Detecting the Neutrinos From a Supernova That’s About to Explode Neutrinos are puzzling things. They’re tiny particles, almost massless, with no electrical charge. They’re notoriously difficult to detect, too, and scientists have gone to great lengths to detect them. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, for instance, tries to detect neutrinos with strings of detectors buried down […]
Dawn Patrol: Jupiter and Saturn at Opposition 2020 Missing the planets in the first half of 2020? That’s all about to change, as the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn reach opposition in rapid succession this month, heralding a return to the dusk sky. The post Dawn Patrol: Jupiter and Saturn at Opposition 2020 appeared first […]
A Tabletop-sized Experiment Could Help in the Search for Dark Matter Dark matter is one of the least understood aspects in physics. The evidence for dark matter is from its gravitational influence on galactic scales which cannot be explained by the presence of conventional matter. Despite its large gravitational interactions, it is notoriously difficult to […]
Electron Rocket’s 13th Launch Failed, Destroying its Satellite Payload In what would have been the 12th successful launch of their Electron rocket, Rocket Lab The post Electron Rocket’s 13th Launch Failed, Destroying its Satellite Payload appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source
The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. Normally this Looks Like a Dark Blob in the Sky. But in Infrared, it Looks Like This. The Corona Australis is a constellation in the southern hemisphere. It’s name literally means “southern crown.” One of its features is the Corona Australis molecular cloud, home to a star-forming region containing young […]
The Moon Might Be More Metal-Rich Than We Thought A new study shows that the Moon is more metal-rich than previously thought. That has some far-reaching implications for our understanding of the Moon’s formation. If their results are solid, it means that we may need to re-think the giant impact hypothesis for the formation of […]
Amateur Astronomers Find a Brand New Storm on Jupiter Amateur astronomers have discovered a new storm near the Great Red Spot. The post Amateur Astronomers Find a Brand New Storm on Jupiter appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source
Betelgeuse Probably Dimmed Because of Enormous Starspots A few months ago we all watched as Betelgeuse dimmed. Between October 2019 and 22nd of February 2020 the star’s brightness dropped by a factor of about three. It went from magnitude 0.5, and from being the tenth-brightest star in the sky, to magnitude 1.7. Naturally, we all […]
NGC 2275: An Absolute Unit of Galactic Flocculence The Hubble Space Telescope has the knack for finding every size and shape of galaxy imaginable – from small, medium to large, all the way up to absolute units. This unusual galaxy, named NGC 2775, is incredibly fluffy-looking, or flocculent. It’s definitely a spiral, but instead of […]
China’s Mars Rover Launches in Late July In July there’s another launch window to Mars. It looks like China is ready to take advantage of it, by launching their first rover to the planet. It’s called Tianwen-1, meaning “Heavenly Questions”, or “Questions to Heaven.” The complete mission consists of a lander, an orbiter, and a […]
There’s a Black Hole With 34 Billion Times the Mass of the Sun, Eating Roughly a Star Every Day In the 1960s, astronomers began theorizing that there might be black holes in the Universe that are so massive – supermassive black holes (SMBHs) – they could power the nuclei of active galaxies (aka. quasars). A […]
Astronomers See Through the Milky Way’s Dust to Track Where Radiation is Coming From at the Center of the Galaxy The center of our very own galaxy might be one of the Universe’s most mysterious places. Astronomers have to probe through thick dust to see what’s going on there. All that dust makes life difficult […]
Breakthrough Listen Releases its one-of-Everything “Exotica” Catalog Breakthrough Listen, the largest SETI effort ever mounted, just released a list of over 700 objects that could be of interest to people looking for aliens! The post Breakthrough Listen Releases its one-of-Everything “Exotica” Catalog appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source
One of the Best Pictures Ever Taken of ISS from the Ground. You Can Even See the Canadarm2 Astrophotographer Thierry Legault is renowned for his amazing shots of spacecraft transiting the Sun. He’s now outdone even himself. On June 24 and 25, 2020, Legault captured the International Space Station passing in front of the Sun […]
Help NASA Develop a Better Space Toilet HeroX is one again hosting a NASA challenge, this time to develop a space toilet that will facilitate lunar exploration. The post Help NASA Develop a Better Space Toilet appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source
Astronomers Might Have Seen a Star Just Disappear. Turning Straight to a Black Hole Without a Supernova A brilliant blue star has disappeared from view, which could mean it became a black hole in a novel way. The post Astronomers Might Have Seen a Star Just Disappear. Turning Straight to a Black Hole Without a […]
Take a Flight Over Korolev Crater on Mars We love flyover videos from other worlds. These stunning videos, created from imagery gathered by orbiting spacecraft, can give us a sense of what it would be like to fly in an airplane on another planet. This latest flyover video from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express […]
Behold! The Martian Menu, Courtesy of Mars City Design! Every year since 2012, Mars City Design hosts the Mars Feast Gala, where talented chefs create tantalizing entrees based on what future generations could grow on Mars. The post Behold! The Martian Menu, Courtesy of Mars City Design! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go […]
It Was Almost Certainly an Asteroid Impact that Wiped Out the Dinosaurs. In Fact, Volcanoes Might Have Helped Life Recover It seems almost certain that an asteroid impact wiped out the dinosaurs. But only almost. Another competing theory won’t completely go away: the extinction-by-volcano theory. A new study from the UK piles more evidence on […]
Weekly Space Hangout: July 1, 2020 — Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of Berkeley SETI Research Center This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center, to the WSH. As an astrophysicist, Andrew’s research interests include high energy time-variable celestial phenomena, astronomical instrumentation and the search for extraterrestrial […]
