Universe Today (Page 469)

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 →

Impending Asteroid Flyby Will be a Chance to Test NASA’s Planetary Defense Network! This coming October, an asteroid will fly by Earth. Known as 2012 TC4, this small rock is believed to measure between 10 and 30 meters (30 and 100 feet) in size. As with most asteroids, this one is expected to sail safely past Earth without incident. This will take place on October 12th, when the asteroid will pass us at a closest estimated distance of 6,800 kilometers (4,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. That’s certainly good news. But beyond the fact that it does not pose a threat to Earth, NASA is alsoRead More →

NASA Detects More Chemicals on Titan that are Essential to Life Saturn’s largest moon Titan may be the most fascinating piece of real-estate in the Solar System right now. Not surprising, given the fact that the moon’s dense atmosphere, rich organic environment and prebiotic chemistry are thought to be similar to Earth’s primordial atmosphere. As such, scientists believe that the moon could act as a sort of laboratory for studying the processes whereby chemical elements become the building blocks for life. These studies have already led to a wealth of information, which included the recent discovery of “carbon chain anions” – which are thought toRead More →

Messier 52 – the NGC 7654 Open Star Cluster Welcome back to Messier Monday! We continue our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at the open star cluster of Messier 50. Enjoy! In the 18th century, while searching the night sky for comets, French astronomer Charles Messier kept noting the presence of fixed, diffuse objects in the night sky. In time, he would come to compile a list of approximately 100 of these objects, with the purpose of making sure that astronomers did not mistake them for comets. However, this list – known as the Messier Catalog – would go on toRead More →

Carnival of Space #520 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Allen Versfeld at his Urban Astronomer blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #520. 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 carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, help you meet others in the space community – and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out,Read More →

Veteran Multinational Trio Launches on Soyuz and Arrives at International Space Station The Soyuz MS-05 rocket is launched with Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), Friday, July 28, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky) An all veteran multinational trio of astronauts and cosmonauts rocketed to orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule and safely arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) after a fast track rendezvous on Friday, July 28. NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESARead More →

Where Will the Space Launch System Take Us? Preparing For The Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built NASA is in an awkward in-between time right now. Since the beginning of the space age, the agency has had the ability to send its astronauts into space. The first American to go to space, Alan Shepard, did a suborbital launch on board a Mercury Redstone rocket in 1961. Then the rest of the Mercury astronauts went on Atlas rockets, and then the Gemini astronauts flew on various Titan rockets. NASA’s ability to hurl people and their equipment into space took a quantum leap with the enormous Saturn VRead More →

What Is the Name Of Our Galaxy? Since prehistoric times, human beings have looked up at at the night sky and pondered the mystery of the band of light that stretches across the heavens. And while theories have been advanced since the days of Ancient Greece as to what it could be, it was only with the birth of modern astronomy that scholars have come come to know precisely what it is – i.e. countless stars at considerable distances from Earth. The term “Milky Way”, a term which emerged in Classical Antiquity to describe the band of light in the night sky, has since goneRead More →

The Crater Constellation Welcome to another edition of Constellation Friday! Today, in honor of the late and great Tammy Plotner, we take a look at “The Cup” – the Crater constellation. Enjoy! In the 2nd century CE, Greek-Egyptian astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus (aka. Ptolemy) compiled a list of all the then-known 48 constellations. This treatise, known as the Almagest, would be used by medieval European and Islamic scholars for over a thousand years to come, effectively becoming astrological and astronomical canon until the early Modern Age One of these constellation is Crater (aka. “The Cup”), an asterism located in the Southern Hemisphere. This small constellation isRead More →

Opportunity Starts Historic Descent of Tantalizing Martian Gully to Find Out How Was It Carved Historic 1st descent down Martian gully. Panoramic view looking down Perseverance Valley after entry at top was acquired by NASA’s Opportunity rover scanning from north to south. It shows numerous wheel tracks at left, center and right as rover conducted walkabout tour prior to starting historic first decent down a Martian gully – possibly carved by water – and looks into the interior of Endeavour crater. Perseverance Valley terminates down near the crater floor in the center of the panorama. The far rim of Endeavour crater is seen in theRead More →

Cassini Finds that Titan is Building the Chemicals that Might Have Led to Life on Earth Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has been a source of mystery ever since scientists began studying it over a century ago. These mysteries have only deepened with the arrival of the Cassini-Huygens mission in the system back in 2004. In addition to finding evidence of a methane cycle, prebiotic conditions and organic chemistry, the Cassini-Huygens mission has also discovered that Titan may have the ingredient that help give rise to life. Such is the argument made in a recent study by an international team of scientists. After examining data obtained byRead More →