Universe Today (Page 405)

Extreme Bacteria on the Space Station are Evolving to Handle the Harsh Conditions, not to Make Astronauts Sick A new study conducted by researchers from NWU has shown that bacteria do not mutate into super bugs. The post Extreme Bacteria on the Space Station are Evolving to Handle the Harsh Conditions, not to Make Astronauts Sick appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Bad News. Planets Orbiting Red Dwarfs Might not have the Raw Materials for Life New research from the Hubble Space Telescope and the ESO’s Very Large Telescope is dampening some of the enthusiasm in the search for life. Observations by both ‘scopes suggest that the raw materials necessary for life may be rare in solar systems centered around red dwarfs. And if the raw materials aren’t there, it may … Continue reading “Bad News. Planets Orbiting Red Dwarfs Might not have the Raw Materials for Life” The post Bad News. Planets Orbiting Red Dwarfs Might not have the Raw Materials for Life appeared first onRead More →

It Looks Like Dark Matter Can be Heated Up and Moved Around Look at a galaxy, what do you see? Probably lots of stars. Nebulae too. And that’s probably it. A whole bunch of stars and gas in a variety of colorful assortments; a delight to the eye. And buried among those stars, if you looked carefully enough, you might find planets, black holes, white dwarves, asteroids, … Continue reading “It Looks Like Dark Matter Can be Heated Up and Moved Around” The post It Looks Like Dark Matter Can be Heated Up and Moved Around appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Interstellar Objects like Oumuamua Probably Crash into the Sun Every 30 Years or so and 2 Pass Within the Orbit of Mercury A new study by a team of Harvard scientists reveals how we could study future interstellar visitors like ‘Oumuamua The post Interstellar Objects like Oumuamua Probably Crash into the Sun Every 30 Years or so and 2 Pass Within the Orbit of Mercury appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

TESS Finds its Third Planet, a sub-Neptune with a 36-Day Orbit After only three months of operation, NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) spacecraft is delivering on its mission to find more exoplanets. A new paper presents the latest finding: a sub-Neptune planet with a 36-day orbit around its star. This is the third confirmed exoplanet that TESS has found. The planet orbits a K-dwarf star … Continue reading “TESS Finds its Third Planet, a sub-Neptune with a 36-Day Orbit” The post TESS Finds its Third Planet, a sub-Neptune with a 36-Day Orbit appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s Yutu-2 rover is on the move on the far side of the Moon The China National Space Administration (CNSA) accomplished a historic feat last week (Thurs. Jan. 3rd) by landing a robotic mission on the “dark side” of the Moon. Known as the Chang’e-4 mission, this lander-rover combination will explore the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin as part of China’s ongoing effort to conduct lunar exploration. The ultimate goal … Continue reading “China’s Yutu-2 rover is on the move on the far side of the Moon” The post China’s Yutu-2 rover is on the move on the far side of the Moon appeared first onRead More →

Check out this Amazing Picture of the Triangulum Galaxy by Hubble. To the unaided eye, the Triangulum Galaxy is just a smudge in the night sky. But it’s a smudge that contains about 40 billion stars. It also contains some very active star-forming regions, which have attracted the eyes of astronomers. The Triangulum has a couple other names: Messier 33 and NGC 598. But Triangulum is … Continue reading “Check out this Amazing Picture of the Triangulum Galaxy by Hubble.” The post Check out this Amazing Picture of the Triangulum Galaxy by Hubble. appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Still no Word from Opportunity Could this be the end of the Opportunity rover? There’s been no signal from the rover since last summer, when a massive global dust storm descended on it. But even though the craft has been silent and unreachable for six-and-a-half months, NASA hasn’t given up. When Opportunity landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars in January … Continue reading “Still no Word from Opportunity” The post Still no Word from Opportunity appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Carnival of Space #594 Welcome to the 594th 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: The Pictures are Here! New Horizons Close Up … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #594” The post Carnival of Space #594 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The SpaceX Starhopper has Three Raptor Engines on the Bottom Over the holidays, a number of shutterbugs took pictures of the evolving architecture of SpaceX’s Starship hopper. The post The SpaceX Starhopper has Three Raptor Engines on the Bottom appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s Chang’e-4 lands on the far side of the Moon China’s Chang’e-4 mission made history on Jan. 2nd when it became the first mission to land on the “dark side” of the Moon. The post China’s Chang’e-4 lands on the far side of the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: Jan 2, 2019- News Roundup Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Paul M. Sutter (pmsutter.com / @PaulMattSutter) Dr. Kimberly Cartier (KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier ) Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) Announcements: Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are specific ways you can help: * Donate! (Streamlabs link) https://streamlabs.com/cosmoquestx * Donate and challenge your friends to donate too! (Tiltify … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: Jan 2, 2019- News Roundup” The post Weekly Space Hangout: Jan 2, 2019- News Roundup appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Eridanus Constellation Located in the southern skies is the Eridanus constellation, one of the original 48 catalogued by Ptolemy and one of the 88 modern IAU constellations. The post The Eridanus Constellation appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Juno Saw One of Io’s Volcanoes Erupting During its Recent Flyby NASA’s Juno mission recently acquired some stunning photographs of Io before it plunged into Jupiter’s shadow. The post Juno Saw One of Io’s Volcanoes Erupting During its Recent Flyby appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

See a Simulation of the Moon for Every Day in 2019 It’s always easier to show someone a picture of something rather than to use 1,000 words to explain it. The people at NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) know this, and they’re experts. Every year they release a simulation of the Moon that shows what the Moon will look like to us each day. NASA’s Moon … Continue reading “See a Simulation of the Moon for Every Day in 2019” The post See a Simulation of the Moon for Every Day in 2019 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Pictures are Here! New Horizons Close Up View of 2014 MU69 On December 31st, 2018, NASA and the New Horizon‘s team (plus millions of people watching the live stream at home) rang in the New Year by watching the New Horizons mission make the first rendezvous in history with a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). About thirty minutes after the probe conducted its flyby of Ultima Thule … Continue reading “The Pictures are Here! New Horizons Close Up View of 2014 MU69” The post The Pictures are Here! New Horizons Close Up View of 2014 MU69 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

India is Going to be Sending Three People to Space in Three Years The government of India recently announced that it will be sending a crew of three to space in 2022, and for the low price of $1.4 billion The post India is Going to be Sending Three People to Space in Three Years appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Quadrantid Meteors Kickoff a Busy January 2019 Happy New Year! The beginning of the first month of the year is always a busy one for astronomy, and January 2019 is no different, as the Earth reaches perihelion, the Quadrantid meteors peak, and a partial solar eclipse crosses the Pacific… all this week. The post Quadrantid Meteors Kickoff a Busy January 2019 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Prototype Version of the SpaceX Starship with a Stainless Steel Skin is Under Construction Elon Musk recently provided updates on the mini-Starship prototype that will making a test flight next year, including the fact that it will be built from a stainless steel alloy. The post Prototype Version of the SpaceX Starship with a Stainless Steel Skin is Under Construction appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars Apparently not all supernovas work. And when they fail, they leave behind a half-chewed remnant, still burning from leftover heat but otherwise lifeless: a zombie star. Astronomers aren’t sure how many of these should-be-dead creatures lurk in the interstellar depths, but with recent simulations scientists are making a list of their telltale signatures so that … Continue reading “A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars” The post A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →