Universe Today (Page 399)

China’s Lunar Rover Wakes Up and Gets to Work for its 3rd Lunar Day The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has released some new photos and updated the world on their lunar rover mission. The Yutu-2 rover is working its way into the history books on the lunar far side, exploring the Von Karman crater. It’s third lunar day is now in the record books. As of March 4th, … Continue reading “China’s Lunar Rover Wakes Up and Gets to Work for its 3rd Lunar Day” The post China’s Lunar Rover Wakes Up and Gets to Work for its 3rd Lunar Day appeared first onRead More →

Using Black Holes to Conquer Space: The Halo Drive! According to a new study, black holes could be used as a gravitational slingshot, allowing for interstellar space exploration. The post Using Black Holes to Conquer Space: The Halo Drive! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Jupiter or Earth? Which One’s Which, and Why Do They Look so Similar? Jupiter: a massive, lifeless gas giant out there on the other side of the asteroid belt. It’s a behemoth, containing 2.5 times as much mass as all the other planets combined. To top it off, it’s named after the Roman God of War. Earth: a tiny rocky world, almost too close to the Sun, where … Continue reading “Jupiter or Earth? Which One’s Which, and Why Do They Look so Similar?” The post Jupiter or Earth? Which One’s Which, and Why Do They Look so Similar? appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Now You Can See MU69 in Thrilling 3D The New Horizons team has released new images that take advantage of the “binocular effect” to create 3D impressions of Ultima Thule. The post Now You Can See MU69 in Thrilling 3D appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Newer, More Accurate Measurement Sets the Mass of the Milky Way at 1.5 Trillion Solar Masses Astronomers keep trying to measure the mass of the Milky Way and they keep coming up with different numbers. But it’s not that they’re bad at math. Measuring the mass of something as enormous as the Milky Way is confounding. Plus, we’re embedded in it; it takes some very clever maneuvering to constrain its mass. … Continue reading “A Newer, More Accurate Measurement Sets the Mass of the Milky Way at 1.5 Trillion Solar Masses” The post A Newer, More Accurate Measurement Sets the Mass of the MilkyRead More →

Messier 80 – the NGC 6093 Globular Cluster Located in the Scorpius constellation, roughly 32,600 light years from Earth, is the globular cluster known as Messier 80. The post Messier 80 – the NGC 6093 Globular Cluster appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Massive Photons Could Explain Dark Matter, But Don’t I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t understand dark matter. We do know for sure that something funny is going on at large scales in the universe (“large” here meaning at least as big as galaxies). In short, the numbers just aren’t adding up. For example, when we look at a galaxy and … Continue reading “Massive Photons Could Explain Dark Matter, But Don’t” The post Massive Photons Could Explain Dark Matter, But Don’t appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Pluto and Charon Don’t Have Enough Small Craters The New Horizons team just shared new findings about the lack of small craters on Pluto and Charon’s surface, which reveal things about the Kuiper Belt. The post Pluto and Charon Don’t Have Enough Small Craters appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

It Took 10 Years to Confirm the First Planet Ever Found by Kepler Even though astronomy people are fond of touting the number of exoplanets found by the Kepler spacecraft, those planets aren’t actually confirmed. They’re more correctly called candidate exoplanets, because the signals that show something’s out there, orbiting a distant star, can be caused by something other than exoplanets. It can actually take a long time … Continue reading “It Took 10 Years to Confirm the First Planet Ever Found by Kepler” The post It Took 10 Years to Confirm the First Planet Ever Found by Kepler appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Ho-Hum. More Boring Success for SpaceX as Crew Dragon Splashes Down A few hours ago, the SpaceX Crew Dragon splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 miles off the coast of Florida. The splashdown is the last act in what has been a successful first flight for the Crew Dragon. The flight, called Demo-1, was launched on March 2nd and spent five days at the … Continue reading “Ho-Hum. More Boring Success for SpaceX as Crew Dragon Splashes Down” The post Ho-Hum. More Boring Success for SpaceX as Crew Dragon Splashes Down appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

This is an Actual Photograph of the Shock Waves from Supersonic Jets Interacting with Each Other After more than 10 years of hard work, NASA has reached another milestone. We’re accustomed to NASA reaching milestones, but this one’s a little different. This one’s all about a type of photography that captures images of the flow of fluids. It’s called Schlieren Photography, and schlieren is German for “streaks.” It was first developed … Continue reading “This is an Actual Photograph of the Shock Waves from Supersonic Jets Interacting with Each Other” The post This is an Actual Photograph of the Shock Waves from Supersonic Jets InteractingRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: Mar 06, 2019 – Dr. Jeff Morgenthaler of the Planetary Science Institute Hosts: Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Dr. Pamela Gay (astronomycast.com / cosmoquest.org / @starstryder) Jeff Morgenthaler, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, likes to think of himself as an experimental physicist whose laboratory opens to the sky. He has used a comet to … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: Mar 06, 2019 – Dr. Jeff Morgenthaler of the Planetary Science Institute” The post Weekly Space Hangout: Mar 06, 2019 – Dr. Jeff Morgenthaler of the Planetary Science InstituteRead More →

You’re in This Picture. It’s a Selfie Taken by SpaceIL’s Beresheet Lunar Lander on its Way to the Moon Israel’s space program doesn’t get a lot of headlines. Israel itself is in the news a lot, but usually for other reasons. But they do have a space program, and right now they have a lander, called Beresheet, on the way to the Moon. Israel’s space program is run by the Israel Space Agency (ISA) … Continue reading “You’re in This Picture. It’s a Selfie Taken by SpaceIL’s Beresheet Lunar Lander on its Way to the Moon” The post You’re in This Picture. It’s a SelfieRead More →

Gamma Ray Telescopes could Detect Starships Powered by Black Hole A new study has proposed ways to search for advanced alien life by looking for the gamma rays produced by a black hole spacecraft The post Gamma Ray Telescopes could Detect Starships Powered by Black Hole appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Sorry Hollywood, it’s Going to Take a Lot More to Destroy an Asteroid A new study from John Hopkins University has shown that blowing up asteroids might be harder than we thought. The post Sorry Hollywood, it’s Going to Take a Lot More to Destroy an Asteroid appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

InSight’s Rock-hammer is About Half a Meter Down and has Already Run into Rocks. NASA’s InSight lander is busy deploying its Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) into the Martian soil and has encountered some resistance. The German Aerospace Center (DLR), who designed and built the HP3 as part of the InSight mission, has announced that the instrument has hit not one, but two rocks in the sub-surface. … Continue reading “InSight’s Rock-hammer is About Half a Meter Down and has Already Run into Rocks.” The post InSight’s Rock-hammer is About Half a Meter Down and has Already Run into Rocks. appeared first onRead More →

Astronomy Cast Ep. 520: Transients: What They Are and Why They Matter Part 2 This is our second episode in a two part series where we look at Transients in astronomy. In last week’s episode, we talked about things that change here in our own Solar System. Now we’ll talk about everything else in the Milky Way and beyond. We usually record Astronomy Cast every Friday at 3:00 pm … Continue reading “Astronomy Cast Ep. 520: Transients: What They Are and Why They Matter Part 2” The post Astronomy Cast Ep. 520: Transients: What They Are and Why They Matter Part 2 appeared first onRead More →

Carnival of Space #601 Welcome to the 601st 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: Massive Volcanic Eruptions 66 Million Years Ago Happened … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #601” The post Carnival of Space #601 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hayabusa2 Left a Dark Spot Where it Touched Down on Ryugu. Engineers Aren’t Sure Why On June 27th, 2018, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency‘s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 spacecraft rendezvoused with the asteroid 162173 Ryugu. Carrying on in the same tradition as its predecessor, Hayabusa2 recently conducted landing operations on the asteroid’s surface as part of the agency’s second sample-return mission from an asteroid. The landing took place on February 22nd, 2019, … Continue reading “Hayabusa2 Left a Dark Spot Where it Touched Down on Ryugu. Engineers Aren’t Sure Why” The post Hayabusa2 Left a Dark Spot Where it Touched Down on Ryugu. Engineers Aren’t Sure WhyRead More →

Another Milestone for SpaceX as Crew Dragon Docks with ISS It’s another milestone for SpaceX as their Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station. In the early morning of March 2nd, the unmanned Crew Dragon launched from complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Then on March 3, at approximately 6:00 AM, the spacecraft successfully docked with the space station. … Continue reading “Another Milestone for SpaceX as Crew Dragon Docks with ISS” The post Another Milestone for SpaceX as Crew Dragon Docks with ISS appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →