Space

Sep 25th, 2022 - Saturn's present tilt is the result of the resonance with Neptune and the loss of a satellite. Images of Saturn are characterised by its rings (although it is not the only planet to have rings, these rings are the most complex and magnificent). Saturn's ring system is far more expansive than any other planet in the Solar System – 100 million times as massive as Jupiter's. An instantly recognisable feature with Saturn is the positioning of the rings, which tilt giving the iconic image of ... [Read More]

Sep 24th, 2022 - Researchers at the University of Sheffield have proposed a new origin for Jupiter -like planets orbiting massive stars three times the mass of our Sun. According to recent research, massive stars in the densely populated stellar nurseries where most stars are created may steal or capture planets the size of Jupiter. University of Sheffield researchers have presented a new explanation for the newly found B-star Exoplanet Abundance STudy (BEAST) planets. These are Jupiter-like planets that are ... [Read More]

Sep 24th, 2022 - We have detected a strange new signal from across the chasm of time and space. A repeating fast radio burst This hyperactive behavior has allowed scientists to characterize not just the galaxy that hosts the source and its distance from us, but also what the source is. The object, named FRB 20201124A, was detected with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in China and described in a new paper led by astronomer Heng Xu of Peking University in China. So far most ... [Read More]

Sep 24th, 2022 - Jupiter is set to make a rare close pass by Earth while also reaching 'opposition,' meaning stargazers will have a stunning view on Monday, Sept.… Jupiter is set to make a rare close pass by Earth while also reaching 'opposition,' meaning stargazers will have a stunning view on Monday, Sept. 26. (Getty)  Read Less Nexstar Media Wire , Addy Bink Posted: Updated: SHARE (NEXSTAR) – For the first time in nearly 60 years, Jupiter will be as close to Earth as possible on Monday, ... [Read More]

Sep 24th, 2022 - Heart rates are spiking in the Washington suburbs, where scientists and engineers on Monday evening hope to witness a vending-machine-sized spacecraft that is 7 million miles from Earth crash into an asteroid . If everything goes as planned, and the laws of gravity and motion don't change at the last minute, this will happen at 7:14 p.m. Eastern time — or, to be precise: 7:14:23. There's nothing major at stake here, other than demonstrating a technology that someday might save ... [Read More]

Sep 24th, 2022 - Astronomers catalogue a new type of planet, the super-Earth, which seem to be bigger and better than Earth itself Astronomers now routinely discover planets orbiting stars outside of the solar system  — they're called exoplanets. But in summer 2022, teams working on NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite found a few particularly interesting planets orbiting in the habitable zones of their parent stars. One planet is 30% larger than Earth and orbits its star in less than three ... [Read More]

Sep 24th, 2022 - The twisty eruption of a dying star has finally been revealed in all its 3D glory. A team of scientists led by a high school graduate has reconstructed the complicated and mysterious nebulae that make up one of the most famous stellar ghosts in the sky – the Cat's Eye Nebula. Their model revealed the mechanisms that carved out some of the previously unexplained aspects of the nebula's structure. The results can help us understand other nebulae of this kind, and it gives us some insight ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - Caltech professor emeritus Maarten Schmidt. Maarten Schmidt, the Dutch-born American astronomer whose discovery of quasars dramatically changed our understanding of the evolution of the cosmos and revealed the power and potency of the beasts that roam deep space, has died at his home in Fresno. A professor emeritus at Caltech, Schmidt died Saturday at 92. Schmidt had only recently arrived at Caltech when he ascended in the observing cage of the great Palomar Mountain telescope to try to ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - A hot bubble was found orbiting the Milky Way's black hole. In a multi-institutional study, researchers have found something zipping around the Milky Way's massive black hole at 30% the speed of light. The researchers spotted signs of a "hot spot" orbiting Sagittarius A* in a clockwise direction; a finding which could help scientists better understand the enigmatic and dynamic environment of the center of our galaxy. "We think we're looking at a hot bubble of gas zipping around Sagittarius A* ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - A picture may be worth a thousand words, but for astronomers, simply recording images of stars and galaxies isn't enough. To measure the true size and absolute brightness (luminosity) of heavenly bodies, astronomers need to accurately gauge the distance to these objects. To do so, the researchers rely on "standard candles"—stars whose luminosities are so well known that they act like light bulbs of known wattage. One way to determine a star's distance from Earth is to compare how bright ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - A year ago, scientists got their first look at material gathered from nearby asteroid 162173 Ryugu. Now the results of those studies have been revealed, and they shed light on the history of our solar system and the long trek of this cosmic wanderer. At its closest orbit, asteroid 162173 Ryugu is only about 60,000 miles from Earth. That's only a quarter of the distance to the moon. But according to newly released results from an international team of scientists, this hunk of rock began its ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - A fascinating video has captured the movement of Venus around the solar system as it's caught in the sun's glare. On Thursday night, solar expert Keith Strong posted a video of a coronagraph to Twitter that showed a glowing light edging into view on the right hand side of the clip. A coronagraph is a scientific instrument designed to block out the direct light of the sun, so that astronomers can glimpse its corona —the searing hot outer layer of the sun's atmosphere. As such, coronagraph ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - When we imagine a world embraced by cosmic haloes, we typically envision Saturn. One might even argue Saturn based its entire personality on those dazzling rings -- and rightfully so. They're solid. Visible. Luxurious even.  But if you didn't already know, it is my honor to tell you Neptune has rings too.  They're just much daintier and therefore superhard to see without superpowered telescopes. The planet itself, in fact, lies 30 times farther from the sun than Earth does and appears ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - An international team including a researcher from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has determined that one specific particle on the asteroid Ryugu can shed light on the unaltered initial materials from its parent body. In December 2014, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the spacecraft Hayabusa2 to the asteroid 162173 Ryugu. In December 2020, the sample-return capsule successfully landed safely back on Earth with pristine pieces of Ryugu that it had collected. Ryugu ... [Read More]

Sep 23rd, 2022 - A few hours before the Sun rises, Mars stands high in the southeast, adding its magnitude –0.5 light to Taurus the Bull. Don't mistake it for nearby Aldebaran, located to Mars' upper right (west) and is a bit fainter at magnitude 0.9. The Red Planet lies about halfway on a line drawn between golden-hued Aldebaran and blue-white magnitude 1.7 Elnath, which marks the end of one of the Bull's two horns. (Zeta [ζ] Tauri, sometimes called Alheka, sits at the end of the other horn, to ... [Read More]

Sep 22nd, 2022 - On Thursday, Sept. 29, at 2:36 a.m. PDT (5:36 a.m. EDT), NASA's Juno spacecraft will come within 222 miles (358 kilometers) of the surface of Jupiter's ice-covered moon, Europa. The solar-powered spacecraft is expected to obtain some of the highest-resolution images ever taken of portions of Europa's surface, as well as collect valuable data on the moon's interior, surface composition, and ionosphere, along with its interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere. Such information could benefit future ... [Read More]