Universe Today

Since the day the first Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data were released, in 2003, all manner of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anomalies have been reported; there's been the cold spot that might be a window into a parallel universe, the "Axis of Evil", pawprints of local interstellar neutral hydrogen, and much, much more.

But do the WMAP data really, truly, absolutely contain evidence of anomalies, things that just do not fit within the six-parameters-and-a-model the WMAP team recently reported?

In a word, no.
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Filed under: Astronomy, Cosmology, Missions, Science, milky way | No Comments »

This week's Carnival of Space is hosted by Jason Major over at Lights in the Dark.

Click here to read the Carnival of Space #140.

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, let Fraser know if you can be a host, and he’ll schedule you into the calendar.

Finally, if you run a space-related blog, please post a link to the Carnival of Space. Help us get the word out.

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I was late posting last week's Where In the Universe Challenge, and now am even later in posting the answer. But find it back on the original post. Hopefully I'll be able to have a new challenge for you in a couple of days!

Filed under: Where In the Universe? | No Comments »

Excellent teamwork by astronomers working in two different wavebands – x-ray and optical – has lead to the discovery of a binary quasar being created by a pair of merging galaxies.

"This is really the first case in which you see two separate galaxies, both with quasars, that are clearly interacting," says Carnegie astronomer John Mulchaey who made observations crucial to understanding the galaxy merger.

"The model verifies the merger origin for this binary quasar system," Thomas Cox, now a fellow at the Carnegie Observatories, says, referring to computer simulations of the merging galaxies he produced. When Cox's model galaxies merged, they showed features remarkably similar to what Mulchaey observed in the Magellan images. "It also hints that this kind of galaxy interaction is a key component of the growth of black holes and production of quasars throughout our universe," Cox added.
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Filed under: Astronomy, Black Holes, Chandra, galaxies | 1 Comment »

(Editor's Note: Ken Kremer is in Florida for Universe Today covering the launch of Endeavour.)

Night literally turned to day as shuttle Endeavour roared off the pad early this morning Feb.8 at 4:14 AM beginning a 2 day chase to link up with the International Space Station and commence the STS 130 mission. It was like Endeavour had set the sky on fire !

Endeavour and her brave crew will deliver two new rooms that will provide a spectacular view of the Earth and cosmos as a fitting legacy to rival the spectacular light show put on today by NASA. Believe me, You must be beyond brave to voluntarily sit on top of such a terrifying beast and lie just a few meters distant from the fuel tanks providing the source of the scorching flames shooting out from the rocket engine nozzles beneath you. Click to continue…

Filed under: Astronomy | 2 Comments »

If civilization-forming intelligent life is rare in our Milky Way galaxy, chances are we won't hear from ET before the Sun goes red giant, in about five billion years' time; however, if we do hear from ET before then, we'll have lots of nice chats before the Earth is sterilized.

That's the conclusion from a recent study of Ward and Brownlee's Rare Earth hypothesis by Duncan Forgan and Ken Rice, in which they made a toy galaxy, simulating the real one we live in, and ran it 30 times. In their toy galaxy, intelligent life formed on Earth-like planets only, just as it does in the Rare Earth hypothesis.

While the Forgan and Rice simulations are still limited and somewhat unrealistic, they give a better handle on SETI's chances for success than either the Drake equation or Fermi's "Where are they?"
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Filed under: Astrobiology, Extrasolar Planets, SETI, milky way | 26 Comments »

During the early morning countdown for the launch of space shuttle Endeavour today, it was back and forth, yes and no, red and green, no and no-go. And all because of weather. As per standard procedure, an astronaut flies the Shuttle Training Aircraft to monitor weather conditions around the launchpad. Today it was especially important in helping make the decision if the weather was acceptable for launching the shuttle. Amazingly, photographer Romeo Durscher captured this beautiful shot as astronaut Chris Ferguson flew the STA right over launchpad 39A and shuttle Endeavour. Not only is the image gorgeous in its own right, but it also captures a pivotal moment in the launch countdown. The skies had just cleared of the low clouds that had been drifting in and out of the area all night, clearing the way for a spectacular night launch. This image and the memory of the fickle weather will stay with me always. New desktop! Get a larger version here.

Durscher is with the Solar Dynamics Observatory- Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager instrument team, and is looking forward to the upcoming launch of SDO on February 10th.

Filed under: Space Station | No Comments »

I am still shaking and still awestruck! I just witnessed my first rocket launch and my first space shuttle launch which also happens to be the last night launch for the space shuttle program. It was absolutely the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed. When the SRB's lit, night literally turned into day. The shuttle moved silently upward until the sound wave reached — and hit me — a couple of seconds later. I could feel the power of the launch from 3 miles away. The crackling and popping was amazingly loud, and the noise endured a very long time. So, so, so absolutely incredible! I wish I could better relate the awesomeness of seeing a shuttle launch! All I can say is that seeing the launch in person is nothing like watching it on TV or on your computer screen. But, I've embedded the video below, since I have run out or superlatives.

I was going to try and take a couple of pictures, but I ended up instead taking NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden's advice to just suck it up and enjoy the experience of the launch and not try to capture it on film — just let the professionals do that. (And yes, Charlie, I cried, too!) So the image above was taken by fellow journalist Rich Yaeger who graciously shared his image with Universe Today. Thanks Rich! Check out Rich's blog.

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Filed under: Space Shuttle | 6 Comments »

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) science team has finished analyzing seven full years' of data from the little probe that could, and once again it seems we can sum up the universe in six parameters and a model.

Using the seven-year WMAP data, together with recent results on the large-scale distribution of galaxies, and an updated estimate of the Hubble constant, the present-day age of the universe is 13.75 (plus-or-minus 0.11) billion years, dark energy comprises 72.8% (+/- 1.5%) of the universe's mass-energy, baryons 4.56% (+/- 0.16%), non-baryonic matter (CDM) 22.7% (+/- 1.4%), and the redshift of reionization is 10.4 (+/- 1.2).

In addition, the team report several new cosmological constraints – primordial abundance of helium (this rules out various alternative, 'cold big bang' models), and an estimate of a parameter which describes a feature of density fluctuations in the very early universe sufficiently precisely to rule out a whole class of inflation models (the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles spectrum), to take just two – as well as tighter limits on many others (number of neutrino species, mass of the neutrino, parity violations, axion dark matter, …).
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Filed under: Astronomy, Cosmology, Dark Energy, Dark Matter, Missions, Physics, galaxies | 7 Comments »

Did you live through what has been called “snowmageddon” or “snowpocalypse?” Here's a satellite's-eye view of the exceptionally severe winter storm in the Eastern US that dropped several feet of snow on Feb. 6 and 7. Reports of crashed and abandoned cars and hundreds of cancelled flights were interspersed with stories of massive snowball fights. The huge snowfall may hinder highway traffic into midweek, and hundreds of thousands lost electricity. The image comes from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. Snow blankets the area hundreds of kilometers inland from the Atlantic coastline.
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Filed under: Earth Observation, Environment | 10 Comments »

If you've been peeking out the windows at night, or maybe looked up while walking the dog before bedtime or taking out the trash after dinner, perhaps you've seen three fairly bright stars in a row. Depending on how early or late you look, you may see them lined up side-by-side above the horizon, or they may be one on top the other when they are setting to the west. If you've noticed them, you wouldn't be the first… Humankind has been telling stories about this set of stars for centuries! Click to continue…

Filed under: Astronomy For Kids | 6 Comments »

The launch of space shuttle Endeavour was scrubbed about 9 minutes before the scheduled 4:39 am EST (9:49 GMT) liftoff due to low clouds that moved into the area. Mission managers have scheduled space shuttle Endeavour's next launch attempt for Monday, Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST (9:14 GMT)

The Mission Management Team will meet at 6:15 p.m. Sunday to give the "go" to fill Endeavour's external fuel tank with propellants. Tank loading will begin at 6:45 p.m.

The launch of the Solar Dynamic Observatory has subsequently been moved one day forward, and is now scheduled for Feb. 10 at 10:26 am EST.
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Filed under: Space Flight, Space Shuttle | 4 Comments »

The cancellation of the Constellation program compounds an already bleak picture for the Kennedy Space Center and those who work there. 7,000 shuttle workers are expected to lose their jobs by the time the shuttle program comes to an end by late 2010 or early 2011. So far, NASA has not provided an estimate of how many government and contractor jobs will be lost as Constellation — the program that would have sent astronauts back to the Moon — will be slashed. But it could be a hard blow to KSC and communities surrounding the space center.

"This is a big deal and it is going to affect us," said Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana about the cancellation at a press conference earlier this week. Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach talked about the "shock" and "uncertainty" that many at KSC are feeling.
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Filed under: Constellation, NASA, Space Shuttle | 7 Comments »

Have you been watching the sweet movements of Mars as it cruises across the starry nights? Perhaps, like many of us, you're snowed in right now and could use a little mental and visual inspiration. If so, then step inside and let's take a look at what it's like to enjoy clear, dark skies while riding on the ecliptic plane… Click to continue…

Filed under: Astronomy, Astrophotos | 1 Comment »

(Editor's Note: Ken Kremer is in Florida for Universe Today covering the upcoming Endeavour launch attempt.)

“We can fly Orion in 2013”, says John Karas, the VP and General Manager of Human Space Flight for Lockheed Martin. Lockheed is the prime contractor for NASA’s Orion capsule.

“There is no doubt in my mind we can do this. And Orion is very safe”. He strenuously repeated this statement to me several times with absolutely no doubt in his mind during a wide ranging interview. I spoke at length with Karas today (Feb. 6) at the NASA Press Center shortly before the scheduled Feb. 7 launch of shuttle Endeavour on the STS 130 mission to the ISS. Click to continue…

Filed under: Astronomy | 13 Comments »