Universe Today (Page 214)

New Scans Give us a Better View of the Metal Asteroid Psyche In 2022, NASA will launch a spacecraft to asteroid Psyche (16 Psyche), one of the largest in the asteroid belt, and the only known asteroid to be composed almost entirely of metals like iron and nickel. Now, scientists have taken a new look at Psyche using the Hubble Space Telescope, conducting the first ultraviolet observations … Continue reading “New Scans Give us a Better View of the Metal Asteroid Psyche” The post New Scans Give us a Better View of the Metal Asteroid Psyche appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Based on Kepler Data, There’s a 95% Chance of an Earth-Like Planet Within 20 Light-Years Combining data from the retired Kepler mission with the Gaia Observatory, a team of scientists have produced new estimates for how many habitable planets could be out there. The post Based on Kepler Data, There’s a 95% Chance of an Earth-Like Planet Within 20 Light-Years appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Are the Clouds of Jupiter Haunted? Are spirits amongst the clouds of Jupiter? The answer might be yes! A recent publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets has identified what appear to be “Spites” in the Jovian Atmosphere. In European Folklore, ‘Sprites’ (derived from Latin ‘spiritus’ or spirit) were elemental and ethereal beings visiting Earth. The term is fitting for … Continue reading “Are the Clouds of Jupiter Haunted?” The post Are the Clouds of Jupiter Haunted? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA Announces the Discovery of Water in the Sunlit Parts of the Moon A new study, based on SOFIA data, has found that water can exist in sunlit areas on the Moon, not just in permanently-shadowed craters! The post NASA Announces the Discovery of Water in the Sunlit Parts of the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Galaxies Grew Quickly and Early On in the Universe The behaviour of galaxies in the early Universe attracts a lot of attention from researchers. In fact, everything about the early Universe is under intense scientific scrutiny for obvious reasons. But unlike the Universe’s first stars, which have all died long ago, the galaxies we see around us—including our own—have been here since the early … Continue reading “Galaxies Grew Quickly and Early On in the Universe” The post Galaxies Grew Quickly and Early On in the Universe appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Something other than just gravity is contributing to the shape of dark matter halos Galactic dark matter is in a state of maximum entropy, which means it must interact with itself. The post Something other than just gravity is contributing to the shape of dark matter halos appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA releases new spooky space-themed posters about extreme places in the Universe While ghouls and goblins may provide the ghastly delights many of us associate with this time of year, NASA has just released a series of spooky space-themed posters that are more unearthly than any monsters or scary stories told around terrestrial campfires. This year for Halloween, the space agency has released a series of spine-tingling … Continue reading “NASA releases new spooky space-themed posters about extreme places in the Universe” The post NASA releases new spooky space-themed posters about extreme places in the Universe appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: October 28, 2020, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, SETI Institute This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Natalie Cabrol, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute (SI), to the show. In addition to heading the strategic vision for science and exploration at the SI, Nathalie leads research projects in planetary science and astrobiology, develops science exploration strategies for Mars, … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: October 28, 2020, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, SETI Institute” The post Weekly Space Hangout: October 28, 2020, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, SETI Institute appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

New Simulation Shows Exactly What’s Happening as Neutron Stars Merge Neutron stars are the remnants of massive stars that explode as supernovae at the end of their fusion lives. They’re super-dense cores where all of the protons and electrons are crushed into neutrons by the overpowering gravity of the dead star. They’re the smallest and densest stellar objects, except for black holes, and possibly other … Continue reading “New Simulation Shows Exactly What’s Happening as Neutron Stars Merge” The post New Simulation Shows Exactly What’s Happening as Neutron Stars Merge appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Room-temperature Superconductivity Achieved for the First Time, but There’s a Catch One of the most interesting things about space exploration is how many technologies have an impact on our ability to reach farther.  New technologies that might not immediately be used in space can still eventually have a profound long-term impact.  On the other hand, everyone knows some technologies will be immediately game changing.  Superconductors, or … Continue reading “Room-temperature Superconductivity Achieved for the First Time, but There’s a Catch” The post Room-temperature Superconductivity Achieved for the First Time, but There’s a Catch appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Youngest Stellar Disk Ever Seen, Just 500,000 Years Old Unless you’re reading this in an aircraft or the International Space Station, then you’re currently residing on the surface of a planet. You’re here because the planet is here. But how did the planet get here? Like a rolling snowball picking up more snow, planets form from lose dust and gas surrounding young stars. As … Continue reading “The Youngest Stellar Disk Ever Seen, Just 500,000 Years Old” The post The Youngest Stellar Disk Ever Seen, Just 500,000 Years Old appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Why Does the Moon’s Ryder Crater Look This Way? This may be one of the strangest craters you’ll ever see. Ryder crater is located near the south pole of our Moon, and it has a bizarre oblong shape (approximately 13 x 17 km in size),  with a ridge cutting across the middle. The majority of impact craters are round. How did Ryder crater end … Continue reading “Why Does the Moon’s Ryder Crater Look This Way?” The post Why Does the Moon’s Ryder Crater Look This Way? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

ISS Crew Return Safely to Earth After 196 days in space, some record spacewalks, several experiments, and patching an air leak, the crew of Expedition 63 made it home safely! The post ISS Crew Return Safely to Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

What Martian Settlers Need to Know About Soil Can Teach us How to Grow Better on Earth The Soil Health in Space experiment is now being conducted on the ISS, which could lead to sustainable farming on the Moon, Mars, and also Earth! The post What Martian Settlers Need to Know About Soil Can Teach us How to Grow Better on Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

This is What Perseverance’s Landing Site Looked Like Billions of Years Ago. See Why it’s Such a Compelling Target? Today is a milestone in NASA’s Perseverance mission to Mars. At 1:40 pm Pacific time today, the rover will have traveled 235.4 million km (146.3 million miles). That means the spacecraft is halfway to Mars and its rendezvous with Jezero Crater. The spacecraft isn’t traveling in a straight line, and the planets are moving, so … Continue reading “This is What Perseverance’s Landing Site Looked Like Billions of Years Ago. See Why it’s Such a Compelling Target?” The post This is What Perseverance’s Landing Site LookedRead More →

Scientists in Japan Have Found a Detailed Record of the Earth’s Last Magnetic Reversal, 773,000 Years Ago Every 200,000 to 300,000 years Earth’s magnetic poles reverse. What was once the north pole becomes the south, and vice versa. It’s a time of invisible upheaval. The last reversal was unusual because it was so long ago. For some reason, the poles have remained oriented the way they are now for about three-quarters of … Continue reading “Scientists in Japan Have Found a Detailed Record of the Earth’s Last Magnetic Reversal, 773,000 Years Ago” The post Scientists in Japan Have Found a Detailed Record of the Earth’sRead More →

Boo! A Halloween Blue Moon The final ‘Blue Moon’ of the decade rounds out October 2020. The post Boo! A Halloween Blue Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

OSIRIS-REx Collected So Much Material, the Sample Capsule Overflowed. Time to Bring it All Home. Is there such as thing as too much asteroid? Scientists and engineers for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx decided to perform an “early stow” of the sample from Asteroid Bennu collected by the spacecraft on October 20, because the collection container is full-to-overflowing, possibly jamming the collector head from sealing shut. Images sent back from OSIRIS-REx on Oct. … Continue reading “OSIRIS-REx Collected So Much Material, the Sample Capsule Overflowed. Time to Bring it All Home.” The post OSIRIS-REx Collected So Much Material, the Sample Capsule Overflowed. Time to Bring it All Home.Read More →

Astronomers are ready and waiting to detect the neutrino blast from a nearby supernova explosion like Betelgeuse When giant stars die in impressive supernova blasts, about 99% of the energy released goes into producing a flood of neutrinos. These tiny, ghostly particles slip through tons of matter like it’s not even there. But a new generation of detectors will be able to catch them, telling us of the inner machinations of the … Continue reading “Astronomers are ready and waiting to detect the neutrino blast from a nearby supernova explosion like Betelgeuse” The post Astronomers are ready and waiting to detect the neutrino blast fromRead More →

Astronomers Map Out the Raw Material for New Star Formation in the Milky Way A team of researchers has discovered a complex network of filamentary structures in the Milky Way. The structures are made of atomic hydrogen gas. And we all know that stars are made mostly of hydrogen gas. Not only is all that hydrogen potential future star-stuff, the team found that its filamentary structure is also a … Continue reading “Astronomers Map Out the Raw Material for New Star Formation in the Milky Way” The post Astronomers Map Out the Raw Material for New Star Formation in the Milky Way appeared first onRead More →