What moons in other stellar systems reveal about planets like Neptune and Jupiter What is the difference between a planet-satellite system as we have with the Earth and moon, versus a binary planet—two planets orbiting each other in a cosmic do-si-do? phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Nearly a decade in the making, exoplanet-hunting instrument installed in Hawaii A top a dormant volcano in Hawaii, an extremely delicate instrument—designed to help scientists find distant worlds—is scattered across the floor in hundreds of pieces. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
InSight Has Already Detected 21 Marsquakes The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) instrument on NASA’s InSight lander has sensed 21 Marsquakes since it was deployed on December 19th, 2018. It actually sensed over 100 events to date, but only 21 of them have been identified as Marsquakes. SEIS is extremely sensitive so mission scientists expected these results. SEIS is a … Continue reading “InSight Has Already Detected 21 Marsquakes” The post InSight Has Already Detected 21 Marsquakes appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Is the Milky Way Gaining or Losing Mass? According to a study by The Milky Way Halo Research Group, we now know how quickly the Milky Way is losing and gaining new material – which is key to understanding how it changes over time. The post Is the Milky Way Gaining or Losing Mass? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
China’s Lander Successfully Grew Some Cotton Plants on the Moon. Fruit Flies and Potatoes Didn’t Fare So Well When China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft landed on the lunar far side on January 3rd 2019, it made history. It was the first spacecraft to visit that part of the Moon, and among its payload was a 2.6 kg (5.7 lb) mini-biosphere called the Lunar Micro Ecosystem (LME). The sealed, cylindrical biosphere is only 18 cm (7.1 in) long … Continue reading “China’s Lander Successfully Grew Some Cotton Plants on the Moon. Fruit Flies and Potatoes Didn’t Fare So Well” The post China’s Lander Successfully Grew Some Cotton Plants on theRead More →
NASA’s space geodesy project mapping out a bright future In April 2019, an international team of more than 300 scientists unveiled the first recorded images of a black hole, its dark shadow and vivid orange disk peering back across 55 million light years of space. Capturing images from so far away required the combined power of eight radio telescopes across four continents, working together to essentially form a massive Earth-sized telescope called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Exoplanet Orbits its Star Every 18 Hours. The Quickest Ever Found The Next Generation Transit Survey recently discovered a hot-Jupiter with the shortest orbital period observed to date, just 18 hours! The post Exoplanet Orbits its Star Every 18 Hours. The Quickest Ever Found appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Nine Astronauts from Four Different Space Agencies are on the International Space Station Right Now The International Space Station’s usual complement of six astronauts grew by 50% recently, making things a little crowded up there. The nine astronauts come from four separate space agencies, and for the first time, an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is onboard the ISS. The ISS is a multicultural place. Astronauts from around … Continue reading “Nine Astronauts from Four Different Space Agencies are on the International Space Station Right Now” The post Nine Astronauts from Four Different Space Agencies are on the International Space Station Right NowRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: October 2, 2019 – Geoff Notkin, President of the National Space Society Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Alessandra “Sondy” Springmann (@sondy) Pamela Hoffman (http://everydayspacer.com/ / @EverydaySpacer) Veranika “Nika” Klimovich Emmy Award-winning television host and producer Geoff Notkin starred in three seasons of the cult television adventure series Meteorite Men for Science Channel and two seasons of the educational series STEM Journals for Cox Media. He … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: October 2, 2019 – Geoff Notkin, President of the National Space Society” The post Weekly Space Hangout: October 2, 2019 – Geoff Notkin, President of the National Space SocietyRead More →
New organic compounds found in Enceladus ice grains New kinds of organic compounds, the ingredients of amino acids, have been detected in the plumes bursting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The findings are the result of the ongoing deep dive into data from NASA’s Cassini mission. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
The violent history of the big galaxy next door Astronomers have pieced together the cannibalistic past of our neighbouring large galaxy Andromeda, which has now set its sights on the Milky Way as its next main course. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Neutrino produced in a cosmic collider far away The neutrino event IceCube 170922A, detected at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole, appears to originate from the distant active galaxy TXS 0506+056, at a light travel distance of 3.8 billion light years. TXS 0506+056 is one of many active galaxies and it remained a mystery why and how only this particular galaxy generated neutrinos so far. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
New study provides insights on the mysterious low-mass X-ray binary RX1804 European astronomers have conducted a comprehensive study of a low-mass X-ray binary known as RX1804 (or 1RXS J180408.9–342058). The research allowed the scientists to unveil important insights into the nature of this mysterious object. The findings are detailed in a paper published September 23 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Elon Musk Shows us What’s Inside the Starship Elon Musk recently upload a video that shows that the interior of the Starship’s prototype cargo bay. The post Elon Musk Shows us What’s Inside the Starship appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
India’s Crashed Lander is In This Picture, Somewhere This image of the lunar highlands is from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. You’d need superhuman eyesight to spot it, but India’s crashed Vikram lander is in there somewhere. The lander attempted to land on the Moon on September 6th, but when it was only 2.1 km above the surface, within reach of its objective, ISRO … Continue reading “India’s Crashed Lander is In This Picture, Somewhere” The post India’s Crashed Lander is In This Picture, Somewhere appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
What Will It Take To Feed A Million People On Mars? In 2017, Elon Musk laid out his grand sweeping plans for the future of SpaceX, the company that would take humanity to Mars. Over decades, tens of thousands of Starship flights would carry a million human beings to the surface of the Red Planet, the minimum Musk expects it’ll take to create a self-sustaining civilization. … Continue reading “What Will It Take To Feed A Million People On Mars?” The post What Will It Take To Feed A Million People On Mars? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
A Red Dwarf Star Has a Jupiter-Like Planet. So Massive it Shouldn’t Exist, and Yet, There It Is Thanks to the Kepler mission and other efforts to find exoplanets, we’ve learned a lot about the exoplanet population. We know that we’re likely to find super-Earths and Neptune-mass exoplanets orbiting low-mass stars, while larger planets are found around more massive stars. This lines up well with the core accretion theory of planetary formation. But … Continue reading “A Red Dwarf Star Has a Jupiter-Like Planet. So Massive it Shouldn’t Exist, and Yet, There It Is” The post A Red Dwarf Star Has a Jupiter-Like Planet. SoRead More →
Carnival of Space #631 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Allen Versfeld at his Urban Astronomer blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #631. 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 … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #631” The post Carnival of Space #631 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Astronomers identify four globular cluster planetary nebulae candidates Astronomers from Chile and Argentina report the detection of four new planetary nebulae (PN) candidates residing in galactic globular clusters (GCs). If confirmed, the discovery would double the number of known PNe in galactic GCs. The finding is presented in a paper published September 19 on the arXiv pre-print server. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Spitzer spots a starry region bursting with bubbles This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows a cloud of gas and dust full of bubbles, which are inflated by wind and radiation from young, massive stars. Each bubble is filled with hundreds to thousands of stars, which form from dense clouds of gas and dust. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
