There Might Be Dust Devils On Titan Too Saturn’s moon Titan is alone among the Solar System’s moons. It’s the only one with any atmosphere to speak of. Other moons may have thin, largely insignificant atmospheres, like Ganymede with its potential oxygen atmosphere. But Titan’s atmosphere is dense, and rich in nitrogen. A new study shows that Titan’s atmosphere and winds might produce … Continue reading “There Might Be Dust Devils On Titan Too” The post There Might Be Dust Devils On Titan Too appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

How Will Covid-19 affect the Future of Science? The full ramifications of the recent novel coronavirus pandemic are not yet known, and probably won’t be known or even felt for quite some time. Entire industries have been shifted and shuttered over the course of only a few tumultuous weeks due to Covid-19. Some industries and professions have been able to adapt quickly, some … Continue reading “How Will Covid-19 affect the Future of Science?” The post How Will Covid-19 affect the Future of Science? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Can wormholes act like time machines? Time travel into the past is a tricky thing. We know of no single law of physics that absolutely forbids it, and yet we can’t find a way to do it, and if we could do it, the possibility opens up all sorts of uncomfortable paradoxes (like what would happen if you killed your own … Continue reading “Can wormholes act like time machines?” The post Can wormholes act like time machines? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Fomalhaut’s Planet Has Gone Missing, But it Might Have Been Something Even More Interesting Ongoing observations of the Fomalhaut system using Hubble data has revealed that the mysterious “disappearing” exoplanet may not have been an exoplanet at all. The post Fomalhaut’s Planet Has Gone Missing, But it Might Have Been Something Even More Interesting appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: April 29, 2020 – Alcohol in Space with Chris Carberry Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Brian Koberlein (BrianKoberlein.com / @BrianKoberlein) Dave Dickinson (www.astroguyz.com / @astroguyz) Alex Teachey (alexteachey.com /@alexteachey) This week we are pleased to welcome Chris Carberry to the Weekly Space Hangout. Chris is CEO and Co-Founder of Explore Mars, Inc, and helped to turn that organization into one of the most influential space nonprofits … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: April 29, 2020 – Alcohol in Space with Chris Carberry” The post Weekly Space Hangout: April 29, 2020 – Alcohol in Space with Chris Carberry appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Now This is Progress! Starship Passes its Cryogenic Test and Doesn’t Explode The fourth Starship prototype (SN4) achieved a crucial milestone this weekend by passing the cryogenic load test – the same one that caused its three predecessors to explode. The post Now This is Progress! Starship Passes its Cryogenic Test and Doesn’t Explode appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Carnival of Space #660-661 Welcome to the 660-661st 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: This is How the ESA and NASA Will … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #660-661” The post Carnival of Space #660-661 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

OSIRIS-REx Descended Down to Just 75 Meters Above the Surface of Bennu in a Recent Test NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is getting ready for its big moment. OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is at asteroid Bennu, preparing to collect a sample of ancient rock. And collecting that sample means taking step after meticulous step. OSIRIS-REx performed a series of rehearsal maneuvers in recent weeks. Each of these maneuvers … Continue reading “OSIRIS-REx Descended Down to Just 75 Meters Above the Surface of Bennu in a Recent Test” The post OSIRIS-REx Descended Down to Just 75 Meters Above the Surface of Bennu inRead More →

Watch Asteroid 1998 OR2 Zip Past Earth This Week A fascinating asteroid nammed 1998 OR2 pays our neck of the inner solar system a visit early Wednesday morning, and if skies are clear, you might just get a chance to watch it slide by. The post Watch Asteroid 1998 OR2 Zip Past Earth This Week appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Star is Orbiting the Milky Way’s Black Hole and Moving Exactly How Einstein Predicted it Should After almost 30 years of observing a star that orbits the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy, scientists have confirmed yet again that Einstein was right! The post A Star is Orbiting the Milky Way’s Black Hole and Moving Exactly How Einstein Predicted it Should appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Detected a Black Hole Merger With Very Different Mass Objects In another first, the latest gravitational wave event to be detected came from the merger of two black holes of vastly different mass. The post Astronomers Detected a Black Hole Merger With Very Different Mass Objects appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Super-Supernova Released Ten Times More Energy than a Regular Supernova It’s easy to run out of superlatives and adjectives when your puny human language is trying to describe humongously-energetic events in the Universe. So now it’s down to this: a really powerful supernova is a “super-supernova.” But whatever name we give it, it’s a monster. A monsternova. In 2016, a team of astronomers identified a … Continue reading “Super-Supernova Released Ten Times More Energy than a Regular Supernova” The post Super-Supernova Released Ten Times More Energy than a Regular Supernova appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

BepiColombo captured images of Earth during its recent flyby Farewell! Even though the BepiColombo mission launched for Mercury in 2018, it’s still hanging around the Earth – at least, briefly, as shown in this stunning image recently released by the European Space Agency. In the image, the Earth hangs serenely in between BepiColumbo’s magnetometer boom (on the right) and its medium-gain antenna (on the … Continue reading “BepiColombo captured images of Earth during its recent flyby” The post BepiColombo captured images of Earth during its recent flyby appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Crew Dragon Will Be Launching on May 27th NASA and SpaceX are targeting May 27, 2020 for an historic mission: the launch of the first astronauts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, with the destination as the International Space Station (ISS). The crew, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, are scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket at 4:32 pm EDT … Continue reading “Crew Dragon Will Be Launching on May 27th” The post Crew Dragon Will Be Launching on May 27th appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hubble Sees a Galaxy With Spiral Arms, Surrounded by Other Spiral Arms After 30 years, Hubble is still providing us with breathtaking images – like this one of NGC 2273, a spiral galaxy that has arms within arms! The post Hubble Sees a Galaxy With Spiral Arms, Surrounded by Other Spiral Arms appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Formed in a Very Cold Environment Using the ALMA array, astronomers were able to detect the chemical composition of an interstellar object as 2I/Borisov began releasing gas from its interior. The post Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Formed in a Very Cold Environment appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Watch a Nova Go From Start to Finish for the First Time A nova is a dramatic episode in the life of a binary pair of stars. It’s an explosion of bright light that can last weeks or even months. And though they’re not exactly rare—there are about 10 each year in the Milky Way—astronomers have never watched one from start to finish. Until now. A nova … Continue reading “Astronomers Watch a Nova Go From Start to Finish for the First Time” The post Astronomers Watch a Nova Go From Start to Finish for the First Time appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →