Universe Today (Page 411)

Carnival of Space #642 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Brian Wang at his Next Big Future blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #642 And 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 … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #642” The post Carnival of Space #642 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Planetary Mass Objects Discovered in Other Galaxies A team of researchers at the University of Oklahoma have discovered “planetary mass bodies” outside of the Milky Way. They were discovered in one gravitationally-lensed galaxy, and in one gravitationally-lensed galaxy cluster using a technique called quasar micro-lensing. According to the researchers, the planetary mass objects are either planets or primordial black holes. These detections … Continue reading “Planetary Mass Objects Discovered in Other Galaxies” The post Planetary Mass Objects Discovered in Other Galaxies appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Mars Express Takes Photos of Phobos as it Flies Past The ESA’s Mars Express Orbiter is no stranger to the Martian moon Phobos. The spacecraft was launched in June 2003 and has been in orbit around Mars for 16 years. During its long time at Mars, it’s captured detailed images of Phobos, and helped unlocked some of that Moon’s secrets. In a new sequence of … Continue reading “Mars Express Takes Photos of Phobos as it Flies Past” The post Mars Express Takes Photos of Phobos as it Flies Past appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA Maps Out the Water On Mars. Some Will Be So Easy to Get, You Could Dig it Out With a Shovel NASA has created a map showing how water is distributed on Mars. The water is frozen under the surface of the planet, and some of it is only 30 cm (12 inches) deep. At that depth, astronauts won’t need a machine to access it: just a shovel. Ancient Mars used to be warm and had … Continue reading “NASA Maps Out the Water On Mars. Some Will Be So Easy to Get, You Could Dig it Out With a Shovel” The post NASARead More →

Planets Started Out From Dust Clumping Together. Here’s How A new study by a team of German physicists and an American biomedical engineer has solved a long-standing problem in how planets form. The post Planets Started Out From Dust Clumping Together. Here’s How appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Spaceport America Cup Joins Crowdsourcing Platform HeroX to Propel Student Innovation! The 2020 Spaceport America Cup will be the largest to date, thanks to a new collaboration with crowdsourcing powerhouse HeroX! The post The Spaceport America Cup Joins Crowdsourcing Platform HeroX to Propel Student Innovation! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Site Has Been Chosen! Here’s Where OSIRIS-REx is Going To Take a Sample from Bennu NASA has chosen the sampling site for its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. After narrowing it down to four potential sites and examining them in detail, they’ve settled on one location. Their choice? Nightingale. OSIRIS-REx has been at asteroid Bennu for a year, taking detailed images of its entire surface. While the spacecraft has other mission objectives, the … Continue reading “The Site Has Been Chosen! Here’s Where OSIRIS-REx is Going To Take a Sample from Bennu” The post The Site Has Been Chosen! Here’s Where OSIRIS-REx is Going To Take aRead More →

North and South America, At Night Along with all of their space-exploration, planet-hunting, and astronomy-based endeavours, NASA also keeps a very keen eye on Earth. In fact, they have 18 satellites whose job it is to look only at Earth. And those 18 advanced satellites are helping us understand Earth in unprecedented scientific detail. And they take pretty pictures, too. NASA … Continue reading “North and South America, At Night” The post North and South America, At Night appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Watch NASA Test an SLS Tank to Destruction By the time a rocket actually launches, it’s components have been through a ton of rigorous testing. That’s certainly true of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) which is the most powerful rocket ever built. That’s right, something is finally going to surpass the Saturn V, the rocket that took Apollo astronauts to the Moon. Up … Continue reading “Watch NASA Test an SLS Tank to Destruction” The post Watch NASA Test an SLS Tank to Destruction appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Dark Matter Could Be A Source of Gamma Rays Coming from the Center of the Milky Way There’s a lot of mysterious goings-on at the center of the Milky Way. The supermassive black hole that resides there is chief among them. But there’s another intriguing puzzle there: an unexpected spherical region of intense gamma ray emissions. A new study suggests that dark matter could be behind those emissions. There are lots of … Continue reading “Dark Matter Could Be A Source of Gamma Rays Coming from the Center of the Milky Way” The post Dark Matter Could Be A Source of Gamma Rays Coming fromRead More →

