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There are Features on Titan That Really Look Like Volcanic Craters A new study supported by the Cassini mission shows how the northern polar region of Titan could still be experiencing volcanic activity. The post There are Features on Titan That Really Look Like Volcanic Craters appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Planets With Large Oceans are Probably Common in the Milky Way A new study by a team of NASA scientists indicates that “ocean worlds,” like those in our Solar System, could be very common in our Universe. The post Planets With Large Oceans are Probably Common in the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way Six billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way? If true, that’s astounding. But the number needs some context. The Milky Way has up 400 billion stars. So even if there are six billion Earth-like planets, they’re still spread far and wide throughout our vast galaxy. A new study came up with the six billion number. … Continue reading “Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way” The post Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
NASA Thinks it’s Time to Return to Neptune With its Trident Mission Is it time to head back to Neptune and its moon Triton? It might be. After all, we have some unfinished business there. It’s been 30 years since NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past the gas giant and its largest moon, and that flyby posed more questions than it answered. Maybe we’ll get some answers … Continue reading “NASA Thinks it’s Time to Return to Neptune With its Trident Mission” The post NASA Thinks it’s Time to Return to Neptune With its Trident Mission appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
NASA Thinks it’s Time to Return to Neptune With its Trident Mission Roughly three decades ago, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Neptune and conduct a flyby of its largest moon, Triton. The stunning images and data it sent back revealed a strange and fascinating world, characterized by massive plumes of icy material shooting out from a young, smooth surface. Since then, no mission has gone to … Continue reading “NASA Thinks it’s Time to Return to Neptune With its Trident Mission” The post NASA Thinks it’s Time to Return to Neptune With its Trident Mission appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
Japanese Dark Matter Detector is Seeing a “Surprising Excess of Events” A search for dark matter has found an extra signal in their data that could point toward proof of dark matter. The post Japanese Dark Matter Detector is Seeing a “Surprising Excess of Events” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The Navy is Testing Beaming Solar Power in Space Solar power has become a focal point of the battle to mitigate climate change. The potential of solar power is massive – Earth receives as much solar energy in an hour as all of humanity uses in a year. Even with that much energy hitting the Earth, it is only a tiny fraction of the … Continue reading “The Navy is Testing Beaming Solar Power in Space” The post The Navy is Testing Beaming Solar Power in Space appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: June 17, 2020 — Dana Backman, Director of NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors This week we are joined by Dana Backman, an astrophysicist with a Ph.D. from the University of Hawai’i. He was an infrared astronomy researcher at Kitt Peak Observatory and NASA Ames, then a professor of physics & astronomy at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dana has also taught introductory astronomy at Santa Clara … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: June 17, 2020 — Dana Backman, Director of NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors” The post Weekly Space Hangout: June 17, 2020 — Dana Backman, Director of NASA Airborne Astronomy AmbassadorsRead More →
ExoMars Sees the Martian Atmosphere Glowing Green ExoMars’ Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) recently spotted a green glow in Mars’ atmosphere, which is similar to what Earth’s atmosphere experiences. The post ExoMars Sees the Martian Atmosphere Glowing Green appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Catch a Solstice ‘Ring of Fire’ Annular Solar Eclipse Over Africa and Asia This Weekend Ready for the first solar eclipse of the year? This weekend sees one of the top draw astronomical events for 2020, with an annular solar eclipse spanning eastern Africa and Southern Asia on Sunday, June 21st. The post Catch a Solstice ‘Ring of Fire’ Annular Solar Eclipse Over Africa and Asia This Weekend appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Searching for the End of the Universe’s “Dark Age” According to the most widely accepted cosmological theories, the first stars in the Universe formed a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Unfortunately, astronomers have been unable to “see” them since their emergence coincided during the cosmological period known as the “Dark Ages.” During this period, which ended about 13 billion years ago, … Continue reading “Searching for the End of the Universe’s “Dark Age”” The post Searching for the End of the Universe’s “Dark Age” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Why Pulsars Are So Bright When pulsars were first discovered in 1967, their rhythmic radio-wave pulsations were a mystery. Some thought their radio beams must be of extraterrestrial origin. We’ve learned a lot since then. We know that pulsars are magnetized, rotating neutrons stars. We know that they rotate very rapidly, with their magnetic poles sending sweeping beams of radio … Continue reading “Why Pulsars Are So Bright” The post Why Pulsars Are So Bright appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
What Does it Mean to Be a Space Architect? In a recent article, space architect Anastasia Prosina explores the concept of space architecture and how it will play a major role in humanity’s future. The post What Does it Mean to Be a Space Architect? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Book Review: Atlas of Solar Eclipses 2020 to 2045 Anyone who has stood in the shadow of the Moon during totality knows the thrill of a total solar eclipse. There’s great new atlas for planning your next great eclipse-chasing adventure, the Atlas of Solar Eclipses 2020 to 2045 by eclipse-chaser and cartographer Michael Zeiler and Michael E. Bakich is an indispensable resource. The post Book Review: Atlas of Solar Eclipses 2020 to 2045 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Virgin Orbit’s first air-launched rocket launch fails The reason people use the aphorism “it isn’t rocket science” is because rocket science is hard. Virgin Orbit, a spin-off of Virgin Galactic that focuses on small satellite launches, proved that with a recent test of its LauncherOne rocket. The LauncherOne, which has been in development for more than 7 years, was designed to serve … Continue reading “Virgin Orbit’s first air-launched rocket launch fails” The post Virgin Orbit’s first air-launched rocket launch fails appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Pulsars Confirm One of Einstein’s Best Ideas, That Freefall Really Feels Like You’re Experiencing a Lack of Gravity A team of European researchers observed a pulsar with two orbiting white dwarfs to confirm Einstein’s “most fortunate thought.” The post Pulsars Confirm One of Einstein’s Best Ideas, That Freefall Really Feels Like You’re Experiencing a Lack of Gravity appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2608, Surrounded by Many Many Other Galaxies Meet NGC 2608, a barred spiral galaxy about 93 million light years away, in the constellation Cancer. Also called Arp 12, it’s about 62,000 light years across, smaller than the Milky Way by a fair margin. The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image with its Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Depending on your age, you may … Continue reading “Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2608, Surrounded by Many Many Other Galaxies” The post Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 2608, Surrounded by Many Many Other Galaxies appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Newborn Exoplanets can be Completely Stripped of Their Atmosphere by Stars Newborn exoplanets can have a tough life. They may form an atmosphere, but that atmosphere can be doomed. Their stars can emit intense X-ray and UV radiation, stripping away those atmospheres and laying their surfaces bare. A team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics looked at a family of four newborn sibling planets, … Continue reading “Newborn Exoplanets can be Completely Stripped of Their Atmosphere by Stars” The post Newborn Exoplanets can be Completely Stripped of Their Atmosphere by Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Spacecraft was able to measure how long neutrons last before they decay Using NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft’s close encounters with Venus and Mercury, researchers were able to measure the lifetime of neutrons, an important prediction of the Standard Model of particle physics. Bundled up inside an atomic nucleus, the neutron (a massive, neutrally-charged particle) can live basically forever. But once liberated from those nuclear confines, the neutron doesn’t … Continue reading “Spacecraft was able to measure how long neutrons last before they decay” The post Spacecraft was able to measure how long neutrons last before they decay appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
Tiny Cubesat Detects an Exoplanet A team of MIT researchers have observed a Super-Earth using a CubeSat, making it the smallest satellite to study an exoplanet. The post Tiny Cubesat Detects an Exoplanet appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
