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Mars 2020’s New Name is… “Perseverance” NASA’s Mars 2020 rover finally has a proper name – Perseverance! The post Mars 2020’s New Name is… “Perseverance” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The Chemicals That Make Up Exploding Stars Could Help Explain Away Dark Energy Astronomers have a dark energy problem. On the one hand, we’ve known for years that the universe is not just expanding, but accelerating. There seems to be a dark energy that drives cosmic expansion. On the other hand, when we measure cosmic expansion in different ways we get values that don’t quite agree. Some methods … Continue reading “The Chemicals That Make Up Exploding Stars Could Help Explain Away Dark Energy” The post The Chemicals That Make Up Exploding Stars Could Help Explain Away Dark Energy appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →
XMM Newton Catches a Tiny Flare Star in Action Sometimes, even small stars can pack a mighty punch. And in the case of a flare star, the results can be awesome. Very awesome. Astronomers uncovered just such an anomaly recently, culling through data from the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton orbiting X-ray observatory: the first X-ray flare from a distant cool L-dwarf type star. Said … Continue reading “XMM Newton Catches a Tiny Flare Star in Action” The post XMM Newton Catches a Tiny Flare Star in Action appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Japan Suspends its Funding for the 30-Meter Telescope Japan has suspended its funding contribution to the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii. An international consortium is behind the TMT, which was proposed for the summit of Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is one of the most desirable observing locations on Earth. It’s already host to several observatories, including the Subaru Telescope and the … Continue reading “Japan Suspends its Funding for the 30-Meter Telescope” The post Japan Suspends its Funding for the 30-Meter Telescope appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Comparing Mountains on the Moon to the Earth’s Peaks NASA’s Artemis Program is planning to land astronauts on the Moon’s south pole. To prepare for this, NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) is creating the Lunar South Pole Atlas (LSPA). As part of that Atlas, NASA is mapping the topography of the region, including the mountains. When we think of the Moon’s … Continue reading “Comparing Mountains on the Moon to the Earth’s Peaks” The post Comparing Mountains on the Moon to the Earth’s Peaks appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Beyond Robotic Arms. Canada Funds Technology for Space Exploration The Canadian Space Agency recently awarded contracts to a series of companies to develop technologies and tools to aid in the coming era of lunar exploration. The post Beyond Robotic Arms. Canada Funds Technology for Space Exploration appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
WFIRST Passes an Important Milestone, it’s Time to Begin Development and Testing Soon, astronomers and astrophysicists will have more observing power than they know what to do with. Not only will the James Webb Space Telescope one day, sometime in the next couple years, we hope, if all goes well, and if the coronavirus doesn’t delay it again, launch and begin operations. But another powerful NASA space … Continue reading “WFIRST Passes an Important Milestone, it’s Time to Begin Development and Testing” The post WFIRST Passes an Important Milestone, it’s Time to Begin Development and Testing appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
Curiosity’s Mars Panorama, Captured in 1.8 Billion Pixels The Curiosity rover on Mars has captured the most detailed panoramic image ever taken of the Red Planet’s surface. The image is made from over 1,000 images, containing 1.8 billion pixels of the Martian landscape, with 2.43 GB of high-resolution planetary goodness. “This is the first time during the mission we’ve dedicated our operations to … Continue reading “Curiosity’s Mars Panorama, Captured in 1.8 Billion Pixels” The post Curiosity’s Mars Panorama, Captured in 1.8 Billion Pixels appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The First Artemis Launch has Been Delayed Until Mid-to-Late 2021 To kick off the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), NASA Assoc. Admin. Steve Jurczyk indicated that the first Artemis mission will be delayed a little. The post The First Artemis Launch has Been Delayed Until Mid-to-Late 2021 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Are Low Density “Cotton Candy” Exoplanets Actually Just Regular Planets With Rings? There’s a type of exoplanet that astronomers sometimes refer to as cotton candy planets, or super-puffs. They’re mysterious, because their masses don’t match up with their extremely large radii. The two characteristics imply a planet with an extremely low density. In our Solar System, there’s nothing like them, and finding them in distant solar systems … Continue reading “Are Low Density “Cotton Candy” Exoplanets Actually Just Regular Planets With Rings?” The post Are Low Density “Cotton Candy” Exoplanets Actually Just Regular Planets With Rings? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →
Two White Dwarfs Merged Together Into a Single “Ultramassive” White Dwarf Astronomers have found a white dwarf that was once two white dwarfs. The pair of stars merged into one about 1.3 billion years ago. The resulting star, named WDJ0551+4135, is about 150 light years away. A white dwarf is the end state of stars like our Sun. Once they’ve consumed their nuclear fuel, they expel … Continue reading “Two White Dwarfs Merged Together Into a Single “Ultramassive” White Dwarf” The post Two White Dwarfs Merged Together Into a Single “Ultramassive” White Dwarf appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The Disk of the Milky Way is Warped Because it Already Collided With Another Galaxy Using data from the second Gaia data release, a team of astronomers has demonstrated that the “warp” in our galaxy is rapidly changing! The post The Disk of the Milky Way is Warped Because it Already Collided With Another Galaxy appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Weekly Space Hangout: March 4, 2020 – Did RIT Scientists Find A Baby Giant Planet? Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Dave Dickinson (www.astroguyz.com / @astroguyz) Veranika Klimovich ( @VeranikaSpace) Tonight we welcome Annie Dickson-Vandervelde, Emily Wilson. and Dr. Joel Kastner to the WSH. Annie led this team of Rochester Institute of Technology astronomers which used Gaia data to discover what may be a giant baby … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: March 4, 2020 – Did RIT Scientists Find A Baby Giant Planet?” The post Weekly Space Hangout: March 4, 2020 – Did RIT Scientists Find A Baby Giant Planet?Read More →
During A Lunar Eclipse, It’s A Chance To See Earth As An Exoplanet There are several ways to look for alien life on distant worlds. One is to listen for radio signals these aliens might send, such as SETI and others are doing, but another is to study the atmospheres of exoplanets to find bio-signatures of life. But what might these signatures be? And what would they appear … Continue reading “During A Lunar Eclipse, It’s A Chance To See Earth As An Exoplanet” The post During A Lunar Eclipse, It’s A Chance To See Earth As An Exoplanet appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →
Phew, Earth-Watching DSCOVR is Operational Again Rejoice! If you’ve missed your daily fix of seeing views of our rotating Earth from space, NOAA announced that its Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) is now back in action. The deep space satellite, which produces incredible full-disk images of our Blue Marble, has been offline since June 27, 2019 because of a problem with … Continue reading “Phew, Earth-Watching DSCOVR is Operational Again” The post Phew, Earth-Watching DSCOVR is Operational Again appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Carnival of Space #653 Welcome to the 653rd Carnival of Space! The Carnival is a community of space science and astronomy writers and bloggers, who submit their best work each week for your benefit. We have a fantastic roundup today so now, on to this week’s worth of stories! Universe Today: Betelgeuse Is Brightening AgainAfter a Challenging First Year … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #653” The post Carnival of Space #653 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
NASA is Planning to Build a Lunar Rover With a 1-Meter Drill to Search for Water Ice Meet VIPER, NASA’s new lunar rover, equipped with a drill to probe the Moon’s surface and look for water ice. VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, will carry a one-meter drill and will use it to map out water resources at the Moon’s south pole. It’s scheduled to be on the lunar surface by … Continue reading “NASA is Planning to Build a Lunar Rover With a 1-Meter Drill to Search for Water Ice” The post NASA is Planning to Build a Lunar Rover With a 1-MeterRead More →
Magnetic Fields Around Mars InSight are 10x Stronger than Scientists Expected Data from the first year of the InSight mission has just been released, and its revealing some unexpected things about Mars’ magnetic fields. The post Magnetic Fields Around Mars InSight are 10x Stronger than Scientists Expected appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
3 Billion Years Ago, the World Might Have Been a Waterworld, With No Continents At All Evidence from an ancient section of the Earth’s crust suggest that Earth was once a water-world, some three billion years ago. If true, it’ll mean scientists need to reconsider some thinking around exoplanets and habitability. They’ll also need to reconsider their understanding of how life began on our planet. A new paper presents these results … Continue reading “3 Billion Years Ago, the World Might Have Been a Waterworld, With No Continents At All” The post 3 Billion Years Ago, the World Might Have Been a Waterworld, With NoRead More →
Introducing Analog Sky’s 3D-Printed Giant Binoculars Update: we’re happy to announce that Analog Sky is making a special offer just for Universe Today readers for its new giant binoculars. A unique, crowd-sourced, 3D-printed telescope is poised to revolutionize how we look at the sky. Late last year, we announced Oregon-based innovator and amateur astronomer Robert Asumendi’s plans to release the Analog … Continue reading “Introducing Analog Sky’s 3D-Printed Giant Binoculars” The post Introducing Analog Sky’s 3D-Printed Giant Binoculars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
