Universe Today (Page 417)

A Different Kind Of Science Show When I visited the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory a few years ago, the facility lost power. The observatory is in a remote area of northern Chile, so you can’t just call the power company to complain. Fortunately there’s a skilled team of technicians on the job. Their first priority was to maintain the cooling system of the large Blanco telescope. It contains an array of 62 CCDs known as the Dark Energy Camera, which must be kept cold. Discussing the matter in a mix of English and Spanish, the team worked through the challenge of rigging generators to the telescope. MeanwhileRead More →

New Study Claims There are Four Exoplanets Around Nearest Sun-Like Star! It has been an exciting time for the field of exoplanet studies lately! Last summer, researchers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced the discovery of an Earth-like planet (Proxima b) located in the star system that is the nearest to our own. And just six months ago, an international team of astronomers announced the discovery of seven rocky planets orbiting the nearby star TRAPPIST-1. But in what could be the most encouraging discovery for those hoping to find a habitable planet beyond Earth, an an international team of astronomers just announced the discoveryRead More →

What are Gas Giants? Between the planets of the inner and outer Solar System, there are some stark differences. The planets that resides closer to the Sun are terrestrial (i.e. rocky) in nature, meaning that they are composed of silicate minerals and metals. Beyond the Asteroid Belt, however, the planets are predominantly composed of gases, and are much larger than their terrestrial peers. This is why astronomers use the term “gas giants” when referring to the planets of the outer Solar System. The more we’ve come to know about these four planets, the more we’ve come to understand that no two gas giants are exactlyRead More →

New Horizons’ Next Flyby Target Just Got Weirder! Since it made its historic flyby of Pluto in July of 2015, the New Horizons mission has been venturing farther into the outer Solar System. With the spacecraft still healthy and its system in working order, the mission was extended to include the exploration of additional Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). The first target for this part of its mission is the KBO known as 2014 MU69, which New Horizons is currently making its way towards. In the past, NASA believed this object was a spherical chunk of ice and rock measuring 18–41 km (10–30 mi) in diameter. However,Read More →

Standford Team Creates mDOT, a Mini-Starshade for Exoplanet Research NASA has turned a lot of heads in recent years thanks to its New Worlds Mission concept – aka. Starshade. Consisting of a giant flower-shaped occulter, this proposed spacecraft is intended to be deployed alongside a space telescope (most likely the James Webb Space Telescope). It will then block the glare of distant stars, creating an artificial eclipse to make it easier to detect and study planets orbiting them. The only problem is, this concept is expected to cost a pretty penny – an estimated $750 million to $3 billion at this point! Hence why StanfordRead More →

Gorgeous Images of the August 2017 Partial Lunar Eclipse Just to get you in the mood for the upcoming total solar eclipse — now less than two weeks away — our Solar System put on a little eclipse display of the lunar kind on August 7. The full Moon passed through part of the Earth’s umbral shadow, and the timing made this partial lunar eclipse visible in parts of Europe and Africa. Thanks to our friends around the world who posted in Universe Today’s Flickr page, we’ve got images to share! Enjoy the views! Click on all the images to see larger versions of themRead More →

Experiment Detects Mysterious Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering For the First Time Neutrinos are one of the fundamental particles that make up the Universe. Compared to other types of particles, they have very little mass, no charge, and only interact with others via the weak nuclear force and gravity. As such, finding evidence of heir interactions is extremely difficult, requiring massive instruments located deep underground to shield them from any interference. However, using the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), a research facility located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) – a international team of researchers recently made an historic discovery about neutrinos using an entirely different method. AsRead More →

Messier 53 – the NGC 5024 Globular Cluster Welcome back to Messier Monday! In our ongoing tribute to the great Tammy Plotner, we take a look at globular cluster known as Messier 53! During the 18th century, famed French astronomer Charles Messier noted the presence of several “nebulous objects” in the night sky. Having originally mistaken them for comets, he began compiling a list of these objects so others would not make the same mistake he did. In time, this list (known as the Messier Catalog) would come to include 100 of the most fabulous objects in the night sky. One of these objects isRead More →

Carnival of Space #521 Welcome, come in to the 521st 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. I’m Susie Murph, part of the team at Universe Today and CosmoQuest. So now, on to this week’s stories! First, we go over to Urban Astronomer where Allen Versefeld shares an interview with Australian astrophotographer and science defender Dylan O’Donnell, as he recounts his conversation with a man who believes that the Earth is flat on YouTube. Next, we return here to Universe Today. First up, David Dickinson sharesRead More →

