Universe Today (Page 232)

Here’s the New Space Force Logo The newest branch of the US Military has a logo and a motto now. The mottos is Semper Supra, meaning ‘Always Above’. The logo’s main feature is a delta wing design. The US Space Force is still in its infancy, after being officially created by the US President in December 2019. It’s the 6th branch … Continue reading “Here’s the New Space Force Logo” The post Here’s the New Space Force Logo appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Saturn-sized Planet Found in the Habitable Zone of Another Star. The First Planet Completely Discovered by Amateur Astronomers Exoplanets have been a particularly hot topic of late.  More than 4000 of them have been discovered since the first in 1995.  Now one more can potentially be added to the list. This one is orbiting Gliese 3470, a red dwarf star located in the constellation Cancer.  What makes this discovery particularly interesting is that … Continue reading “Saturn-sized Planet Found in the Habitable Zone of Another Star. The First Planet Completely Discovered by Amateur Astronomers” The post Saturn-sized Planet Found in the Habitable Zone of AnotherRead More →

This is What an Air-Breathing Electric Thruster’s Intake Would Look Like Like all other technologies, satellite technology has grown in leaps and bounds in the past couple decades. Satellites can monitor Earth in increasingly high resolutions, aiding everything from storm forecasting, to climate change monitoring, to predicting crop harvests. But there’s one thing still holding satellites back: altitude. Satellites could gather more data at better resolutions … Continue reading “This is What an Air-Breathing Electric Thruster’s Intake Would Look Like” The post This is What an Air-Breathing Electric Thruster’s Intake Would Look Like appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

According to Globular Clusters, the Universe is 13.35 Billion Years Old A new study by an international team of astronomers and cosmologists has used globular clusters to come up with new estimate for the age of the Universe. The post According to Globular Clusters, the Universe is 13.35 Billion Years Old appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Take a Flight Through the Most Detailed 3D Map of the Universe Ever Made Once I accidentally took a photo of one of the most important stars in the Universe… That star highlighted in the photo is called M31_V1 and resides in the Andromeda Galaxy. The Andromeda – AKA M31- is the closest galaxy to our own Milky Way. But before it was known as a galaxy, it was … Continue reading “Take a Flight Through the Most Detailed 3D Map of the Universe Ever Made” The post Take a Flight Through the Most Detailed 3D Map of the Universe Ever Made appeared first onRead More →

Gamma-Ray Telescopes Can Measure the Diameters of Other Stars Four gamma ray telescopes have used a new method of interferometry to measure the size of two stars. The post Gamma-Ray Telescopes Can Measure the Diameters of Other Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hubble Shows Saturn in the Middle of its Summer If you want an iconic picture of the planet Saturn, it doesn’t get any better than this. The latest picture from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a spectacular view of the ringed giant, taken on July 4, 2020. This shows a “summertime” view of Saturn’s northern hemisphere. Just like Earth, Saturn is tilted on its … Continue reading “Hubble Shows Saturn in the Middle of its Summer” The post Hubble Shows Saturn in the Middle of its Summer appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronauts Come Back to Earth on August 2nd, Completing the Full Crew Dragon Test On Sunday, August 2nd, astronauts Bog and Doug will return from the ISS, thus completing NASA’s first crewed mission from US soil in almost a decade. The post Astronauts Come Back to Earth on August 2nd, Completing the Full Crew Dragon Test appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Radishes Can Likely Grow in Lunar Regolith For many of us, gardening has been a therapeutic distraction during this time of pandemic quarantine. But some researchers from the Jet Propulsion Lab have been gardening at home with a specific goal in mind: growing food on the Moon. “We’re trying to show astronauts can use horticulture to grow their own food on the … Continue reading “Radishes Can Likely Grow in Lunar Regolith” The post Radishes Can Likely Grow in Lunar Regolith appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Moons of Uranus Are Fascinating Enough On Their Own That We Should Send a Flagship Mission Out There What’s the most interesting fact you know about Uranus? The fact that its rotational axis is completely out of line with every other planet in the solar system?  Or the fact that Uranus’ magnetosphere is asymmetrical, notably tilted relative to its rotational axis, and significantly offset from the center of the planet?  Or the fact … Continue reading “The Moons of Uranus Are Fascinating Enough On Their Own That We Should Send a Flagship Mission Out There” The post The Moons of Uranus Are Fascinating EnoughRead More →

What Cracked the Earth’s Outer Shell and Started its Plate Tectonics? Earth’s lithosphere is made up of seven large tectonic plates and a number of smaller ones. The theory of plate tectonics that describes how these plates move is about 50 years old. But there’s never really been an understanding of how this system developed, and how the Earth’s shell split into separate plates and started … Continue reading “What Cracked the Earth’s Outer Shell and Started its Plate Tectonics?” The post What Cracked the Earth’s Outer Shell and Started its Plate Tectonics? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Moon is an Ideal Spot for a Gravitational Wave Observatory A prestigious pair of astronomers have published a paper recommending that a gravitational wave observatory be built on the far side of the Moon. The post The Moon is an Ideal Spot for a Gravitational Wave Observatory appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

800 Million Years Ago, it Was Raining Asteroids on the Earth and Moon Natural processes here on Earth continually re-shape the planet’s surface. Craters from ancient asteroid strikes are erased in a short period of time, in geological terms. So how can researchers understand Earth’s history, and how thoroughly it may have been pummeled by asteroid strikes? Scientists can turn their attention to our ancient companion, the Moon. … Continue reading “800 Million Years Ago, it Was Raining Asteroids on the Earth and Moon” The post 800 Million Years Ago, it Was Raining Asteroids on the Earth and Moon appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Beyond the Fermi Paradox III: What is the Great Filter? In 1996, economist/futurist Robin Hanson proposed a possible resolution to the Fermi Paradox: there’s a “Great Filter” that prevents intelligent life from becoming advanced. The post Beyond the Fermi Paradox III: What is the Great Filter? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Dust Seen Streaming Out of Namibia Into the Atlantic Ocean Landsat 8 strikes again. Landsat 8 is the United States Geological Survey’s most recently launched satellite, and it holds the powerful Operational Land Imager (OLI.) The OLI is a powerful multi-spectral imager with a wide dynamic range. The OLI does a great job of keeping an eye on Earth, and now its captured images of … Continue reading “Dust Seen Streaming Out of Namibia Into the Atlantic Ocean” The post Dust Seen Streaming Out of Namibia Into the Atlantic Ocean appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Wow! An Actual Picture of Multiple Planets Orbiting a Sunlike Star We’ve detected thousands of exoplanets, but for the most part, nobody’s ever seen them. They’re really just data, and graphs of light curves. The exoplanet images you see here at Universe Today and other space websites are the creations of very skilled illustrators, equal parts data and creative license. But that’s starting to change. The … Continue reading “Wow! An Actual Picture of Multiple Planets Orbiting a Sunlike Star” The post Wow! An Actual Picture of Multiple Planets Orbiting a Sunlike Star appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

SpaceX Finally Catches Both Halves of a Falcon 9 Fairing SpaceX achieved another milestone when the payload fairings used for the ANASIS-II mission were both caught by ships at sea with nets! The post SpaceX Finally Catches Both Halves of a Falcon 9 Fairing appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers are Starting to Find Planets in Much Longer Orbits. Cooler, More Habitable Planets We’re getting better and better at detecting exoplanets. Using the transit method of detection, the Kepler Space Telescope examined over 530,000 stars and discovered over 2,600 explanets in nine years. TESS, the successor to Kepler, is still active, and has so far identified over 1800 candidate exoplanets, with 46 confirmed. But what if, hidden in … Continue reading “Astronomers are Starting to Find Planets in Much Longer Orbits. Cooler, More Habitable Planets” The post Astronomers are Starting to Find Planets in Much Longer Orbits. Cooler, More Habitable Planets appeared first onRead More →

It Looks Like There are Still Active Volcanoes on Venus Venus’ surface is no stranger to volcanoes. Radar images show more than 1,000 volcanic structures on the planet. But for the most part, they appear to be ancient and inactive. Now a new study says that Venus is still volcanically active, and has identified 37 volcanic structures that were recently active. If true, there’s more … Continue reading “It Looks Like There are Still Active Volcanoes on Venus” The post It Looks Like There are Still Active Volcanoes on Venus appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Organic Matter Could Have Delivered Earth’s Water The origin of Earth’s water is a big piece of the puzzle in Earth’s history. Did it come from comets and asteroids? From water-bearing space dust? The scientific debate is not settled. Now a new study shows that water could have been delivered to Earth by organic matter. The most prominent line of evidence shows … Continue reading “Organic Matter Could Have Delivered Earth’s Water” The post Organic Matter Could Have Delivered Earth’s Water appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →