Universe Today (Page 233)

Although InSight’s Mole is Completely Buried, it Might be Stuck Again You’ve gotta hand it to NASA, and to the German Aerospace Center (DLR.) They’ve been struggling for over a year to get the InSight Lander’s Mole working. There’ve been setbacks, then progress, then more setbacks, as they try to get the Mole deep enough to do its job. Now the Mole is finally buried completely … Continue reading “Although InSight’s Mole is Completely Buried, it Might be Stuck Again” The post Although InSight’s Mole is Completely Buried, it Might be Stuck Again appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

What Telescope Will Be Needed to See the First Stars in the Universe? The Ultimately Large Telescope The oldest stars in the Universe are cloaked in darkness. Their redshift is so high, we can only wonder about them. The James Webb Space Telescope will be our most effective telescope for observing the very early Universe, and should observe out to z = 15. But even it has limitations. To observe the Universe’s … Continue reading “What Telescope Will Be Needed to See the First Stars in the Universe? The Ultimately Large Telescope” The post What Telescope Will Be Needed to See the First Stars inRead More →

Detecting the Neutrinos From a Supernova That’s About to Explode Neutrinos are puzzling things. They’re tiny particles, almost massless, with no electrical charge. They’re notoriously difficult to detect, too, and scientists have gone to great lengths to detect them. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, for instance, tries to detect neutrinos with strings of detectors buried down to a depth of 2450 meters (8000 ft.) in the … Continue reading “Detecting the Neutrinos From a Supernova That’s About to Explode” The post Detecting the Neutrinos From a Supernova That’s About to Explode appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Dawn Patrol: Jupiter and Saturn at Opposition 2020 Missing the planets in the first half of 2020? That’s all about to change, as the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn reach opposition in rapid succession this month, heralding a return to the dusk sky. The post Dawn Patrol: Jupiter and Saturn at Opposition 2020 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Tabletop-sized Experiment Could Help in the Search for Dark Matter Dark matter is one of the least understood aspects in physics.  The evidence for dark matter is from its gravitational influence on galactic scales which cannot be explained by the presence of conventional matter.  Despite its large gravitational interactions, it is notoriously difficult to learn about dark matter as it does not interact with electromagnetic … Continue reading “A Tabletop-sized Experiment Could Help in the Search for Dark Matter” The post A Tabletop-sized Experiment Could Help in the Search for Dark Matter appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Electron Rocket’s 13th Launch Failed, Destroying its Satellite Payload In what would have been the 12th successful launch of their Electron rocket, Rocket Lab The post Electron Rocket’s 13th Launch Failed, Destroying its Satellite Payload appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. Normally this Looks Like a Dark Blob in the Sky. But in Infrared, it Looks Like This. The Corona Australis is a constellation in the southern hemisphere. It’s name literally means “southern crown.” One of its features is the Corona Australis molecular cloud, home to a star-forming region containing young stars and proto-stars. It’s one of the closest star-forming regions to us, only about 430 light years away. The ESA has given … Continue reading “The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. Normally this Looks Like a Dark Blob in the Sky. But in Infrared, it Looks Like This.” The post TheRead More →

The Moon Might Be More Metal-Rich Than We Thought A new study shows that the Moon is more metal-rich than previously thought. That has some far-reaching implications for our understanding of the Moon’s formation. If their results are solid, it means that we may need to re-think the giant impact hypothesis for the formation of the Moon. A team of scientists using the Lunar … Continue reading “The Moon Might Be More Metal-Rich Than We Thought” The post The Moon Might Be More Metal-Rich Than We Thought appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Amateur Astronomers Find a Brand New Storm on Jupiter Amateur astronomers have discovered a new storm near the Great Red Spot. The post Amateur Astronomers Find a Brand New Storm on Jupiter appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Betelgeuse Probably Dimmed Because of Enormous Starspots A few months ago we all watched as Betelgeuse dimmed. Between October 2019 and 22nd of February 2020 the star’s brightness dropped by a factor of about three. It went from magnitude 0.5, and from being the tenth-brightest star in the sky, to magnitude 1.7. Naturally, we all wondered what was happening. Would it go … Continue reading “Betelgeuse Probably Dimmed Because of Enormous Starspots” The post Betelgeuse Probably Dimmed Because of Enormous Starspots appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NGC 2275: An Absolute Unit of Galactic Flocculence The Hubble Space Telescope has the knack for finding every size and shape of galaxy imaginable – from small, medium to large, all the way up to absolute units. This unusual galaxy, named NGC 2775, is incredibly fluffy-looking, or flocculent. It’s definitely a spiral, but instead of well-defined, organized spiral arms, it’s just a big … Continue reading “NGC 2275: An Absolute Unit of Galactic Flocculence” The post NGC 2275: An Absolute Unit of Galactic Flocculence appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s Mars Rover Launches in Late July In July there’s another launch window to Mars. It looks like China is ready to take advantage of it, by launching their first rover to the planet. It’s called Tianwen-1, meaning “Heavenly Questions”, or “Questions to Heaven.” The complete mission consists of a lander, an orbiter, and a rover. The exact day has not been … Continue reading “China’s Mars Rover Launches in Late July” The post China’s Mars Rover Launches in Late July appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

There’s a Black Hole With 34 Billion Times the Mass of the Sun, Eating Roughly a Star Every Day In the 1960s, astronomers began theorizing that there might be black holes in the Universe that are so massive – supermassive black holes (SMBHs) – they could power the nuclei of active galaxies (aka. quasars). A decade later, astronomers discovered that an SMBH existed at the center of the Milky Way (Sagitarrius A*); and by … Continue reading “There’s a Black Hole With 34 Billion Times the Mass of the Sun, Eating Roughly a Star Every Day” The post There’s a Black Hole With 34 BillionRead More →

Astronomers See Through the Milky Way’s Dust to Track Where Radiation is Coming From at the Center of the Galaxy The center of our very own galaxy might be one of the Universe’s most mysterious places. Astronomers have to probe through thick dust to see what’s going on there. All that dust makes life difficult for astronomers who are trying to understand all the radiation in the center of the Milky Way, and what exactly … Continue reading “Astronomers See Through the Milky Way’s Dust to Track Where Radiation is Coming From at the Center of the Galaxy” The post Astronomers See Through the MilkyRead More →

Breakthrough Listen Releases its one-of-Everything “Exotica” Catalog Breakthrough Listen, the largest SETI effort ever mounted, just released a list of over 700 objects that could be of interest to people looking for aliens! The post Breakthrough Listen Releases its one-of-Everything “Exotica” Catalog appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

One of the Best Pictures Ever Taken of ISS from the Ground. You Can Even See the Canadarm2 Astrophotographer Thierry Legault is renowned for his amazing shots of spacecraft transiting the Sun. He’s now outdone even himself. On June 24 and 25, 2020, Legault captured the International Space Station passing in front of the Sun with such clarity, even the station’s robotic arm, the Canadarm2, is clearly visible. The docked SpaceX Dragon capsule … Continue reading “One of the Best Pictures Ever Taken of ISS from the Ground. You Can Even See the Canadarm2” The post One of the Best Pictures Ever Taken of ISSRead More →

Help NASA Develop a Better Space Toilet HeroX is one again hosting a NASA challenge, this time to develop a space toilet that will facilitate lunar exploration. The post Help NASA Develop a Better Space Toilet appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Might Have Seen a Star Just Disappear. Turning Straight to a Black Hole Without a Supernova A brilliant blue star has disappeared from view, which could mean it became a black hole in a novel way. The post Astronomers Might Have Seen a Star Just Disappear. Turning Straight to a Black Hole Without a Supernova appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Take a Flight Over Korolev Crater on Mars We love flyover videos from other worlds. These stunning videos, created from imagery gathered by orbiting spacecraft, can give us a sense of what it would be like to fly in an airplane on another planet. This latest flyover video from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, provides a stunning view of one of … Continue reading “Take a Flight Over Korolev Crater on Mars” The post Take a Flight Over Korolev Crater on Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Behold! The Martian Menu, Courtesy of Mars City Design! Every year since 2012, Mars City Design hosts the Mars Feast Gala, where talented chefs create tantalizing entrees based on what future generations could grow on Mars. The post Behold! The Martian Menu, Courtesy of Mars City Design! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →