Universe Today (Page 384)

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 →

The Sun is less active magnetically than other stars While the Sun can be active, it is often quite a calm star. We now know it is unusually calm when compared to other stars. The post The Sun is less active magnetically than other stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Worlds With Hydrogen in Their Atmospheres Could Be the Perfect Place to Search for Life We’re waiting patiently for telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope to see first light, and one of the reasons is its ability to study the atmospheres of exoplanets. The idea is to look for biosignatures: things like oxygen and methane. But a new study says that exoplanets with hydrogen in their atmospheres are a … Continue reading “Worlds With Hydrogen in Their Atmospheres Could Be the Perfect Place to Search for Life” The post Worlds With Hydrogen in Their Atmospheres Could Be the Perfect Place to Search for LifeRead More →

Want to Mine the Moon? Here’s a Detailed Map of all its Minerals The USGS’ Astrogeology Science Center has released a complete mineral map of the Moon, which the lunar mining crowd is sure to appreciate! The post Want to Mine the Moon? Here’s a Detailed Map of all its Minerals appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

When Universities Reopen, Will Students Return? In response to the Covid-19 global pandemic, schools and universities around the world have shut their doors and told their students to go home. Most of them continued their educational mission, but through remote remote learning platforms rather than in-person lectures. Some of these universities and schools maintained this status for only a few weeks, … Continue reading “When Universities Reopen, Will Students Return?” The post When Universities Reopen, Will Students Return? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Supermassive Black Hole Orbits an Even More Massive Black Hole, Crashing Through its Accretion Disk Every 12 Years Recent observations by the now-retired Spitzer mission have led to accurate predictions OJ 287, a blazar that contains a supermassive black hole orbited by another black hole. The post Supermassive Black Hole Orbits an Even More Massive Black Hole, Crashing Through its Accretion Disk Every 12 Years appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Companies Taking NASA Back to the Moon in 2024: Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics NASA recently announced the three companies that will be building lunar landing systems to take astronauts back to the Moon – SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics. The post The Companies Taking NASA Back to the Moon in 2024: Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Rocky Planets Orbiting White Dwarf Stars Could be the Perfect Places to Search for Life Some very powerful telescopes will see first light in the near future. One of them is the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope (JWST.) One of JWST’s roles—and the role of the other upcoming ‘scopes as well—is to look for biosignatures in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Now a new study is showing that finding those biosignatures … Continue reading “Rocky Planets Orbiting White Dwarf Stars Could be the Perfect Places to Search for Life” The post Rocky Planets Orbiting White Dwarf Stars Could be the Perfect Places to Search for LifeRead More →

NASA’s Perseverance Rover is Going to Jezero Crater, Which is Looking Better and Better as a Place to Search for Evidence of Past Life on Mars In 2018, NASA decided that the landing site for its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover would be the Jezero Crater. At the time, NASA said the Jezero Crater was one of the “oldest and most scientifically interesting landscapes Mars has to offer.” That assessment hasn’t changed; in fact it’s gotten stronger. A new research paper says … Continue reading “NASA’s Perseverance Rover is Going to Jezero Crater, Which is Looking Better and Better as a Place to Search for EvidenceRead More →

Could The Physical Constants Change? Possibly, But Probably Not The laws of physics are rooted in universal physical constants. But what if these constants change over time? The post Could The Physical Constants Change? Possibly, But Probably Not appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Mars Helicopter gets a Name: Ingenuity Flying low over the surface of Mars. Don’t tell me you haven’t dreamed about it, especially with some of the ‘Mars flyover’ videos that have been produced over the years using data from the orbital missions. And if all goes well – global pandemic not withstanding —   a helicopter will be on its way to … Continue reading “Mars Helicopter gets a Name: Ingenuity” The post Mars Helicopter gets a Name: Ingenuity appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

You’re Looking at Spiral Galaxies, Already Forming When the Universe was Just a Baby The ALPINE survey recently observed 118 galaxies dated to just 1-1.5 billion years ago, and found that the early galaxies were surprisingly developed. The post You’re Looking at Spiral Galaxies, Already Forming When the Universe was Just a Baby appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Terrible Luck. The Only Person Ever Killed by a Meteorite – Back in 1888 What are your chances of getting smacked – and killed — by a meteorite? One astronomer put the odds of death by space rock at 1 in 700,000 in a lifetime, while others say it’s more like 1 in 1,600,000. Computing the probability for such an untimely death is difficult because this type of event … Continue reading “Terrible Luck. The Only Person Ever Killed by a Meteorite – Back in 1888” The post Terrible Luck. The Only Person Ever Killed by a Meteorite – Back in 1888 appeared first onRead More →

China’s First Mars Lander is Going to be Called “Tianwen” Friday April 24th was China’s “Space Day,” celebrated on the 50 year anniversary of their first satellite launch. This past Friday, China marked the occasion with the announcement of the name for their first Mars Lander: Tianwen. According to China’s National Space Administration (CNSA), Tianwen translates to “Quest for Heavenly Truth.” China is enjoying the … Continue reading “China’s First Mars Lander is Going to be Called “Tianwen”” The post China’s First Mars Lander is Going to be Called “Tianwen” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →