Universe Today (Page 243)

Astronomers Are Sure These Are Two Newborn Planets Orbiting a Distant Star Planet formation is a notoriously difficult thing to observe. Nascent planets are ensconced inside dusty wombs that resist our best observation efforts. But recently, astronomers have made progress in imaging these planetary newborns. A new study presents the first-ever direct images of twin baby planets forming around their star. The study is titled “Keck/NIRC2 L’-band … Continue reading “Astronomers Are Sure These Are Two Newborn Planets Orbiting a Distant Star” The post Astronomers Are Sure These Are Two Newborn Planets Orbiting a Distant Star appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Jupiter is so Big that our Solar System almost had two Suns About half of all the star systems in the galaxy are made of pairs or triplets of stars. Our solar system features just one star, the Sun, and a host of (relatively) small planets. But it was almost not the case, and Jupiter got right on the edge of becoming the Sun’s smaller sibling. Jupiter, … Continue reading “Jupiter is so Big that our Solar System almost had two Suns” The post Jupiter is so Big that our Solar System almost had two Suns appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

NASA is Giving the SLS a “Green Run” to Prepare it for Launch in Late 2021 Engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center have resumed tests of the Core Stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) in anticipation of its inaugural launch next year. The post NASA is Giving the SLS a “Green Run” to Prepare it for Launch in Late 2021 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

40 Years Ago, Mount St. Helens Blew its Top Off One day, my Grade Nine science class got way more interesting. Suddenly, volcanoes weren’t just something in textbooks. Though I was in neighbouring British Columbia when Mt. St. Helens erupted, there was still a layer of ash on our cars and everything else. For a teenager with a burgeoning interest in science, it was awesome. … Continue reading “40 Years Ago, Mount St. Helens Blew its Top Off” The post 40 Years Ago, Mount St. Helens Blew its Top Off appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hundreds of New Gravitational Lenses Discovered to Help Study the Distant Universe General relativity tells us that everything, even light, is affected by the mass of an object. When a beam of light passes near a large mass, its path is deflected. This shift in the direction of light is known as gravitational lensing, and it was one of the first confirmed effects of Einstein’s theory. In … Continue reading “Hundreds of New Gravitational Lenses Discovered to Help Study the Distant Universe” The post Hundreds of New Gravitational Lenses Discovered to Help Study the Distant Universe appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Venus Meets Mercury This Weekend in a Fine Dusk Conjunction What’s that? You say you’ve never seen elusive Mercury for yourself? You won’t have an excuse after this weekend, when the innermost world meets brilliant Venus at dusk, for one of the best planetary conjunctions for 2020. The post Venus Meets Mercury This Weekend in a Fine Dusk Conjunction appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA Unveils the Artemis Accords to Facilitate Exploration and Commercial Activities on the Moon NASA just released a series of principles designed to foster exploration and cooperation in lunar exploration, called the Artemis Accords. The post NASA Unveils the Artemis Accords to Facilitate Exploration and Commercial Activities on the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Space Force Launches its Mysterious X-37B Spaceplane The US Space Force, in conjunction with the USAF and the ULA, just launched the X-37B spaceplane for the sixth time! The post Space Force Launches its Mysterious X-37B Spaceplane appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

This Laser Powered Rover Could Stay in the Shadows on the Moon and Continue to Explore The craters on the Moon’s poles are in permanent shadow. But they’re also intriguing locations, due to deposits of water ice and other materials. The ESA is developing the idea for a rover that can explore these areas with power provided by lasers. Everybody thinks they know what lasers are: they’re beams of light. Well, … Continue reading “This Laser Powered Rover Could Stay in the Shadows on the Moon and Continue to Explore” The post This Laser Powered Rover Could Stay in the Shadows on the Moon andRead More →

