Another Starship Test Ends in an Explosion At their Boca Chica test facility, SpaceX tested another Starship prototype (SN7) to the point of failure, which resulted in another explosive release of cryogenic liquid nitrogen. The post Another Starship Test Ends in an Explosion appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

There’s no evidence that dark matter interacts with any other force but gravity Most of the universe is made of one of two kinds of mysterious substances, called dark matter and dark energy. From all the evidence, these two cosmic components only interact with “normal” matter through the gravitational force. And a recent nuclear experiment reveals no presence of any dark contamination in the bonds between atomic nuclei … Continue reading “There’s no evidence that dark matter interacts with any other force but gravity” The post There’s no evidence that dark matter interacts with any other force but gravity appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Planets Form in Just a Few Hundred Thousand Years Astronomers like to observe young planets forming in circumstellar debris disks, the rotating rings of material around young stars. But when they measure the amount of material in those disks, they don’t contain enough material to form large planets. That discrepancy has puzzled astronomers. The answer might come down to timing. A new study suggests … Continue reading “Planets Form in Just a Few Hundred Thousand Years” The post Planets Form in Just a Few Hundred Thousand Years appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Repeating Fast Radio Burst Has Been Found. It Flares for 4 Days and then Remains Silent for 12 Days Five hundred million light-years from Earth, there is a deeply unusual object. It is radio silent for 12 days, then erupts in bright radio bursts. We still aren’t sure what the object is. The post A Repeating Fast Radio Burst Has Been Found. It Flares for 4 Days and then Remains Silent for 12 Days appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

If You Could See in X-rays, This is What the Universe Would Look Like X-ray astronomy helps scientists study neutron stars, binary star systems, and supernova remnants, and even helps detect black holes. But even if human eyes had the ability to see X-rays, we couldn’t just look up at the night sky and see these amazing objects since Earth’s atmosphere absorbs and blocks X-rays. So, thank goodness for … Continue reading “If You Could See in X-rays, This is What the Universe Would Look Like” The post If You Could See in X-rays, This is What the Universe Would Look Like appeared first onRead More →

Antares is a supergiant star that would fill the Solar System beyond Mars, but its atmosphere is 12 times bigger than that Antares, the angry red eye of the constellation Taurus the bull, is a red supergiant star near the end of its life. And astronomers with the VLA and ALMA have realized that it’s much, much bigger than we ever imagined. So when I say that Antares is a big star, I don’t think you really appreciate … Continue reading “Antares is a supergiant star that would fill the Solar System beyond Mars, but its atmosphere is 12 times bigger than that” The post AntaresRead More →

A New Search for Evidence of Technological Civilizations in the Milky Way Scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and University of Rochester have come together (with NASA funding) to launch a new search for advanced alien life! The post A New Search for Evidence of Technological Civilizations in the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Quasars are the Biggest Particle Accelerators in the Universe We puny humans think we can accelerate particles? Look how proud we are of the Large Hadron Collider. But any particle accelerator we build will pale in comparison to Quasars, nature’s champion accelerators. Those things are beasts. The term quasar is a contraction—albeit a clumsy one—of “quasi-stellar radio source.” When they were first discovered in … Continue reading “Quasars are the Biggest Particle Accelerators in the Universe” The post Quasars are the Biggest Particle Accelerators in the Universe 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 →

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 →

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 →