moments when planets are born—on a sounding rocket launching from Sweden next week. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
#89 – November 2019 Part 2 The Discussion: Ralph’s been in Washington – which, of course, means a visit to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, we say goodbye to Russian cosmonaut, Alexi Leonov, and take a look at listeners’ emails. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: James Webb Space Telescope inches ever closer The USAF’s autonomous space plane sets a new record SpaceX are back on the right path with its crew capsule NASA are sending a viper to the moon and an orbiter to Pluto Plans are revealed about Scotland’s new spaceport. Project Artemis technologies being fundedRead More →
It’s Time for Hayabusa-2 to Come Home Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is on its way home. The asteroid-visiting, sample-return mission departed asteroid Ryugu (162173 Ryugu) on Wednesday, beginning its year-long journey back to Earth. And it’s carrying some precious cargo. Hayabusa 2 launched in December 2014, and arrived at Ryugu near the end of June, 2018. Ryugu is a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid. … Continue reading “It’s Time for Hayabusa-2 to Come Home” The post It’s Time for Hayabusa-2 to Come Home appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Apollo 12 Launched 50 Years Ago Today The 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 was a huge celebration, and Apollo 13 may be an equally big commotion. Apollo 12 is tough sell in the middle. Even the Virginia Air & Space Center, which houses the Apollo 12 capsule, uses photographs of Apollo 11 to advertise. Ouch. This unique mission and its important contribution … Continue reading “Apollo 12 Launched 50 Years Ago Today” The post Apollo 12 Launched 50 Years Ago Today appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Molecular Oxygen on Mars is Behaving Unusually Through the Seasons. A Sign of Life? An atmospheric drama has been playing out on Mars lately. Up until now, the main actor has been methane, and its unusual, spiking behaviour. But now Oxygen is taking the stage, and performing some theatrics of its own. NASA’s Curiosity rover is busy examining Mars to see if it could have supported microbial life in … Continue reading “Molecular Oxygen on Mars is Behaving Unusually Through the Seasons. A Sign of Life?” The post Molecular Oxygen on Mars is Behaving Unusually Through the Seasons. A Sign of Life? appeared first onRead More →
IPTF14hls may be a variable hyper-wind from a very massive star, study suggests A source known as iPTF14hls, assumed to be a Type IIP supernova, may be a long-term outflow similar to stellar winds, according to a new study published November 5 on arXiv.org. The new research proposes that iPTF14hls is most likely a so-called “hyper-wind”—an extreme mass outflow from a massive star. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Two cosmic peacocks show violent history of the magellanic clouds Two peacock-shaped gaseous clouds were revealed in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). A team of astronomers found several massive baby stars in the complex filamentary clouds, which agrees well with computer simulations of giant collisions of gaseous clouds. The researchers interpret this to mean that the filaments and young stars are telltale evidence of violent interactions between the LMC and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) 200 million years ago. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Ark Noir — Tunnel Visions ESO Video Casts Go to SourceRead More →
What’s the Best Way to Sail From World to World? Electric Sails or Solar Sails? A new study compares two potential means of interstellar exploration, which could have implications for both space exploration and the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The post What’s the Best Way to Sail From World to World? Electric Sails or Solar Sails? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Mysteries behind interstellar buckyballs finally answered Scientists have long been puzzled by the existence of so-called “buckyballs”—complex carbon molecules with a soccer-ball-like structure—throughout interstellar space. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Arizona has proposed a mechanism for their formation in a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Mars 2020 Rover is Going to a Place on Mars That’s Perfect for Preserving Fossils Back in November 2018, NASA announced that the Mars 2020 rover would land in the Jezero Crater. Jezero Crater is a geologically diverse area, with an alluvial fan of sediment deposited by an incoming river. That sediment may contain preserved ancient organic molecules, and the deposit is clearly visible in satellite images of the Crater. … Continue reading “Mars 2020 Rover is Going to a Place on Mars That’s Perfect for Preserving Fossils” The post Mars 2020 Rover is Going to a Place on Mars That’s Perfect for Preserving FossilsRead More →
New study proposes light signature for detecting black hole mergers Gravitational wave detectors are finding black hole mergers in the universe at the rate of one per week. If these mergers occur in empty space, researchers cannot see associated light that is needed to determine where they happened. However, a new study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History and the City University of New York (CUNY), suggests that researchers might finally be able to see light from black hole mergers if the collisions happen in the presence of gas. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
