Universe Today (Page 242)

Spacecraft and Ground Telescopes Work Together to Give us Stunning New Pictures of Jupiter It’s difficult to imagine the magnitude of storms on Jupiter. The gas giant’s most visible atmospheric feature, the Great Red Spot, may be getting smaller, but one hundred years ago, it was about 40,000 km (25,000 miles) in diameter, or three times Earth’s diameter. Jupiter’s atmosphere also features thunderheads that are five times taller than … Continue reading “Spacecraft and Ground Telescopes Work Together to Give us Stunning New Pictures of Jupiter” The post Spacecraft and Ground Telescopes Work Together to Give us Stunning New Pictures of Jupiter appeared first onRead More →

Lunar Gateway Could be Built With the Falcon Heavy NASA has announced that the Lunar Gateway could be launched in the coming years using the Falcon Heavy or another commercial provider. The post Lunar Gateway Could be Built With the Falcon Heavy appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Newly Reprocessed Images of Europa Make This World Even More Interesting and Mysterious Jupiter’s moon Europa is the smoothest object in the Solar System. There are no mountains, very few craters, and no valleys. It’s tallest features are isolated massifs up to 500 meters (1640 ft) tall. But its surface is still of great interest, both visually and from a science perspective. And with a future mission to … Continue reading “Newly Reprocessed Images of Europa Make This World Even More Interesting and Mysterious” The post Newly Reprocessed Images of Europa Make This World Even More Interesting and Mysterious appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Closest Black Hole Found, Just 1,000 Light-Years From Earth Scientists with the ESO have detected a triple system with a black hole roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth – making it the closest ever observed. The post Closest Black Hole Found, Just 1,000 Light-Years From Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Space Force is Recruiting, Here’s their New Video The United States Space Force just released a recruitment video. If you’re looking for your purpose, and suspect it’s off-world, this is the service for you! The post Space Force is Recruiting, Here’s their New Video appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Cool Idea to Catch Up With an Interstellar Visitor Poor, dim-witted humanity. We used to think we were the center of everything. That wasn’t that long ago, and even though we’ve made tremendous advancements in our understanding of our situation here in space, we still have huge blind spots. For one, we’re only now waking up to the reality of interstellar objects passing through … Continue reading “A Cool Idea to Catch Up With an Interstellar Visitor” The post A Cool Idea to Catch Up With an Interstellar Visitor appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Galaxies Like the Milky Way are the Best for Life A new study indicates that, contrary to what has been previously argued, galaxies like our own may be the most likely place to find intelligent life The post Galaxies Like the Milky Way are the Best for Life appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

New Data Show How Phytoplankton Pumps Carbon Out of the Atmosphere at an Enormous Scale One of the most fascinating things about planet Earth is the way that life shapes the Earth and the Earth shapes life. We only have to look back to the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) of 2.4 billion years ago to see how lifeforms have shaped the Earth. In that event, phytoplanktons called cyanobacteria pumped the … Continue reading “New Data Show How Phytoplankton Pumps Carbon Out of the Atmosphere at an Enormous Scale” The post New Data Show How Phytoplankton Pumps Carbon Out of the Atmosphere at an Enormous ScaleRead More →

Review: Galileo and the Science Deniers by Mario Livio So, you think you know Galileo? A new book out from Simon and Schuster publishing looks at the life and times of one of the most famous astronomers there ever was: Galileo Galilei. Galileo and the Science Deniers by Dr. Mario Livio not only looks at the life and times of the famous astronomer Galileo, but busts some of the most famous myths surrounding Galileo, and looks at his greatest discoveries and tempestuous clash with the Roman Catholic Church and its aftermath. Livio also connects the science denialism of the day, with comparisons to modern clashesRead More →

When Did Mars Lose its Global Magnetic Field? New research using data from MAVEN shows that Mars had a magnetic field earlier and later in its history than previously thought. The post When Did Mars Lose its Global Magnetic Field? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

More Pictures of Planet-Forming Disks Around Young Stars Astronomy is advancing to the point where we can see planets forming around young stars. This was an unthinkable development only a few years ago. In fact, it was only two years ago that astronomers captured the first image of a newly-forming planet. Now there are more and more studies into how planets form, including … Continue reading “More Pictures of Planet-Forming Disks Around Young Stars” The post More Pictures of Planet-Forming Disks Around Young Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Fast Radio Burst Has Been Detected From Inside The Milky Way Fast radio bursts last for such a short time that it is difficult to track down the source. Now astronomers have found one in our own back yard. The post A Fast Radio Burst Has Been Detected From Inside The Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Our Review of Stellina: a ‘Smart Telescope’ for 21st Century Astronomy A new breed of smart telescopes is set to take users past these hurdles, and get them out under the night sky. We recently had a chance to put Vaonis’ Stellina ‘smart telescope’ through its paces, and we’re intrigued at the glimpse it provides at the future of observational astronomy. The post Our Review of Stellina: a ‘Smart Telescope’ for 21st Century Astronomy appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

In the far future, the universe will be mostly invisible If you look out on the sky on a nice clear dark night, you’ll see thousands of intense points of light. Those stars are incredibly far away, but bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from that great distance – a considerable feat. But what you don’t see are all the small stars, … Continue reading “In the far future, the universe will be mostly invisible” The post In the far future, the universe will be mostly invisible appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

New Photos From LightSail 2 Ten months in space! The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 spacecraft just reached that milestone. And the fine folks at the Society have released a bunch of new pictures from the spacecraft. Ten of them, in fact. One for each successful month. LightSail 2 is a technology demonstration mission for the most part. And it’s been … Continue reading “New Photos From LightSail 2” The post New Photos From LightSail 2 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

SpaceX Describes Exactly How They’re Planning to Make Starlink Satellites Less Visible From Earth During the recent Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, SpaceX shared its plans for mitigating light pollution with its Starlink constellation. The post SpaceX Describes Exactly How They’re Planning to Make Starlink Satellites Less Visible From Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Can Actually See the Clouds and Weather on Brown Dwarf 6.5 Light-Years Away Brown dwarfs are in a tough spot. Not quite a star, not quite a planet, they occupy a place between gas giants and stars. They have more mass than gas giants like Jupiter, but not enough to ignite fusion and become a star. But astronomers still study them. How could they resist? The gas giant … Continue reading “Astronomers Can Actually See the Clouds and Weather on Brown Dwarf 6.5 Light-Years Away” The post Astronomers Can Actually See the Clouds and Weather on Brown Dwarf 6.5 Light-Years Away appeared first onRead More →

The Atmosphere On Venus Rotates Faster than the Planet, and Now Astronomers Think They Know Why Venus is unique—almost—in our Solar System because it’s what’s known as a “super-rotator.” That means that Venus’ atmosphere rotates faster than the planet itself. Only Saturn’s moon Titan has the same characteristic. Scientists have been trying to figure out what causes this super-rotation, and now an international team of researchers might have figured it out. … Continue reading “The Atmosphere On Venus Rotates Faster than the Planet, and Now Astronomers Think They Know Why” The post The Atmosphere On Venus Rotates Faster than the Planet, and Now Astronomers ThinkRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: May 6, 2020 – Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) Beth Johnson (@planetarypan) Veranika Klimovich ( @VeranikaSpace) This week we welcome Dr. Pascal Lee to the Weekly Space Hangout. Pascal is chairman of the Mars Institute, planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, and director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames. He … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: May 6, 2020 – Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars” The post Weekly Space Hangout: May 6, 2020 – Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars appeared first onRead More →

Astronomers Find a Planet With Three Times the Mass of Jupiter Jupiter is the Boss. Well, in terms of planets in our Solar System it is. It’s played a huge role in shaping the Solar System due to its mass and its gravity. Here’s a few ways it’s shaped our system: Most of the orbits of the Solar System’s planets are closer to Jupiter’s orbital plane … Continue reading “Astronomers Find a Planet With Three Times the Mass of Jupiter” The post Astronomers Find a Planet With Three Times the Mass of Jupiter appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →