Universe Today (Page 436)

NASA Has Tested a New Fission Space Reactor that Could be Used in Future Missions Looking to the future of crewed space exploration, it is clear to NASA and other space agencies that certain technological requirements need to be met. Not only are a new generation of launch vehicles and space capsules needed (like the SLS and Orion spacecraft), but new forms of energy production are needed to ensure that long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and other locations in the Solar System can take place. One possibility that addresses these concerns is Kilopower, a lightweight fission power system that could power robotic missions, basesRead More →

One of the Trappist-1 Planets Has an Iron Core In February of 2017, a team of European astronomers announced the discovery of a seven-planet system orbiting the nearby star TRAPPIST-1. Aside from the fact that all seven planets were rocky, there was the added bonus of three of them orbiting within TRAPPIST-1’s habitable zone. Since that time, multiple studies have been conducted to determine whether or not any of these planets could be habitable. In accordance with this goal, these studies have focused on whether or not these planets have atmospheres, their compositions and their interiors. One of the latest studies was conducted by twoRead More →

NASA is Investigating a Self-Assembling Space Telescope NASA has some pretty advanced concepts in mind when it comes to the next generation of space telescopes. These include the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which recently took to space, as well as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) (scheduled to launch in 2020) and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which is still in development. Beyond these, NASA has also identified several promising proposals as part of its 2020 Decadal Survey for Astrophysics. But perhaps the most ambitious concept is one that calls for a space telescope made up of modules that would assemble themselves. ThisRead More →

One Bonus From the Gaia Data Release: the Rotation of the Large Magellanic Cloud On December 19th, 2013, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia spacecraft took to space with for a very ambitious mission. Over the course of its planned 5-year mission (which was recently extended), this space observatory would map over a billion stars, planets, comets, asteroids and quasars in order to create the largest and most precise 3D catalog of the Milky Way ever created. Since that time, the ESA has made two data releases that cover the first three years of the Gaia mission. The second data release, which took on AprilRead More →

ExoMars Has Sent Back its First Images From Mars On October 19th, 2016, the European Space Agency’s Exobiology on Mars (ExoMars) mission established orbit around Mars. Consisting of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and the Schiaparelli lander, the purpose of this mission is to investigate Mars for past signs of life. And whereas the Schiaparelli unfortunately crashed during deployment, the TGO has managed to begin its mission ahead of schedule. A few weeks ago, the satellite achieved a near circular orbit around Mars after performing a series of braking maneuvers. Since that time, the orbiter’s Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) took aRead More →

For the First Time, Astronomers Have Found a Star That Survived its Companion Exploding as Supernova A Type II supernova is a truly amazing astronomical event. As with all supernovae, a Type II consists of a star experiencing core collapse at the end of its life cycle and exploding, causing it to shed its outer layers. A subclass of this type is known as Type IIb, which are stars that have been stripped of their hydrogen fuel and undergo collapse because they are no longer able to maintain fusion in their core. Seventeen years ago, astronomers were fortunate enough to witness a Type IIb supernovaRead More →

Messier 68 – the NGC 4590 Globular Cluster Welcome back to Messier Monday! Today, we continue in our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at the globular cluster known as Messier 68. In the 18th century, while searching the night sky for comets, French astronomer Charles Messier kept noting the presence of fixed, diffuse objects he initially mistook for comets. In time, he would come to compile a list of approximately 100 of these objects, hoping to prevent other astronomers from making the same mistake. This list – known as the Messier Catalog – would go on to become one of theRead More →

Astronomers See a Pileup of 14 Separate Galaxies in the Early Universe Looking deep into the observable Universe – and hence, back to the earliest periods of time – is an immensely fascinating thing. In so doing, astronomers are able to see the earliest galaxies in the Universe and learn more about how they evolved over time. From this, they are not only able to see how large-scale structures (like galaxies and galaxy clusters) formed, but also the role played by dark matter. Most recently, an international team of scientists used the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe the Universe when it was justRead More →

By Jove: Jupiter at Opposition for 2018 A recent capture of Jupiter from April 21st. Image credit and copyright: Efrain Morales Rivera. It’s a question I’ve fielded lots this weekend leading up to last night’s April Pink Full Moon, and one I expect we’ll get again tonight: “What’s that bright star near the Moon?” That bright “star” is actually a planet, the king of them all as far as our Solar System is concerned: Jupiter. May also ushers in Jupiter observing season, as the planet reaches opposition on May 9th, rising in the east opposite to the setting Sun to the west. Jupiter now joinsRead More →

Dream About the Future of Big Telescopes; Monster Space Telescopes That Could Fly by the 2030s With the recent launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) – which took place on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 – a lot of attention has been focused on the next-generation space telescopes that will be taking to space in the coming years. These include not only the James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently scheduled for launch in 2020, but some other advanced spacecraft that will be deployed by the 2030s. Such was the subject of the recent 2020 Decadal Survey for Astrophysics, which included four flagship mission conceptsRead More →

Thanks to a Massive Release from Gaia, we now Know Where 1.7 BILLION Stars are in the Milky Way On December 19th, 2013, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia spacecraft took to space with one of the most ambitious missions ever. Over the course of its planned 5-year mission (which was recently extended), this space observatory would map over a billion stars, planets, comets, asteroids and quasars in order to create the largest and most precise 3D catalog of the Milky Way ever created. The first release of Gaia data, which took place in September 2016, contained the distances and motions of over two millionRead More →

Asteroids Smack Jupiter More Often Than Astronomers Thought Pow: The July 1994 impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: R. Evans/J. Trauger/H. Hammel/HST Comet Science Team/NASA. Are you keeping a eye on Jupiter? The King of the Planets, Jove presents a swirling upper atmosphere full of action, a worthy object of telescopic study as it heads towards another fine opposition on May 9th, 2018. Now, an interesting international study out of the School of Engineering in Bilbao, Spain, the Astronomical Society of France, the Meath Astronomical Group in Dublin Ireland, the Astronomical Society of Australia, and the EsteveRead More →

How Many Planets is TESS Going to Find? The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), NASA’s latest exoplanet-hunting space telescope, was launched into space on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018. As the name suggests, this telescope will use the Transit Method to detect terrestrial-mass planets (i.e. rocky) orbiting distant stars. Alongside other next-generation telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), TESS will effectively pick up where telescopes like Hubble and Kepler left off. But just how many planets is TESS expected to find? That was the subject of a new study by a team researchers who attempted to estimate just how many planets TESS is likelyRead More →

Facial Recognition Deep Learning Software is Surprisingly Good at Identifying Galaxies Too A lot of attention has been dedicated to the machine learning technique known as “deep learning”, where computers are capable of discerning patterns in data without being specifically programmed to do so. In recent years, this technique has been applied to a number of applications, which include voice and facial recognition for social media platforms like Facebook. However, astronomers are also benefiting from deep learning, which is helping them to analyze images of galaxies and understand how they form and evolve. In a new study, a team of international researchers used a deepRead More →

If We’re Searching for Earth 2.0, Would We Know It When We Find It? In the past few decades, there has been an explosion in the number of extra-solar planets that have been discovered. As of April 1st, 2018, a total of 3,758 exoplanets have been confirmed in 2,808 systems, with 627 systems having more than one planet. In addition to expanding our knowledge of the Universe, the purpose of this search has been to find evidence of life beyond our Solar System. In the course of looking for habitable planets, astronomers have used Earth as a guiding example. But would we recognize a trulyRead More →