Humans will not ‘migrate’ to other planets, Nobel winner says Humans will never migrate to a planet outside of Earth’s solar system because it would take far too long to get there, Swiss Nobel laureate Michel Mayor said Wednesday. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Liquifying a rocky exoplanet Rocky exoplanets that are around Earth-size are comparatively small, which makes them incredibly difficult to detect and characterise using telescopes. What are the optimal conditions to find such small planets that linger in the darkness? “A rocky planet that is hot, molten, and possibly harboring a large outgassed atmosphere ticks all the boxes,” says Dan Bower, astrophysicist at the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern. Such a planet could be more easily seen by telescopes due to strong outgoing radiation than its solid counterpart. The SNSF Ambizione and CSH Fellow continues: “Granted, you wouldn’t want toRead More →
Carbon-rich hot bubble detected in the planetary nebula NGC 5189 Using ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope, astronomers have found that the planetary nebula NGC 5189 harbors a carbon-enriched X-ray-emitting hot bubble. The discovery, presented in a paper published September 30 on arXiv.org, could shed more light on the nature of gaseous material in planetary nebulae. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Exoplanet and cosmology discoveries awarded Nobel Prize in Physics ESA congratulates 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics laureates Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, who have been awarded the prestigious prize for the first discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star, and James Peebles, honoured for the theoretical framework of cosmology used to investigate the Universe on its largest scales. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Curiosity Finds A Region of Ancient Dried Mud. It Could Have Been an Oasis Billions of Year Ago What happened to Mars? If Mars and Earth were once similar, as scientists think, what happened to all the water? Did there used to be enough to support life? Thanks to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity, we’re getting a better picture of ancient Mars and what it went through billions of years ago. A … Continue reading “Curiosity Finds A Region of Ancient Dried Mud. It Could Have Been an Oasis Billions of Year Ago” The post Curiosity Finds A Region of Ancient Dried Mud. ItRead More →
Exoplanets: tantalising search for life beyond the solar system This year’s Nobel Prize for Physics honoured Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz, Swiss astronomers who proved the existence of a planet orbiting a star far beyond the Earth’s solar system. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Researchers discover how water is regenerated on asteroids Scientists have discovered how water molecules can be regenerated on asteroids moving through space, in an exciting breakthrough that could extend to other bodies such as the moon. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
A dormant volcano: the black hole at the heart of our galaxy is more explosive than we thought The supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy spat out an enormous flare of radiation 3.5 million years ago that would have been clearly visible from Earth. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Astronomers Find 20 – Yes 20 – New Moons for Saturn A team of astronomers led by Scott Sheppard has discovered 20 new moons around Saturn, putting it ahead of Jupiter! The post Astronomers Find 20 – Yes 20 – New Moons for Saturn appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Carnival of Space #632 It’s that time again! This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Pamela Hoffman at the Everyday Spacer blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #632. 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. … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #632” The post Carnival of Space #632 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Scientists observe year-long plateaus in decline of Type Ia supernova light curves Scientists at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian have announced the discovery that, contrary to previously accepted knowledge, Type Ia supernovae experience light curve decline plateaus, and lengthy ones at that, lasting up to a year. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
PSR J0453+1559 may be a neutron star–white dwarf binary, study suggests Astronomers have investigated a compact binary radio pulsar system known as PSR J0453+1559, with the aim of shedding more light on its mysterious nature. The new study, published September 26 on arXiv.org, challenges previous assumptions, suggesting that system contains a white dwarf companion. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Hubble finds Medusa in the sky The galaxy pictured in this Hubble image has an especially evocative name: the Medusa merger. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Changes in comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) tail ESO Video Casts Go to SourceRead More →
NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes One of the chief aims of space agencies and commercial aerospace these days is reducing the associated costs of space exploration. When it comes right down to it, it is still very expensive to send rockets into orbit, never mind sending them beyond Earth. But it’s not just the cost of sending payloads into space … Continue reading “NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes” The post NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded A titanic, expanding beam of energy sprang from close to the supermassive black hole in the centre of the Milky Way just 3.5 million years ago, sending a cone-shaped burst of radiation through both poles of the Galaxy and out into deep space. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
The Raw Materials for Amino Acids – Which are the Raw Materials for Life – Were Found in the Geysers Coming out of Enceladus According to a recent study, Enceladus’ plumes may contain the building blocks of amino acids, which are the building blocks of life! The post The Raw Materials for Amino Acids – Which are the Raw Materials for Life – Were Found in the Geysers Coming out of Enceladus appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
NASA is Going to Test 25 New Technologies in Upcoming Aircraft, Balloon and Sub-Orbital Rocket Flights NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has selected 25 space technologies for further testing. They’re testing the technologies on aircraft, balloons, and sub-orbital rocket flights. NASA hopes to learn a lot about each of the technologies with this rigorous testing, without the expense of sending them all into orbital space. This testing will subject each of the … Continue reading “NASA is Going to Test 25 New Technologies in Upcoming Aircraft, Balloon and Sub-Orbital Rocket Flights” The post NASA is Going to Test 25 New Technologies in Upcoming Aircraft, Balloon andRead More →
Astronomers Find Cyanide Gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov, but Don’t Panic Like it’s 1910 An international team of astronomers recently obtained spectra from the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, which confirmed the presence of cyanide gas. The post Astronomers Find Cyanide Gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov, but Don’t Panic Like it’s 1910 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Hayabusa 2 Has Sent its Last Rover to Ryugu Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission to asteroid Ryugu has reached one of its final milestones, if not its climax. The sample-return spacecraft has launched the Minerva-II2 rover at the asteroid. This is the last of four rovers that Hayabusa 2 is deploying on Ryugu. Minerva-II2 is actually two components in one, and the launch procedure has … Continue reading “Hayabusa 2 Has Sent its Last Rover to Ryugu” The post Hayabusa 2 Has Sent its Last Rover to Ryugu appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
