Universe Today (Page 390)

Interstellar Oumuamua Was a Dark Hydrogen Iceberg When Canadian astronomer Robert Weryk discovered `Oumuamua passing through our Solar System with the Pan-STARRS telescope, in October 2017, it caused quite a stir. It was the first interstellar object we’d ever seen coming through our neighbourhood. The excitement led to speculation: what could it be? There was lots of fun conjecture on its origins. … Continue reading “Interstellar Oumuamua Was a Dark Hydrogen Iceberg” The post Interstellar Oumuamua Was a Dark Hydrogen Iceberg appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Finally! Mars InSight’s Mole is Now Underground It looks like the InSight Lander’s Mole instrument is making some progress. After months of perseverance, the team operating the instrument has succeeded in getting the Mole at least some distance into the ground. That’s a victory in itself, considering all the setbacks there’ve been. But it’s too soon to celebrate: there’s quite a ways … Continue reading “Finally! Mars InSight’s Mole is Now Underground” The post Finally! Mars InSight’s Mole is Now Underground appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hubble Looked as Far Back in Time as it Could, and Still Couldn’t See the First Generation of Stars in the Universe Astronomers don’t know exactly when the first stars formed in the Universe because they haven’t been observed yet. And now, new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest the first stars and galaxies may have formed even earlier than previously estimated. Why? We *still* haven’t seen them, even with the best telescope we’ve got, pushed … Continue reading “Hubble Looked as Far Back in Time as it Could, and Still Couldn’t See the First Generation of Stars in the Universe” The post HubbleRead More →

A New Test Confirms Dark Energy and the Expansion of the Universe Our measurements of dark energy give contradictory results. A new study confirms dark energy, but suggests it is more strange than we thought. The post A New Test Confirms Dark Energy and the Expansion of the Universe appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Astronomers Find the Source of the Huge Bubbles of Gas Flowing Out of the Milky Way, Still No Idea What Caused Them There’s an unusual paradox hampering research into parts of the Milky Way. Dense gas blocks observations of the galactic core, and it can be difficult to observe in visible light from our vantage point. But distant galaxies don’t always present the same obstacles. So in some ways, we can observe distant galaxies better than we … Continue reading “Astronomers Find the Source of the Huge Bubbles of Gas Flowing Out of the Milky Way, Still No Idea What Caused Them” The post AstronomersRead More →

Spying a Rare ‘Ring of Fire’ Around Venus at Inferior Conjunction Amazing things happen in the day-to-day sky, often unseen and unwitnessed in our normal routine. Just such a ‘non-event’ happened this week, when Venus reached inferior conjunction between the Earth and the Sun on its race from the dusk to the dawn sky. And what’s more amazing, is the fact that some skilled observers followed this passage and caught sight of Venus as a tiny blazing ‘ring of fire’ silhouetted against the sky. The post Spying a Rare ‘Ring of Fire’ Around Venus at Inferior Conjunction appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today GoRead More →

Evidence that Mars Used to Have a Ring Mars only has two moons: Phobos and Deimos. They’re strange, for moons, little more than lumpy, potato-shaped chunks of rock. They’re much too small for self-gravitation to have made them round. And one of them, Deimos, has an unusually tilted orbit. What does that slight tilt tell us about Deimos? About Mars? Deimos is the … Continue reading “Evidence that Mars Used to Have a Ring” The post Evidence that Mars Used to Have a Ring appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The dinosaur killing asteroid hit the Earth at the most devastating possible angle There are bad days, and then there are really bad days. 65 million years ago, life on Earth – especially if you were a dinosaur – experienced the worst possible bad day, as a giant meteor came crashing down to the surface of our planet, unleashing an inferno followed by decades of nuclear winter. And … Continue reading “The dinosaur killing asteroid hit the Earth at the most devastating possible angle” The post The dinosaur killing asteroid hit the Earth at the most devastating possible angle appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

About 3.5 Million Years Ago, a Stream of Gas Outside the Milky Way Would Have Lit Up the Night Sky It’s a truism to point out that modern humans have only been around for the blink of an eye, relative to the age of the Universe. But the Universe was an active place long before we were around to observe all of that activity. And about 3.5 million years ago, it’s possible—if only remotely—that our … Continue reading “About 3.5 Million Years Ago, a Stream of Gas Outside the Milky Way Would Have Lit Up the Night Sky” The post About 3.5 Million Years Ago,Read More →

What are the Odds of Life Emerging on Another Planet? A new study by Prof. Kipping of Columbia University indicates that extraterrestrial life should be statistically significant, even if intelligent life is rare. The post What are the Odds of Life Emerging on Another Planet? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Study of 200,000 Galaxies Reveals the Entire Universe Might Have Been Spinning in One Direction Early On A new study finds evidence that the universe as a whole is rotating, and that could have big implications for cosmology. The post Study of 200,000 Galaxies Reveals the Entire Universe Might Have Been Spinning in One Direction Early On appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Barred Spiral NGC 3895 Captured by Hubble NGC 3895 is a barred spiral galaxy in the Ursa Major constellation. It’s about 145 million light years away from our home, the Milky Way, and its diameter is about 45,000 light years. William Herschel discovered it way back in 1790. Now the Hubble Space Telescope has given us another gorgeous image of it. Thanks … Continue reading “Barred Spiral NGC 3895 Captured by Hubble” The post Barred Spiral NGC 3895 Captured by Hubble appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

New Simulations Show How Black Holes Grow, Through Mergers and Accretion One of the most pressing questions in astronomy concerns black holes. We know that massive stars that explode as supernovae can leave stellar mass black holes as remnants. And astrophysicists understand that process. But what about the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) like Sagittarius A-star (Sgr A*,) at the heart of the Milky Way? SMBHs can … Continue reading “New Simulations Show How Black Holes Grow, Through Mergers and Accretion” The post New Simulations Show How Black Holes Grow, Through Mergers and Accretion appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Want to Mine Ice on the Moon? Scientists Create a Map for Where to Start The first lunar maps consisted of simply the best images of the Moon from Earth-based telescopes, which were converted to provide necessary information for the Apollo astronauts. But whenever the next lunar explorers arrive, they’ll have incredibly detailed topographic maps of the Moon’s surface, thanks to the high-resolution cameras and instruments on board satellites like … Continue reading “Want to Mine Ice on the Moon? Scientists Create a Map for Where to Start” The post Want to Mine Ice on the Moon? Scientists Create a Map for Where to StartRead More →

The Meteor Impact that Wiped Out the Dinosaurs Created a Vast Underground Hydrothermal System The Chicxulub impact event was an enormous catastrophe that left a huge imprint on the Earth’s surface. Not only did it cause the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, it left a crater 180 km (112 miles) in diameter, and deposited a worldwide layer of concentrated iridium in the Earth’s crust. But a new study shows … Continue reading “The Meteor Impact that Wiped Out the Dinosaurs Created a Vast Underground Hydrothermal System” The post The Meteor Impact that Wiped Out the Dinosaurs Created a Vast Underground Hydrothermal System appeared first onRead More →

How to See This Friday’s Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Eclipse season resumes on June 5th, with a fine penumbral lunar eclipse. The post How to See This Friday’s Penumbral Lunar Eclipse appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Black Hole Seen Blasting Out Jets at Close to the Speed of Light The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has spotted a distant black hole shooting out jets of material, at close to the speed of light. No worries, this beast is about 10,000 light years away from us. It’s more of a spectacle than a danger. But it’s a spectacle laden with scientific insights. I know what you might … Continue reading “Black Hole Seen Blasting Out Jets at Close to the Speed of Light” The post Black Hole Seen Blasting Out Jets at Close to the Speed of Light appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Huge Stars Can Destroy Nearby Planetary Disks Westerlund 2 is a star cluster about 20,000 light years away. It’s young—only about one or two million years old—and its core contains some of the brightest and hottest stars we know of. Also some of the most massive ones. There’s something unusual going on around the massive hot stars at the heart of Westerlund … Continue reading “Huge Stars Can Destroy Nearby Planetary Disks” The post Huge Stars Can Destroy Nearby Planetary Disks appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Rare “Ring Galaxy” Seen in the Early Universe Astronomers have discovered a collisional ring galaxy that existed when the Universe was just 3 billion years old, a find which could have implications for our theories on galactic evolution. The post Rare “Ring Galaxy” Seen in the Early Universe appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA and SpaceX Make History with Successful Crew Dragon Launch! NASA and SpaceX made history today with the launch of second demonstration flight of the Crew Dragon (Demo-2), which signalled the restoration of the US’ domestic launch capability! The post NASA and SpaceX Make History with Successful Crew Dragon Launch! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →