Andy Tomaswick, Author at Universe Today

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

The Closest Star Cluster to Earth is Being Dismantled in Front of our Eyes

Star clusters are interesting inhabitants of the sky. They vary in sizes, distances, and number of stars, but almost all are spectacular to look at. And most of them are in the process of being torn apart. That is certainly the case for the Hyades star cluster – the closest one to Earth at only 153 light years away. The problem is, there is something causing a lot more destruction than would be expected given the mass and energy in the surrounding space. Now, a team of scientists from ESA have a theory as to what the cause of the destruction might be – a mysterious dark matter sub-halo.

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

Simulating the Universe a Trillionth of a Second After the Big Bang

The Big Bang remains the best way to explain what happened at the beginning of the Universe. However, the incredible energies flowing during the early part of the bang are almost incomprehensive to our everyday experience. Luckily, computers aren’t so attached to normal human ways of thinking and have long been used to model the early universe right after the Bang. Now, a team from the University of Göttingen have created the most comprehensive model of what exactly happened in that very early stage of the universe – one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.

March 30, 2021March 30, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

One Idea for a Lunar Lava Tube Explorer

Lava tubes on the moon are some of the most interesting, and difficult, places to explore in the solar system. But if humanity plans to eventually have a permanent presence on the moon, the more knowledge we have about the cave systems created by those lava tubes the better.

That’s why ESA’s current focus on lunar cave exploration is so important, and another good reason to take note when it releases more information about some of the technologies leading that push. Recently, it released an update on a project known as DAEDALUS, led by Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU), with interesting new insights into the sphere shaped autonomous robot.

March 30, 2021March 30, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

LEGO Announces the Space Shuttle Discovery and Hubble Edition

When I saw the opportunity to write about a new Lego set featuring the Space Shuttle Discovery and Hubble, I immediately went to my 7 year old son, who is obsessed with Legos, and asked him if he thought I should write about it. He immediately agreed, so now I have the pleasure of introducing UT’s audience to one of Lego’s newest sets – #10283 – NASA Space Shuttle Discovery.

March 30, 2021March 30, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

Mars Spiders Form as Spring Arrives on Mars. But why?

A person suffering from arachnophobia might think their fear would stoked on a trip to Mars. However, there is such a thing known colloquially as a Martian “spider”. It is much more innocuous than the eight legged animal that strikes fear into the hearts of millions, but its origins have only been theorized until recently. Now, a team led by a group at Trinity College Dublin has determined that these “spiders” are actually topological troughs formed when dry ice directly sublimates to a gas.

March 23, 2021March 23, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

Perseverance Begins its Science on Mars With a Laser zap

Perseverance has already made its mark on scientific history by taking the first audio recording ever on Mars. But the instrument with the microphone, known as the SuperCam, wasn’t done there. It has plenty of other science to do, and recently it started running through some more preliminary tests. One of those tests happened to involve blasting a rock with a laser – while taking an audio recording of it.

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

Oh, the Irony. There are Likely Water Worlds Everywhere, but They’re Covered in ice and Impossible to Investigate

Liquid water was originally thought to be relatively rare in the solar system. But one of the most important discoveries of the last several decades of planetary science is that liquid water is extremely common, even outside of the orbit of a star that would allow for it on the surface of a planet or moon. It just happens to be covered by a sheet of ice. Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have now theorized about what the abundance of liquid water means for life throughout the galaxy, and whether it might be more common than originally thought.

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

A Plan to Store Seeds, Spores, Eggs and Sperm on the Moon for Safekeeping

Always have a back up plan. Some people take that axiom to the highest levels develop backup plans for life itself. The Svalbard Seedbank is one such backup plan. Located in an ice cave in Norway it houses hundreds of thousands of seed samples in order to preserve biodiversity that is currently arranged on Earth. Ironically, if the worst models of sea level rise from climate change are realized, the Seedbank itself will be inundated by the sea and its precious cargo lost. So now a team led by a professor at the University of Arizona (UA) have proposed a much more radical idea: have the same sort of Ark, but to it much farther away from any potential catastrophic human failure – on the moon.

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

Every Spring a Single Cloud Forms at one of Mars’ Tallest Mountains and Only Lasts for a few Hours

Sometimes even forgotten pieces of technology can lead to completely new science. That was the case recently when scientists at the University of the Basque Country used an almost forgotten camera on the Mars Express to take a breathtaking video of a recurring cloud on the top of Arsia Mons.

March 20, 2021March 20, 2021 by Andy Tomaswick

Work Begins on Cleaning up Arecibo. The job Could Cost $50 Million

The collapse of Arecibo’s radio telescope was a devastating blow to the radio astronomy community. On December 1st, the suspended instrument platform came crashing down, destroying a large part of the receiver dish and the towers supporting the platform, as well as causing minor damage to some outlying buildings. Now the National Science Foundation (NSF), the government agency responsible for operating Arecibo is starting to pick up the pieces to figure out what’s next for the site, as they detailed in a brief report to Congress recently.