An Upcoming ESA Mission is Going to Remove one Piece of Space Junk From Orbit A specialized spacecraft will be sent to orbit by the ESA in 2025 to remove a piece of space debris, which will pave the way for future cleanup missions. The post An Upcoming ESA Mission is Going to Remove one Piece of Space Junk From Orbit appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Carnival of Space #641 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by me at the CosmoQuest blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #641 And 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 … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #641” The post Carnival of Space #641 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Shape Spiral galaxies are an iconic form. They’re used in product logos and all sorts of other places. We even live in one. And though it may seem kind of obvious how they get their shape, by rotating, that’s not the case. Scientists are still puzzled by spiral galaxies, and how they gain their form, with … Continue reading “How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Shape” The post How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Shape appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Wow, Meade Instruments Just Filed for Bankruptcy Protection Meade Instruments, a company familiar to any backyard astronomer who’s drooled over their telescopes, has filed for bankruptcy. The company has fallen on hard times in recent years, as they’ve faced increasing competition. Meade also recently lost a lawsuit, which pushed them over the edge into bankruptcy. The company is based in Irvine, California, and … Continue reading “Wow, Meade Instruments Just Filed for Bankruptcy Protection” The post Wow, Meade Instruments Just Filed for Bankruptcy Protection appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

This Galaxy Has Been Home to 5 Supernovae in the Last 20 Years A NASA image showcases the beauty of the NGC 5468 galaxy, which has experienced 5 supernovae in the last 20 years (all of which we’ve witnessed). The post This Galaxy Has Been Home to 5 Supernovae in the Last 20 Years appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

We Know We’re Made of Stardust. But Did it Come From Red Giants? We’ve all heard this one: when you drink a glass of water, that water has already been through a bunch of other people’s digestive tracts. Maybe Attila the Hun’s or Vlad the Impaler’s; maybe even a Tyrannosaurus Rex’s. Well, the same thing is true of stars and matter. All the matter we see around us … Continue reading “We Know We’re Made of Stardust. But Did it Come From Red Giants?” The post We Know We’re Made of Stardust. But Did it Come From Red Giants? appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: December 11, 2019 – Charlie Duke and Tom O’Conner from Astrograms Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg & ChartYourWorld.org) Dave Dickinson (www.astroguyz.com / @astroguyz) Carolyn Collins Petersen (TheSpaceWriter.com / @spacewriter) Moiya McTier (https://www.moiyamctier.com/ / @GoAstroMo) Tonight we are pleased to welcome Tom O’Connor and Charlie Duke, founders of AstroGrams, to the Weekly Space Hangout. AstroGrams is a unique project intended to promote awareness of space … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: December 11, 2019 – Charlie Duke and Tom O’Conner from Astrograms” The post Weekly Space Hangout: December 11, 2019 – Charlie Duke and Tom O’Conner from Astrograms appeared first onRead More →

This is the Milky Way’s Magnetic Field The Milky Way galaxy has its own magnetic field. It’s extremely weak compared to Earth’s; thousands of times weaker, in fact. But astronomers want to know more about it because of what it can tell us about star formation, cosmic rays, and a host of other astrophysical processes. A team of astronomers from Curtin University … Continue reading “This is the Milky Way’s Magnetic Field” The post This is the Milky Way’s Magnetic Field appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Why Does Enceladus Have Stripes at its South Pole? A study led by the Carnegie Institute of Science has determined why Enceladus’ has its mysterious Tiger Stripes. The post Why Does Enceladus Have Stripes at its South Pole? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA’s TESS Watched an Outburst from Comet 46P/Wirtanen TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, has imaged an outburst from the comet 46P/Wirtanen. It caught the outburst in what NASA is calling the clearest images yet of a comet outburst from start to finish. A comet outburst is a significant but temporary increase in the comet’s activity, outside of the normal sunlight-driven vaporization of … Continue reading “NASA’s TESS Watched an Outburst from Comet 46P/Wirtanen” The post NASA’s TESS Watched an Outburst from Comet 46P/Wirtanen appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →