Universe Today (Page 205)

The Interior of Enceladus Looks Really Great for Supporting Life When NASA’s Voyager spacecraft visited Saturn’s moon Enceladus, they found a body with young, reflective, icy surface features. Some parts of the surface were older and marked with craters, but the rest had clearly been resurfaced. It was clear evidence that Enceladus was geologically active. The moon is also close to Saturn’s E-ring, and scientists … Continue reading “The Interior of Enceladus Looks Really Great for Supporting Life” The post The Interior of Enceladus Looks Really Great for Supporting Life appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Chang’e-5 Brought Home 1.7 Kilograms of Lunar Samples China’s Chang’e-5 lunar lander retrieved about 1.7 kilograms (3.81 pounds) of samples from the Moon, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).  The Chang’e-5 sample return capsule landed in China’s Inner Mongolia region on December 16, 2020, successfully capping a 23-day odyssey that brought back the first lunar rocks since 1976. CNSA handed over … Continue reading “Chang’e-5 Brought Home 1.7 Kilograms of Lunar Samples” The post Chang’e-5 Brought Home 1.7 Kilograms of Lunar Samples appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Discover Hundreds of High-Velocity Stars, Many on Their Way Out of the Milky Way Combining data from two of the largest databases in the world, an international team of astronomers was able to doubledthe number of known high-velocity stars The post Astronomers Discover Hundreds of High-Velocity Stars, Many on Their Way Out of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Improve Their Distance Scale for the Universe. Unfortunately, it Doesn’t Resolve the Crisis in Cosmology Astronomers have made the cosmic distant ladder more accurate, but that has only made the mystery of cosmic expansion even worse. The post Astronomers Improve Their Distance Scale for the Universe. Unfortunately, it Doesn’t Resolve the Crisis in Cosmology appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Personnel of Space Force Will be Called Guardians According to VP Mike Pence, personnel serving in the U.S. Space Force will henceforth be known as “Guardians”! The post The Personnel of Space Force Will be Called Guardians appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Some of Hayabusa2’s Samples are as Big as a Centimeter A fireball hurtled across the sky on December 5th – the sample return capsule from the Hayabusa2 asteroid mission by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The capsule landed in Woomera, a remote location in the Australian Outback. Earlier this month, the capsule’s sample containers revealed fine grain topsoil from asteroid 162173 Ryugu. A second sample … Continue reading “Some of Hayabusa2’s Samples are as Big as a Centimeter” The post Some of Hayabusa2’s Samples are as Big as a Centimeter appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Plans for a Mars Sample Return Mission Have Moved to the Next Stage The Mars Sample Return (MSR) program, a joint effort between NASA and the ESA to bring samples of Mars back to Earth, just moved into the next phase of development! The post Plans for a Mars Sample Return Mission Have Moved to the Next Stage appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Layers Upon Layers of Rock in Candor Chasma on Mars In many ways, Mars is the planet that is most similar to the Earth. The red world has polar ice caps, a nearly 24-hour rotation period (about 24 hours and 37 minutes), mountains, plains, dust storms, volcanoes, a population of robots, many of which are old and no longer work, and even a Grand Canyon … Continue reading “Layers Upon Layers of Rock in Candor Chasma on Mars” The post Layers Upon Layers of Rock in Candor Chasma on Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Planetary Scientists Have Created a Map of Mars’ Entire Ancient River Systems Navigating and mapping rivers has long been a central component in human exploration.  Whether it was Powell exploring the Colorado’s canyons or Pizarro using the Amazon to try to find El Dorado, rivers, and our exploration of them, have been extremely important.  Now, scientists have mapped out an entirely new, unique river basin.  This one … Continue reading “Planetary Scientists Have Created a Map of Mars’ Entire Ancient River Systems” The post Planetary Scientists Have Created a Map of Mars’ Entire Ancient River Systems appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

A Steampunk Engine to Solve Your Satellite Woes! NASA contractor Howe Industries just presented their design for a “steampunk” engine that could allow satellites to maneuver, without the need for toxic propellants or heavy engines. The post A Steampunk Engine to Solve Your Satellite Woes! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hubble Releases a New Image of Neptune, Revealing a Rapidly Shifting Storm Storms on Neptune seem to follow a pattern of forming, strengthening and then dissipating over the course of about two Earth years. But a Neptunian storm spotted in the planet’s atmosphere over two years ago has done something quite different: it has reversed course and is still going strong. The storm, which is wider than … Continue reading “Hubble Releases a New Image of Neptune, Revealing a Rapidly Shifting Storm” The post Hubble Releases a New Image of Neptune, Revealing a Rapidly Shifting Storm appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Astronomers Capture a Direct Image of a Brown Dwarf The field of exoplanet photography is just getting underway, with astronomers around the world striving to capture clear images of the more than 4000 exoplanets discovered to date. Some of these exoplanets are more interesting to image and research than others.  That is certainly the case for a type of exoplanet called a brown dwarf.  … Continue reading “Astronomers Capture a Direct Image of a Brown Dwarf” The post Astronomers Capture a Direct Image of a Brown Dwarf appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

ESA is Working on its own Reusable Booster Stage As part of their Themis Program, the ESA is developing reusable rocket technology. The post ESA is Working on its own Reusable Booster Stage appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Asteroids Crashing Into Dead Stars are Helping Explain Where the Universe’s Missing Lithium Went What happened to all the lithium? The question has stumped astronomers for decades. While cosmologists have successfully predicted the abundance of the other light elements from the Big Bang, lithium has always come up short. Now, a team of astronomers may have found the reason: lithium-rich asteroids are smashing into white dwarves. As amazing as … Continue reading “Asteroids Crashing Into Dead Stars are Helping Explain Where the Universe’s Missing Lithium Went” The post Asteroids Crashing Into Dead Stars are Helping Explain Where the Universe’s Missing Lithium Went appeared first onRead More →

Brines Could be Present on the Surface of Mars for up to 12 Hours, Never for a Full day We are extremely interested in the possibility of water on Mars, because where there’s water, there’s the potential for life. But a new study throws a bit of a wet blanket (pun intended) on that tantalizing possibility. Unfortunately, it looks like even the saltiest of brines can only exist on the Martian surface for up … Continue reading “Brines Could be Present on the Surface of Mars for up to 12 Hours, Never for a Full day” The post Brines Could be Present on the SurfaceRead More →

New Data Supports the Modified Gravity Explanation for Dark Matter, Much to the Surprise of the Researchers A team of astronomers set out to disprove modified gravity, and ended up confirming it instead. The post New Data Supports the Modified Gravity Explanation for Dark Matter, Much to the Surprise of the Researchers appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

To Help Trudge Through the Snow, the Chang’e-5 Recovery Team Wore Powered Exoskeletons Other worlds aren’t the only difficult terrain personnel will have to traverse in humanity’s exploration of the solar system.  There are some parts of our own planet that are inhospitable and hard to travel over.  Inner Mongolia, a northern province of China, would certainly classify as one of those areas, especially in winter.  But that’s … Continue reading “To Help Trudge Through the Snow, the Chang’e-5 Recovery Team Wore Powered Exoskeletons” The post To Help Trudge Through the Snow, the Chang’e-5 Recovery Team Wore Powered Exoskeletons appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Even the Outside of Hayabusa 2’s Sample Capsule has Asteroid Debris on it According to statements made by JAXA, the samples returned by the Hayabusa 2 mission included black sand and gases obtained from the asteroid itself. The post Even the Outside of Hayabusa 2’s Sample Capsule has Asteroid Debris on it appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

One of the Largest, Most Complete Einstein Rings Ever Seen. Astronomers Call it the “Molten Ring” A very rare astronomical phenomenon has been in the headlines a lot recently, and for good reason.  It will be hundreds of years until we can see Jupiter and Saturn this close to one another again.  However, there are some even more “truly strange and very rare phenomena” that can currently be observed in our … Continue reading “One of the Largest, Most Complete Einstein Rings Ever Seen. Astronomers Call it the “Molten Ring”” The post One of the Largest, Most Complete Einstein Rings Ever Seen. Astronomers Call itRead More →

Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XV: What is the Percolation Theory Hypothesis? Could it be that the reason we haven’t met any aliens is because interstellar colonization simply isn’t practical? Not exactly good news for us! The post Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XV: What is the Percolation Theory Hypothesis? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →