Universe Today (Page 408)

14% of all the Massive Stars in the Universe are Destined to Collide as Black Holes Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity predicted that black holes would form and eventually collide. It also predicted the creation of gravitational waves from the collision. But how often does this happen, and can we calculate how many stars this will happen to? A new study from a physicist at Vanderbilt University sought to answer these … Continue reading “14% of all the Massive Stars in the Universe are Destined to Collide as Black Holes” The post 14% of all the Massive Stars in the Universe are Destined to CollideRead More →

Neutrinos Have Been Detected With Such High Energy That The Standard Model Can’t Explain Them Although neutrinos are mysterious particles, they are remarkably common. Billions of neutrinos pass through your body every second. But neutrinos rarely interact with regular matter, so detecting them is a big engineering challenge. Even when we do detect them, the results don’t always make sense. For example, we’ve recently detected neutrinos that have so much … Continue reading “Neutrinos Have Been Detected With Such High Energy That The Standard Model Can’t Explain Them” The post Neutrinos Have Been Detected With Such High Energy That The Standard Model Can’t Explain ThemRead More →

Good-bye Spitzer. We’ll Miss You But We Won’t Forget You. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has reached the end of its life. Its mission was to study objects in the infrared, and it excelled at that since it was launched in 2003. But every mission has an end, and on January 30th 2020, Spitzer shut down. “Its immense impact on science certainly will last well beyond … Continue reading “Good-bye Spitzer. We’ll Miss You But We Won’t Forget You.” The post Good-bye Spitzer. We’ll Miss You But We Won’t Forget You. appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: February 5, 2020 – “More Things in the Heavens” with Dr. Michael Werner and Dr. Peter Eisenhardt Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Brian Koberlein (BrianKoberlein.com / @BrianKoberlein) Chris Carr (@therealCCarrAnnie Wilson Tonight we welcome Dr. Michael Werner and Dr. Peter Eisenhardt, authors of the new book More Things in the Heavens which looks at how infrared astronomy is aiding the search for exoplanets and extraterrestrial life, and is transforming our understanding of the … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: February 5, 2020 – “More Things in the Heavens” with Dr. Michael Werner and Dr. Peter Eisenhardt” The post Weekly Space Hangout: February 5,Read More →

An Upcoming Mission is Going to Assemble and Manufacture a Communications Antenna and Beam in Space A robotic payload known as SPIDER will be going to space soon to show that constructing everything from satellites to spacecraft in orbit is possible The post An Upcoming Mission is Going to Assemble and Manufacture a Communications Antenna and Beam in Space appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Took a Space Selfie, Capturing her Reflection in the Space Station If there’s an award for “Selfie of the Year” NASA astronaut Jessica Meir just won it. Her Twitter account tweeted two images of her spacewalk shenanigans from January 26th, 2020. In one of the photos, she used one of the solar panels to reflect her image. That one shows the Earth in the background. The … Continue reading “NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Took a Space Selfie, Capturing her Reflection in the Space Station” The post NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Took a Space Selfie, Capturing her Reflection in the Space StationRead More →

Carnival of Space #649 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by me at the CosmoQuest blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #649And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to all the past Carnivals of Space. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to susie@wshcrew.space, and the … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #649” The post Carnival of Space #649 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Voyager 2 Went Into Fault Protection Mode, But Engineers Brought it Back Online NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft went into fault protection mode on Tuesday January 28th. The fault protection routines automatically protect the spacecraft in harmful conditions. Both Voyagers have these routines programmed into their systems. After it happened, NASA engineers were still in communication with the spacecraft and receiving telemetry. The fault protection stems from a maneuver … Continue reading “Voyager 2 Went Into Fault Protection Mode, But Engineers Brought it Back Online” The post Voyager 2 Went Into Fault Protection Mode, But Engineers Brought it Back Online appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Destructive Super Solar Storms Hit Us Every 25 Years Or So Solar storms powerful enough to wreak havoc on electronic equipment strike Earth every 25 years, according to a new study. And less powerful—yet still dangerous—storms occur every three years or so. This conclusion comes from a team of scientists from the the University of Warwick and the British Antarctic Survey. These powerful storms can disrupt … Continue reading “Destructive Super Solar Storms Hit Us Every 25 Years Or So” The post Destructive Super Solar Storms Hit Us Every 25 Years Or So appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

This is the Spot Where ESA’s Schiaparelli Crashed Into Mars The MRO’s HiRISE camera recently snapped fresh images of where the ESA’s Schiaparelli lander crashed on the surface of Mars in 2016. The post This is the Spot Where ESA’s Schiaparelli Crashed Into Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

CHEOPS Just Opened Its Eyes to Start Studying Known Exoplanets, We Should See the First Picture in a Few Weeks The CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite) spacecraft just opened the cover on its telescope. The spacecraft was launched on December 18th 2019 and has so far performed flawlessly. In one or two weeks we could get our first images from the instrument. CHEOPS is an ESA mission in partnership with Switzerland’s University of Bern. Its mission is not … Continue reading “CHEOPS Just Opened Its Eyes to Start Studying Known Exoplanets, We Should See the First Picture in a Few Weeks” The post CHEOPS Just Opened Its EyesRead More →

Astronomers See Space Twist Around A White Dwarf 12,000 Light Years Away The theory of general relativity is packed with strange predictions about how space and time are affected by massive bodies. Everything from gravitational waves to the lensing of light by dark matter. But one of the oddest predictions is an effect known as frame-dragging. The effect is so subtle it was first measured just a … Continue reading “Astronomers See Space Twist Around A White Dwarf 12,000 Light Years Away” The post Astronomers See Space Twist Around A White Dwarf 12,000 Light Years Away appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

This is the Highest Resolution Image Ever Taken of the Surface of the Sun The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) recently took its first image, which happens to be the highest-resolution image of the surface of the Sun to date. The post This is the Highest Resolution Image Ever Taken of the Surface of the Sun appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

It Looks Like James Webb’s Launch Date is Going to Slip to July 2021 Put “James Webb Telescope launch” into your search engine and you’ll be flooded with links, some reaching back to the ‘scope’s first proposed launch date in 2010. The delayed launch of the space telescope is a running theme in the space community, even though we all know it’s going to be worth the wait. So … Continue reading “It Looks Like James Webb’s Launch Date is Going to Slip to July 2021” The post It Looks Like James Webb’s Launch Date is Going to Slip to July 2021 appeared first onRead More →

There’s a 1 in 20 Chance That Two Dead Satellites Might Crash Tonight According to multiple assessments, there’s a good chance two dead satellites will crash in the skies above Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, creating a serious debris problem. The post There’s a 1 in 20 Chance That Two Dead Satellites Might Crash Tonight appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA is Going to Add a Commercial Module to the Space Station NASA’s plan to open up the International Space Station (ISS) to commercial activity is gaining ground. They have a vision for an economy in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) called the Plan for Commercial LEO Development. According to NASA, they intend to foster economic development in LEO and to drive innovation, all for the benefit of the … Continue reading “NASA is Going to Add a Commercial Module to the Space Station” The post NASA is Going to Add a Commercial Module to the Space Station appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go toRead More →

Okay, this Logo Proves that Space Force Should Have Really Been Called Star Fleet Now that the US Space Force’s new uniforms have been eviscerated on social media (that was so last week) it’s up to their new logo to keep the uproar going. The newest branch of the US Armed Forces hasn’t disappointed: their logo looks like the Star Fleet logo from Star Trek, inviting all kinds of … Continue reading “Okay, this Logo Proves that Space Force Should Have Really Been Called Star Fleet” The post Okay, this Logo Proves that Space Force Should Have Really Been Called Star Fleet appeared first onRead More →

Here’s What the Climate Might Look Like on Proxima Centauri B NASA scientists have run simulations that show what the climate on Proxima b might be like, with encouraging results! The post Here’s What the Climate Might Look Like on Proxima Centauri B appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: January 29, 2020 – Plumes on Enceladus with Dr. Christopher Glein Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dave Dickinson (www.astroguyz.com / @astroguyz) Pam Hoffman (EverydaySpacer.com / @EverydaySpacer) Veranika Klimovich ( @VeronikaSpace) Tonight we welcome Dr. Christopher Glein, Senior Research Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. Chris is the lead author of a new paper which studies Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the plumes of gases and frozen sea spray which … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: January 29, 2020 – Plumes on Enceladus with Dr. Christopher Glein” The post Weekly Space Hangout: January 29, 2020 – Plumes on Enceladus with Dr. Christopher Glein appeared first onRead More →

A Cubesat Deployed a De-Orbiting Tether and Now it’s Losing Altitude 24 Times Faster than Before A company called Tethers Unlimited has deployed its de-orbiting tether in a successful test on the Prox-1 satellite. The satellite is one of four that are carrying the device, called the Terminator Tape. Rather than stay in space for years or decades, and add to the growing problem of space debris, Prox-1 is using its … Continue reading “A Cubesat Deployed a De-Orbiting Tether and Now it’s Losing Altitude 24 Times Faster than Before” The post A Cubesat Deployed a De-Orbiting Tether and Now it’s Losing Altitude 24 TimesRead More →