Musk Says Maiden Falcon Heavy to Launch in November, Acknowledges High Risk and Releases New Animation SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket poised for launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this artists concept. Credit: SpaceX Before the year is out, the long awaited debut launch of the triple barreled Falcon Heavy rocket may at last be in sight says SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk, as he forthrightly acknowledges it comes with high risk and released a stunning new animation (see below) earlier today, Aug. 4. After years of development and delays, the inaugural blastoff of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy is currently slated forRead More →

NASA Voyager Probes Still Going Strong After 40 Years Forty years ago, the Voyager 1 and 2 missions began their journey from Earth to become the farthest-reaching missions in history. In the course of their missions, the two probes spent the next two decades sailing past the gas giants of Jupiter and Saturn. And while Voyager 1 then ventured into the outer Solar System, Voyager 2 swung by Uranus and Neptune, becoming the first and only probe in history to explore these worlds. This summer, the probes will be marking the fortieth anniversary of their launch – on September 5th and August 20th, respectively. DespiteRead More →

Bad News For Proxima b: An Earth-Like Atmosphere Might Not Survive There Back in of August of 2016, the existence of an Earth-like planet right next door to our Solar System was confirmed. To make matters even more exciting, it was confirmed that this planet orbits within its star’s habitable zone too. Since that time, astronomers and exoplanet-hunters have been busy trying to determine all they can about this rocky planet, known as Proxima b. Foremost on everyone’s mind has been just how likely it is to be habitable. However, numerous studies have emerged since that time that indicate that Proxima b, given the factRead More →

Hubble Eyes Stratosphere Around a Very Hot, Watery Jupiter! Extra-solar planet discoveries have been exploding in recent years. In fact, as of Aug. 1st, 2017, astronomers have identified 3,639 exoplanets in 2,729 planetary systems and 612 multiple planetary systems. And while the majority of these have been discovered by Kepler – which has detected a total of 5,017 candidates and confirmed the existence of 2,494 exoplanets since 2009 – other instruments have played an important role in these discoveries as well. This includes the Hubble Space Telescope, which in recent years has been dedicated to the detection of atmospheres around distant planets. Most recently, it wasRead More →

Need a Job? NASA is Looking for a New Planetary Protection Officer NASA has always had its fingers in many different pies. This should come as no surprise, since the advancement of science and the exploration of the Universe requires a multi-faceted approach. So in addition to studying Earth and distant planets, the also study infectious diseases and medical treatments, and ensuring that food, water and vehicles are safe. But protecting Earth and other planets from contamination, that’s a rather special job! For decades, this responsibility has fallen to the NASA Office of Planetary Protection, the head of which is known as the Planetary ProtectionRead More →

Kepler Spots the First Exomoon Candidate 4000 Light Years From Earth Ever since it was deployed in March of 2009, the Kepler mission has detected thousands of extra-solar planet candidates. In fact, between 2009 and 2012, it detected a total of 4,496 candidates, and confirmed the existence of 2,337 exoplanets. Even after two of its reaction wheels failed, the spacecraft still managed to turn up distant planets as part of its K2 mission, accounting for another 521 candidates and confirming 157. However, according to a new study conducted by a pair of researches from Columbia University and a citizen scientist, Kepler may also have alsoRead More →

A Partial Lunar Eclipse Ushers in Eclipse Season The partial lunar eclipse of June 4th, 2012. Credit: Dave Dickinson Live on the wrong continent to witness the August 21st total solar eclipse? Well… celestial mechanics has a little consolation prize for Old World observers, with a partial lunar eclipse on the night of Monday into Tuesday, August 7/8th. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon just nicks the inner dark core of the Earth’s shadow, known as the umbra. This eclipse is centered on the Indian Ocean region, with the event occurring at moonrise for the United Kingdom, Europe and western Africa and moonset/sunriseRead More →

Physicists Take Big Step Towards Quantum Computing and Encryption with new Experiment Quantum entanglement remains one of the most challenging fields of study for modern physicists. Described by Einstein as “spooky action at a distance”, scientists have long sought to reconcile how this aspect of quantum mechanics can coexist with classical mechanics. Essentially, the fact that two particles can be connected over great distances violates the rules of locality and realism. Formally, this is a violation of Bell’s Ineqaulity, a theory which has been used for decades to show that locality and realism are valid despite being inconsistent with quantum mechanics. However, in a recentRead More →