Universe Today (Page 212)

Weekly Space Hangout: December 9, 2020 – Casey Dreier: Are Changes Coming to NASA/US Space Policy? We are pleased to once again welcome Casey Dreier from the Planetary Society to the WSH. Casey will update us (as much as possible) about Space Policy changes that may occur once the new American Presidential administration takes office on January 20, 2021. As Chief Advocate, Casey is the public face of The Planetary Society’s … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: December 9, 2020 – Casey Dreier: Are Changes Coming to NASA/US Space Policy?” The post Weekly Space Hangout: December 9, 2020 – Casey Dreier: Are Changes Coming toRead More →

SpaceX’s SN8 Starship Soars and Belly-Flops, but Fails to Stick the Landing. Oh Well, Bring on the SN9! SpaceX launched the SN8 Starship prototype early today and while it failed to stick the landing, the flight was an overall success! The post SpaceX’s SN8 Starship Soars and Belly-Flops, but Fails to Stick the Landing. Oh Well, Bring on the SN9! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Heard of Mini-Neptunes and gas-Dwarfs? Here’s a new one: sub-Earths A new study suggests that planets smaller than Earth form much later than large planets, which could point to a rare Earth. The post Heard of Mini-Neptunes and gas-Dwarfs? Here’s a new one: sub-Earths appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Company is Hoping to Race Rovers on the Moon There is an argument to be made about playing sports in space.  Differences in gravity, atmospheres, and even “weather” can make for some interesting variation of well known sports.  And if there’s one sport that’s been around for as long as humanity, it’s racing.  Viewers that tune in for the entertainment could provide a great … Continue reading “A Company is Hoping to Race Rovers on the Moon” The post A Company is Hoping to Race Rovers on the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

You’re Going to Need a Bigger Drill. The Best Place for Life on Mars is Deep, Deep Underground New research has indicated that subterranean lakes could exist on Mars thanks to geothermal heating, which is where any life there could be found today. The post You’re Going to Need a Bigger Drill. The Best Place for Life on Mars is Deep, Deep Underground appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Glycine Can Form In Interstellar Clouds Author’s note: This article was written in collaboration with Vincent Kofman, a co-author of the paper it discusses and Post Doctoral Researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Amino acids are one of the most important building blocks of life as we know it. At its core, they contain an amino and an acid group, … Continue reading “Glycine Can Form In Interstellar Clouds” The post Glycine Can Form In Interstellar Clouds appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XIII: The Ocean Worlds Hypothesis Could it be that we haven’t heard from any aliens because theyre mainly space whales living live inside icy bodies with interior oceans? The post Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XIII: The Ocean Worlds Hypothesis appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Iceberg A-68A is Turning. Will it Miss South Georgia Island After All? A massive iceberg named A-68A is on a long journey through the seas near Antarctica. Though largely empty, those waters do host some islands, most notably South Georgia Island. In recent weeks satellite images showed the iceberg heading right for South Georgia. That upcoming collision could have devastating consequences for wildlife that congregates on the … Continue reading “Iceberg A-68A is Turning. Will it Miss South Georgia Island After All?” The post Iceberg A-68A is Turning. Will it Miss South Georgia Island After All? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

It Took 50 Nights of Observations to Capture New Data on the Magellanic Clouds The Magellanic Clouds are two of our closest neighbours, in galactic terms. The pair of irregular dwarf galaxies were drawn into the Milky Way’s orbit in the distant past, and we’ve been looking up at them since the dawn of humanity. Some of our ancestors even gathered pigments and created images of them in petroglyphs … Continue reading “It Took 50 Nights of Observations to Capture New Data on the Magellanic Clouds” The post It Took 50 Nights of Observations to Capture New Data on the Magellanic Clouds appeared first onRead More →

A Sunspot Seen by the Most Powerful Solar Telescope in the World A new image from the world’s largest solar observatory shows a spectacular, high resolution view of a gigantic sunspot. The sunpspot measures about 16,000 km (10,000 miles) across, large enough that Earth could fit inside. The image was taken by the new Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the summit of Haleakala, Maui, in … Continue reading “A Sunspot Seen by the Most Powerful Solar Telescope in the World” The post A Sunspot Seen by the Most Powerful Solar Telescope in the World appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

20 Years of Hubble Photos Show how the Stingray Nebula is Fading The Stingray Nebula is the youngest known planetary nebula. For half a century astronomers have witnessed its formation, and now they’ve noticed something strange: it’s fading away. “This is very, very dramatic, and very weird,” said Martín A. Guerrero of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada, Spain, one of the co-authors of a … Continue reading “20 Years of Hubble Photos Show how the Stingray Nebula is Fading” The post 20 Years of Hubble Photos Show how the Stingray Nebula is Fading appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

This is Not a Photo of the Milky Way. It’s the Map of 1.8 Billion Stars From Gaia’s Major New Data Release Thanks to the latest data release from the ESA’s Gaia mission, researchers are making all kinds of discoveries about the Milky Way and how its structure is evolving over time. The post This is Not a Photo of the Milky Way. It’s the Map of 1.8 Billion Stars From Gaia’s Major New Data Release appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

If There’s Subsurface Water Across Mars, Where is it Safe to Land to Avoid Contamination? If Mars is a potential home for alien life, can we land safely anywhere on the surface without introducing contamination of Earth-born bacteria? A new study has some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Mars is likely completely inhospitable to life. The bad news is that Mars is…likely completely inhospitable … Continue reading “If There’s Subsurface Water Across Mars, Where is it Safe to Land to Avoid Contamination?” The post If There’s Subsurface Water Across Mars, Where is it Safe to Land to Avoid Contamination?Read More →

Chinese Spacecraft Dock in Lunar Orbit for Transfer of Moon Samples – Next Stop, Earth! Two robotic Chinese spacecraft have docked in lunar orbit for the first time ever, in preparation for sending samples from the Moon to Earth. The lunar ascent module for China’s Chang’e-5 mission was captured by the metal claws of the mission’s orbiter at 5:42 a.m. Beijing time December 6th (2142 UTC December 5th), the China … Continue reading “Chinese Spacecraft Dock in Lunar Orbit for Transfer of Moon Samples – Next Stop, Earth!” The post Chinese Spacecraft Dock in Lunar Orbit for Transfer of Moon Samples – Next Stop, Earth!Read More →

Astronauts Will be Able to Extract Fuel, Air, and Water From Martian Brine A team of researchers have created an electrolyzer that could be a game-changer for exploration missions on Mars. The post Astronauts Will be Able to Extract Fuel, Air, and Water From Martian Brine appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 Probe Drops Off Bits of an Asteroid and Heads for Its Next Target Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe zoomed past Earth on December 5th and dropped off a capsule containing samples of an asteroid, finishing a six-year round trip. But the mission is far from over: While Hayabusa 2’s parachute-equipped sample capsule descended to the Australian Outback, its mothership set a new course for an encounter with yet another … Continue reading “Japan’s Hayabusa 2 Probe Drops Off Bits of an Asteroid and Heads for Its Next Target” The post Japan’s Hayabusa 2 Probe Drops Off Bits of an Asteroid and Heads forRead More →

25 Years of Solar Cycles in One Incredible SOHO Mosaic For a quarter of a century, the ESA-NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has been essential in helping scientists understand the heart of our Solar System, the Sun. The SOHO mission launched 25 years ago this week, and to celebrate, ESA compiled a wonderful mosaic of images, and NASA put together a remarkable SOHO “greatest … Continue reading “25 Years of Solar Cycles in One Incredible SOHO Mosaic” The post 25 Years of Solar Cycles in One Incredible SOHO Mosaic appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

An Astronomer Checked to see if There’s a Secret Message in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation One way to look for a message in the cosmic microwave background is to convert thermal fluctuations into a binary string. So what does it say? The post An Astronomer Checked to see if There’s a Secret Message in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Our Guide to This Month’s Total Solar Eclipse Over South America 2020 closes out with the final eclipse of the decade, as totality crosses the southern tip of South America on December 14th. The post Our Guide to This Month’s Total Solar Eclipse Over South America appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Solid Phosphorus has been Found in Comets. This Means They Contain All the Raw Elements for Life Did comets deliver the elements essential for life on Earth? It’s looking more and more like they could have. At least one comet might have, anyway: 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. A new study using data from the ESA’s Rosetta mission shows that the comet contains the life-critical element phosphorous. Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland led … Continue reading “Solid Phosphorus has been Found in Comets. This Means They Contain All the Raw Elements for Life” The post Solid Phosphorus has been Found in Comets. This Means They ContainRead More →