Universe Today (Page 5)

Jupiter Is Smaller and Flatter Than Previously Thought Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and has proudly boasted about this since time immemorial, with its scientific confirmation occurring by Galileo Galilei in 1610. It was later found that Jupiter has a bulging equator caused by its rapid rotation, turbulent atmosphere, and complex interior mechanisms despite its massive size, and scientists have even measured its “waistline” down to a tenth of a kilometer. Now, imagine being the largest planet in the solar system and you’re told you’re not as big as you thought. Where probably most humans would be thrilled to find thisRead More →

The LOFAR Telescope Produces the Most Detailed Radio Map of the Universe Ever The radio telescope LOFAR, with a major contribution from Leiden Observatory, has produced the most detailed radio map of the Universe ever made. Never before have so many cosmic radio sources been captured in a single survey: 13.7 million. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

6 Million Years Ago Something Slammed Into Modern-Day Brazil Researchers in Brazil have discovered another tektite field. Tektites are gravel-sized chunks of natural glass formed by impacts and spread over a wide area. Their presence indicates that a powerful impact occurred 6 million years ago. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

JWST Digs Into the Uranian Ionosphere Uranus is a planet that seems to roll around on its side as it orbits the Sun. That’s because it’s tipped over, with an axial tilt of 97.8 degrees. That weird tilt gave the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) a chance to probe the ionosphere using the Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) instrument. An international team of astronomers used the data to map the vertical structure of that region and detect faint auroral displays. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

A Method for Extracting Oxygen from Extraterrestrial Soils Just Passed a Major Test NASA’s Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project completed an important step toward using local resources to support human exploration on the Moon. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Europa and Other Jovian Moons May Have Formed With Their Own Supply of Life’s Building Blocks Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) are important building blocks for life. They can form in space and be delivered to planets. But new research shows some of them can form in circumplanetary disks where moons form, boosting the prospects for life in Europa’s ocean. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Cosmic Brain As Seen By The JWST A dying star has ejected its outer layer and illuminated it with its powerful radiation. The resulting nebula looks every bit like a transparent human skull. Astronomers are calling the unusual structure the Exposed Cranium Nebula. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Into Totality: Our Complete Guide to the March 3rd Total Lunar Eclipse If skies are clear, don’t miss one of the top astronomical events of the year this coming Tuesday, March 3rd, as the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow in a total lunar eclipse. This will be a fine leisurely affair centered around the Pacific Ocean region, with totality lasting almost an hour in duration. For many observers worldwide, this is the last total lunar eclipse until late 2028 and mid-2029. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Curiosity Take Its Closest Look Yet At Martian Spiderwebs When MSL Curiosity was sent to Gale Crater, one of its goals was to study boxwork ridge features on Mt. Sharp. The rover has gathered its fourth sample from the rocks, and results are on their way. Previous samples showed tantalizing evidence in favour of ancient life on Mars. But we’re still waiting for the extraordinary evidence required to conclude that Mars was once inhabited. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Why Mars Astronauts Need More Than Just Space Greenhouses Thinking about food systems in deep space likely brings to mind something like the Martian where an astronaut is scratching barely enough food to survive out of potatoes grown in Martian regolith. Or perhaps a fancy hydroponic system on an interplanetary transport ship, with artificial lighting and all the associated technological wizardry. But a new paper published in Acta Astronautica by Tor Blomqvist and Ralph Fritsche points out that growing food is only one small part of the whole cycle of providing sustenance for astronauts in space. To really get a sense of how difficult itRead More →

Comet Wierzchos Vaults Into the March Evening Sky It seems that the southern hemisphere gets all the good comets. A bashful binocular comet is about to finally leave its southern perch, and briefly come into view for folks up north. Said comet of the moment is C/2023 E1 Wierzchos. Although the comet just passed perihelion last week, it should put on a fine encore show as it heads north in March at dusk. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

How Long Could Earth Microbes Live on Mars? Searching for past or present life on Mars is the sole driving force behind every mission we send to the Red Planet, from orbiters to landers to rovers. However, there remains a concern in the scientific community of Earth-based microbes hitching a ride on Mars-bound spacecraft, also called forward contamination. The concern is potentially mistaking Earth microbes for Mars life or Earth microbes potentially influence samples of Mars life we might find. While NASA is dedicated to mitigating it as much as possible, could new methods help determine how long Earth-based microbes could survive on Mars, thisRead More →

Map the Earth’s Magnetic Shield with the Space Umbrella Project NASA has announced the Space Umbrella project, in which participants will use data from NASA’s Magnetosphere Multiscale (MMS) mission to shed light on solar storms. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA Telescope Spots a Young Sun-Like Star Inflating Its Astrosphere Chandra’s X-ray Space Telescope, with some help from the Hubble, spotted a young Sun-like star about 120 light-years away with a powerful stellar wind. It’s carving out its astrosphere, a bubble of relatively hot gas that’s pushing into the surrounding, much cooler, interstellar medium. This is the same process our Sun went through 5 billion years ago when it created the heliosphere. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

This Supernova Progenitor Hid Behind a Surprisingly Thick Veil of Carbon Dust For the first time, astronomers have used images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to identify a supernova progenitor that could not be seen by any other telescope: a red supergiant that was located in a nearby galaxy. The supergiant’s surroundings were surprisingly dusty – dusty enough to render it invisible to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Legal Void of the Asteroid Gold Rush Asteroid mining companies are finally getting off the ground, and that is raising some concerns about the impact those activities will have on the space environment. A new paper published in Acta Astronautica from Anna Marie Brenna of the University of Waikato in New Zealand discusses a framework that she thinks might work to solve the legal challenges facing those who want to protect the space environment and those who want to exploit it. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Are There Aliens Broadcasting from Hycean World K2-18b? Astronomers Just Listened In If you’ve been following exoplanet research over the last couple of years, you’ve definitely heard of K2-18b. Located 124 light years away in the constellation Leo, it’s attracted a lot of attention as it sits squarely in its red dwarf host star’s habitable zone, and measurements of the James Webb Space Telescope show its atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide and methane. It’s one of the prime candidates for a “Hycean” world – one where a thick hydrogen-rich atmosphere covers a global liquid water ocean. It is such an intriguing target for SearchRead More →

A “Cosmic Positioning System” in the Outer Solar System There have been plenty of attempts to resolve the “Hubble Tension” in cosmology. This feature describes how one of the most important variables in cosmology, the expansion of the universe, takes on different values depending on how you measure it. A new NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I report on the Cosmic Positioning System (CPS) details another potential solution to it – this one involving a network of five far-flung satellites spread throughout the solar system. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Super-Jupiters Challenge Planet Size Limits Our solar system is home to a wide diversity of planetary bodies, boasting eight planets, five officially recognized dwarf planets, and almost 1,000 confirmed moons. The eight planets consist of the four rocky (terrestrial) planets of the inner solar system and the four gas giant planets of the outer solar system. The largest planet in our solar system is Jupiter, measuring a radius and mass of 11 and 318 times of Earth, respectively. However, the discovery of exoplanets quickly altered our understanding of planetary sizes, as several have been discovered to have masses and radii several times that of Jupiter.Read More →

Supercomputer Simulations Crack a Long-Standing Mystery About Red Dwarfs Researchers at University of Victoria’s Astronomy Research Centre (ARC) and the University of Minnesota study the changes in the chemical composition at the surface of red giant stars. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →