Musk Gives an Update on When a Mars Colony Could be Built In a recent tweet, SpaceX founder Elon Musk indicated that his company may be able to build a Martian colony as early as 2028. The post Musk Gives an Update on When a Mars Colony Could be Built appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Matter is Going Into this Black Hole at 30% the Speed of Light A team of researchers in the UK have observed matter falling into a black hole at 30% the speed of light. They may have discovered why black holes in the early universe grew so quickly. The post Matter is Going Into this Black Hole at 30% the Speed of Light appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
A team of astronomers led by Coryn Bailer-Jones of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has tracked the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua to several possible home stars. The object was discovered in late 2017 – this was the first time astronomers have been able to observe an astronomical object from another star system visiting our own Solar System. Bailer-Jones and his colleagues used data from the ESA astrometry satellite Gaia to find four plausible stars where ‘Oumuamua could have begun its long journey, more than a million years ago. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Astronomers are Tracking the Interstellar Asteroid ‘Oumuamua to its Home System An international team of astronomers have used data from the Gaia satellite to backtrack ‘Oumuamua to one of four star systems. The post Astronomers are Tracking the Interstellar Asteroid ‘Oumuamua to its Home System appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
By looking at Earth’s full natural history and evolution, astronomers may have found a template for vegetation fingerprints—borrowing from epochs of changing flora—to determine the age of habitable exoplanets. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
The Milky Way is Still Rippling from a Galactic Collision Millions of Years Ago Between 300 million and 900 million years ago, our Milky Way galaxy nearly collided with the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. Data from the ESA’s Gaia mission shows the ongoing effect of this event, with stars moving like ripples on the surface of a pond. The galactic collision is part of an ongoing cannibalization of the dwarf … Continue reading “The Milky Way is Still Rippling from a Galactic Collision Millions of Years Ago” The post The Milky Way is Still Rippling from a Galactic Collision Millions of Years Ago appeared first onRead More →
Astronauts Could Use the ScanMars Device to Search for Water on Mars There’s solid evidence for the existence of water on Mars, at least in frozen form at the planet’s poles. And a more recent study confirms the existence of liquid water at the south pole. But visitors to Mars will need to know the exact location of usable water deposits at other Martian locations. A ground-penetrating … Continue reading “Astronauts Could Use the ScanMars Device to Search for Water on Mars” The post Astronauts Could Use the ScanMars Device to Search for Water on Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
Here are the First Pictures From the Parker Solar Probe. Wait… That’s Not the Sun The Parker Solar Probe recently collected its first-light data in order to test its instruments, and snapped some beautiful pictures of the cosmos. The post Here are the First Pictures From the Parker Solar Probe. Wait… That’s Not the Sun appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
In the northern constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair) lies the impressive Coma Cluster— a structure of over a thousand galaxies bound together by gravity. Many of these galaxies are elliptical types, as is the brighter of the two galaxies dominating this image: NGC 4860 (center). However, the outskirts of the cluster also host younger spiral galaxies that proudly display their swirling arms. Again, this image shows a wonderful example of such a galaxy in the shape of the beautiful NGC 4858, which can be seen to the left of its bright neighbor and which stands out on account of its unusual, tangled, fiery appearance. PoweredRead More →
An odd-shaped formation of gas and dust at the centre of the Milky Way, captured by the far-infrared cameras on board ESA’s Herschel space observatory. The nearly continuous strip of dense and cold clumps of material forms an infinity symbol, or sideways 8, that is a few hundred light years across. In this image, the strip twists around an invisible axis running roughly from the top left to the bottom right. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
A duo of researchers from the Czech Republic has performed a study of the neutral hydrogen supershell known as GS242-03+37, a large structure in the Milky Way galaxy. The research, presented in a paper published September 11 on arXiv.org, provides insights into the nature of this supershell and into its interactions with surroundings. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
There are about 4433 exoplanets in the latest catalogs. Their radii have generally been measured by knowing the radius of their host star and then closely fitting the lightcurves as the planet transits across the face of the star. The radius of the host star is thus a key parameter and latest data release of the Gaia mission has enabled astronomers to improve the accuracy of stellar properties in its catalog very significantly – to a precision in radius of about 8 percent—for nearly one hundred and eight thousand stars in the Kepler exoplanet fields. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Astronomers find Planet Vulcan – 40 Eridani A – Right Where Star Trek Predicted it. One of the more interesting and rewarding aspects of astronomy and space exploration is seeing science fiction become science fact. While we are still many years away from colonizing the Solar System or reaching the nearest stars (if we ever do), there are still many rewarding discoveries being made that are fulfilling the fevered dreams … Continue reading “Astronomers find Planet Vulcan – 40 Eridani A – Right Where Star Trek Predicted it.” The post Astronomers find Planet Vulcan – 40 Eridani A – Right Where Star Trek Predicted it.Read More →
Inside the Crust of Neutron Stars, There’s Nuclear Pasta; the Hardest Known Substance in the Universe A new study has shown that “nuclear pasta”, which exists beneath crust of a neutron star, is the strongest material is the Universe. The post Inside the Crust of Neutron Stars, There’s Nuclear Pasta; the Hardest Known Substance in the Universe appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Ice Volcanoes on Ceres are Still Actively Blasting out Material In science, one discovery often leads to more questions and mysteries. That’s certainly true of the ice volcanoes on the dwarf planet Ceres. When the Dawn spacecraft discovered the massive cryovolcano called Ahuna Mons on the surface of Ceres, it led to more questions: How cryovolcanically active is Ceres? And, why do we only see … Continue reading “Ice Volcanoes on Ceres are Still Actively Blasting out Material” The post Ice Volcanoes on Ceres are Still Actively Blasting out Material appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Sun-like stars rotate up to two and a half times faster at the equator than at higher latitudes, a finding by researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi that challenges current science on how stars rotate. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Narrowing Down the Mass of the Milky Way Using information from Gaia’s second data release, a team of scientists have made refined measurements of the mass of the Milky Way. The post Narrowing Down the Mass of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
A UK team of astronomers report the first detection of matter falling into a black hole at 30 percent of the speed of light, located in the centre of the billion-light year distant galaxy PG211+143. The team, led by Professor Ken Pounds of the University of Leicester, used data from the European Space Agency’s X-ray observatory XMM-Newton to observe the black hole. Their results appear in a new paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), European astronomers have uncovered the presence of an M-dwarf around the star EPIC 206011496. The newly found object is more than 60 percent less massive than our sun and is bounded to the primary star. The finding is reported in a paper published September 10 on arXiv.org. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
A team led by researchers from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB, UB-IEEC) and the University of Groningen has found, through the analysis of Gaia data, substructures in the Milky Way that were previously unknown. The findings, which appeared when combining positions and speed of 6 million stars from the galactic disk, have been published in the journal Nature. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →
