Universe Today (Page 206)

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 →

A Single Filament of Gas Has Been Discovered That Stretches 50 Million Light-Years Minute vibrating strings found in string theory are not the only ones that are of interest to physicists.  The Standard Model of particle physics provides for a theory regarding a different type of string – this one is a string of very sparse gas strung over very long distances.  In fact, the standard model predicts … Continue reading “A Single Filament of Gas Has Been Discovered That Stretches 50 Million Light-Years” The post A Single Filament of Gas Has Been Discovered That Stretches 50 Million Light-Years appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Astronomy 2021: Top Events for the Coming Year Eclipses, meteor showers, occultations and more. The post Astronomy 2021: Top Events for the Coming Year appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Very Interesting Radio Signal was Just Detected Coming from Proxima Centauri There’s a powerful scene in the movie “Contact” (one of my favs) where lead character Ellie Arroway is sitting among an array of telescopes and hears the first alien signal – an ominous pulse – received by humanity. She races back to the control center where the array is pointed off target and then back … Continue reading “A Very Interesting Radio Signal was Just Detected Coming from Proxima Centauri” The post A Very Interesting Radio Signal was Just Detected Coming from Proxima Centauri appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

If a Planet Has a Lot of Methane in its Atmosphere, Life is the Most Likely Cause The ultra-powerful James Webb Space Telescope will launch soon. Once it’s deployed, and in position at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2, it’ll begin work. One of its jobs is to examine the atmospheres of exoplanets and look for biosignatures. It should be simple, right? Just scan the atmosphere until you find oxygen, then close your … Continue reading “If a Planet Has a Lot of Methane in its Atmosphere, Life is the Most Likely Cause” The post If a Planet Has a Lot of Methane in its Atmosphere,Read More →

A Proposal for a Neutrino Detection Array Spanning 200,000 Square Kilometers Sometimes in astronomy the acronym for a project fits it particularly well.  That would absolutely be the case for the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection, who hopes to scale up to a size of 200,000 sq km in an effort to measure ultra-high-energy tau-neutrinos.  Is it ambitious?  Yes, but that doesn’t really stop humanity … Continue reading “A Proposal for a Neutrino Detection Array Spanning 200,000 Square Kilometers” The post A Proposal for a Neutrino Detection Array Spanning 200,000 Square Kilometers appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Canadian Astronaut Will be on Artemis 2, Making it the Second Nation to Send Humans Into Deep Space (but not Walk on the Moon) NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have announced that a Canadian astronaut will fly as part of the Artemis II mission. The post A Canadian Astronaut Will be on Artemis 2, Making it the Second Nation to Send Humans Into Deep Space (but not Walk on the Moon) appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

If Axions Explain Dark Matter, it Could be Possible to Detect Them Nearby Neutron Stars Astronomers look for dark matter in the radio signals of neutron stars. If found it could solve two problems in fundamental physics. The post If Axions Explain Dark Matter, it Could be Possible to Detect Them Nearby Neutron Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA Announces its Artemis Astronauts: 18 People Training to Fly to the Moon NASA has announced the names of the 18 astronauts that make up the Artemis Team. A select few, and some international partners, will be going back to the Moon! The post NASA Announces its Artemis Astronauts: 18 People Training to Fly to the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s Planning to Launch a Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory in the 2030s: TianQin. Here’s how it’ll Stack up Against LISA The successful detection of gravitational waves has been a game-changer for astronomy. And now the new frontier is in space, with satellite-based detection systems currently in development that will uncover some of the universe’s biggest mysteries. And while the team behind LISA is now developing that observatory in space, it just may be outclassed by … Continue reading “China’s Planning to Launch a Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory in the 2030s: TianQin. Here’s how it’ll Stack up Against LISA” The post China’s Planning to Launch aRead More →

This galaxy took only 500 million years to form Galaxies are supposed to build up a very slowly, taking billions of years to acquire their vast bulk. But a newfound galaxy, appearing in the universe when it was only 1.8 billion years old, tells a different tale. It formed stars at a rate hundreds of times greater than the Milky Way, and was able … Continue reading “This galaxy took only 500 million years to form” The post This galaxy took only 500 million years to form appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XIV: What is the Aurora Hypothesis? Is it possible that we haven’t heard from aliens because colonizing exoplanets is hazardous to your health? So says the Aurora Hypothesis! The post Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XIV: What is the Aurora Hypothesis? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Radio Emissions Have Been Detected from an Exoplanet Invisible Glow Finding planets out in the Universe is pretty hard. I say this despite the fact that two planets in Earth’s skies are aligning tomorrow to form one of the brightest objects seen in hundreds of years. But while the brilliant Jupiter and Saturn are always visible to the naked eye, Neptune wasn’t directly … Continue reading “Radio Emissions Have Been Detected from an Exoplanet” The post Radio Emissions Have Been Detected from an Exoplanet appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The European Extremely Large Telescope Just Got a 10% Budget Boost, Now Costing $1.5 Billion Funding is an extremely important aspect of any large-scale science project.  The whims of financial controllers can greatly expand or completely sink the efforts of hundred or thousands of other workers.  Many times, funding announcements for large scientific projects focus on cuts or “cost-savings” which hobble the eventual end system they are trying to build.  … Continue reading “The European Extremely Large Telescope Just Got a 10% Budget Boost, Now Costing $1.5 Billion” The post The European Extremely Large Telescope Just Got a 10% Budget Boost, Now Costing $1.5 BillionRead More →

Here are NASA’s Science Priorities for the Artemis Missions NASA has released the Artemis III Science Definition Team Report, which defines the science operations that the “first woman and next man” will conduct on the Moon in 2024. The post Here are NASA’s Science Priorities for the Artemis Missions appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

White House Encourages NASA to Work on Space-Based Nuclear Power and Propulsion Systems In what’s likely to be one of the last space policy initiatives of his administration, President Donald Trump has issued a directive that lays out a roadmap for nuclear power applications beyond Earth. Space Policy Directive 6, released on December 16th, calls on NASA and other federal agencies to advance the development of in-space nuclear … Continue reading “White House Encourages NASA to Work on Space-Based Nuclear Power and Propulsion Systems” The post White House Encourages NASA to Work on Space-Based Nuclear Power and Propulsion Systems appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Here’s Chang’e-5, Seen From Lunar Orbit Images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) show where the Chang’e-5 mission landed. The samples obtained by this lander were recently returned to Earth. The post Here’s Chang’e-5, Seen From Lunar Orbit appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Pictures are coming in from Solar Orbiter One of the best things about astronomy is that it’s a never-ending supply of awesome visuals.  Almost every new mission or telescope provides new ways to see the universe, and when those are translated visually they can offer absolutely stunning images of some of the most interesting places in that universe.  Now humanity is starting … Continue reading “Pictures are coming in from Solar Orbiter” The post Pictures are coming in from Solar Orbiter appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Kilonova-Chasing Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer is About to be Watching the Whole Sky Lately there has been a flood of interest in gravitational waves.  After the first official detection at LIGO / Virgo in 2015, data has been coming in showing how common these once theoretical phenomena actually are.  Usually they are caused by unimaginably violent events, such as a merging pair of black holes.  Such events also … Continue reading “The Kilonova-Chasing Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer is About to be Watching the Whole Sky” The post The Kilonova-Chasing Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer is About to be Watching the Whole Sky appeared first onRead More →