TESS is Also Helping Astronomers Study Bizarre Pulsating Stars NASA’s TESS, or Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has one main job: finding exoplanets. But it’s also helping astronomers study a strange type of star that has so far defied thorough explanation. Those stars are Delta Scuti stars, named after their prototype. Delta Scuti stars exhibit strange pulsating patterns, and they rotate rapidly. So far, astronomers … Continue reading “TESS is Also Helping Astronomers Study Bizarre Pulsating Stars” The post TESS is Also Helping Astronomers Study Bizarre Pulsating Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Tunguska Explosion Could Have Been Caused By An Asteroid That Still Orbits The Sun On a cool Summer morning in 1908, a fireball appeared over Northern Siberia. Eyewitnesses described a column of blue light that moved across the sky, followed by a tremendous explosion. The explosion leveled trees across more than 2,000 square kilometers. The explosion is consistent with a large meteor strike, but to this day no evidence … Continue reading “The Tunguska Explosion Could Have Been Caused By An Asteroid That Still Orbits The Sun” The post The Tunguska Explosion Could Have Been Caused By An Asteroid That Still Orbits The SunRead More →

If Rockets were Transparent: Video Shows You How Rockets Use up Their Propellant I always remember hearing the comparison of how the Space Shuttle’s main engines would drain an average family swimming pool in under 25 seconds. Or that the Saturn V used the equivalent of 763 elephants of fuel. But just how much fuel does a rocket burn during its ascent to orbit? As you might expect, … Continue reading “If Rockets were Transparent: Video Shows You How Rockets Use up Their Propellant” The post If Rockets were Transparent: Video Shows You How Rockets Use up Their Propellant appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Take a Peek Inside a Giant Star Right Before it Dies The biggest stars in our universe are some of the most fascinatingly complex objects to inhabit the cosmos. Indeed,giant stars have defied full explanation for decades. Especially when they’re near the end of their lives. Stars power themselves through nuclear fusion, from the smashing together of lighter elements into heavier ones. This process leaves behind … Continue reading “Take a Peek Inside a Giant Star Right Before it Dies” The post Take a Peek Inside a Giant Star Right Before it Dies appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Earth Life Probably Can’t Spread to Mars Today New research says life from Earth isn’t likely to ever survive on Mars, which is good news as far as planetary protection concerns are involved. The post Earth Life Probably Can’t Spread to Mars Today appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Was Betelgeuse Formed by Merging Stars? Modern humans—or Homo Sapiens—have only been around for about 250,000 years. That’s only the blink of an eye in cosmological terms. As it turns out, the star Betelgeuse may only be about the same age. A new study explores the idea that Betelgeuse formed from a merger of two stars only a few hundred thousand … Continue reading “Was Betelgeuse Formed by Merging Stars?” The post Was Betelgeuse Formed by Merging Stars? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

High Energy Neutrinos Are Coming From Supermassive Black Holes Some neutrinos are so energetic we don’t know how they are produced. But a clue lies in the heart of distant quasars. The post High Energy Neutrinos Are Coming From Supermassive Black Holes appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

James Webb is Fully Stowed Into its Launch Configuration We’re inching closer and closer to the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) launch date of March 30th, 2021, (or maybe July 2021.) We never thought we’d get this close, with only a year to go before we send this powerful space telescope on its way. Now the telescope has been put in its launch configuration. … Continue reading “James Webb is Fully Stowed Into its Launch Configuration” The post James Webb is Fully Stowed Into its Launch Configuration appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s New Crew Capsule Just Landed, and so Did Parts of their New Rocket! China’s next-generation crewed spacecraft recently returned to Earth after a successful test flight. The Long March 5B rocket that sent it up did as well (parts of it, anyway!) The post China’s New Crew Capsule Just Landed, and so Did Parts of their New Rocket! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Continue to Analyze Pluto’s Atmosphere When NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, studying the atmosphere was a key scientific objective. Most of what we know about the ice dwarf came from that flyby. That happened in July 2015, but it took over 15 months to send all the data home, and it’s taking even longer to analyze it. But … Continue reading “Astronomers Continue to Analyze Pluto’s Atmosphere” The post Astronomers Continue to Analyze Pluto’s Atmosphere appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Even More Evidence that Europa has Geysers Earlier this week, we shared some stunning, newly reprocessed images of Europa from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which visited Jupiter and its moons from December 1995 to September 2003. Now, as scientists continue to revisit Galileo’s data, even more details are coming into focus about Jupiter’s enticing moon. Not only is there evidence within the past … Continue reading “Even More Evidence that Europa has Geysers” The post Even More Evidence that Europa has Geysers appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →