Posted on by Evan Gough

This is How NASA Releases Almost Half a Million Gallons of Water in 60 Seconds

The suppression system at Launch Pad 39B releases almost a half-million gallons of water to protect the SLS during launch. Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The suppression system at Launch Pad 39B releases almost a half-million gallons of water to protect the SLS during launch. Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

As rockets become more and more powerful, the systems that protect them need to keep pace. NASA will use almost half a million gallons of water to keep the Space Launch System (SLS) safe and stable enough to launch successfully. The system that delivers all that water is called the Ignition Overpressure Protection and Sound Suppression (IOP/SS) water deluge system, and seeing it in action is very impressive.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

A Red Dwarf Blasts off a Superflare. Any Life on its Planets Would Have a Very Bad Day

The violent outbursts from red dwarf stars, particularly young ones, may make planets in their so-called habitable zone uninhabitable. Image Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Player (STScI)
The violent outbursts from red dwarf stars, particularly young ones, may make planets in their so-called habitable zone uninhabitable. Image Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Player (STScI)

The most common type of star in the galaxy is the red dwarf star. None of these small, dim stars can be seen from Earth with the naked eye, but they can emit flares far more powerful than anything our Sun emits. Two astronomers using the Hubble space telescope saw a red dwarf star give off a powerful type of flare called a superflare. That’s bad news for any planets in these stars’ so-called habitable zones.

Red dwarfs make up about 75% of the stars in the Milky Way, so they probably host many exoplanets. In fact, scientists think most of the planets that are in habitable zones are orbiting red dwarfs. But the more astronomers observe these stars, the more they’re becoming aware of just how chaotic and energetic it can be in their neighbourhoods. That means we might have to re-think what habitable zone means.

“When I realized the sheer amount of light the superflare emitted, I sat looking at my computer screen for quite some time just thinking, ‘Whoa.'” – Parke Loyd, Arizona State University.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

Surprising Discovery. Four Giant Planets Found Around a Very Young Star

Researchers have identified a young star with four Jupiter and Saturn-sized planets in orbit around it, the first time that so many massive planets have been detected in such a young system. Image Credit: Amanda Smith, Institute of Astronomy
Researchers have identified a young star with four Jupiter and Saturn-sized planets in orbit around it, the first time that so many massive planets have been detected in such a young system. Image Credit: Amanda Smith, Institute of Astronomy

What exactly is a “normal” solar system? If we thought we had some idea in the past, we definitely don’t now. And a new study led by astronomers at Cambridge University has reinforced this fact. The new study found four gas giant planets, similar to our own Jupiter and Saturn, orbiting a very young star called CI Tau. And one of the planets has an extreme orbit that takes it more than a thousand times more distant from the star than the innermost planet.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

Here’s What the First Images from the Event Horizon Might Look Like

Researchers using the Event Horizon Telescope hope to generate images like this of Sag. A's event horizon. Image Credit: EHT.
Researchers using the Event Horizon Telescope hope to generate images like this of supermassive black hole Sag. A's event horizon. Image Credit: EHT.

The largest object in our night sky—by far!—is invisible to us. The object is the Super-Massive Black Hole (SMBH) at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A. But soon we may have an image of Sagittarius A’s event horizon. And that image may pose a challenge to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

You’ve Got to Watch this Stunning NASA Video of Arctic Sea Ice. Now at its Lowest Levels

Arctic sea ice. Image: NASA
Arctic sea ice. Image: NASA

Arctic sea ice is getting thinner and younger. Satellite data and sonar records from submarines show how the ice coverage in the north is getting more and more seasonal. In the past, ice would build up year over year, getting thicker and stronger. But seasonal ice disappears each summer, meaning more open ocean in the summer, and less of the Sun’s energy being reflected back into space.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

The Path that MASCOT Took Across Asteroid Ryugu During its 17 Hours of Life

MASCOT's path across the surface of asteroid Ryugu. The path was recreated using data from the robot and from the mother probe Hayabusa2. Hayabusa2's shadow is visible at the bottim right. Image Credit: DLR/JAXA
MASCOT's path across the surface of asteroid Ryugu. The path was recreated using data from the robot and from the mother probe Hayabusa2. Hayabusa2's shadow is visible at the bottim right. Image Credit: DLR/JAXA

The tiny hopping-robot MASCOT completed its 17 hour mission on the asteroid Ryugu in early October. Now the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has released an image of MASCOT’s path across the asteroid. Surprised by what MASCOT found on the surface, they’ve named the landing spot “Alice’s Wonderland.”
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Posted on by Evan Gough

Even Ganymede is Showing Tectonic Activity. We’re Going to Need Another Icy Moon Orbiter

Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System, seen orbiting Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. This image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System, seen orbiting Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. This image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Ganymede was shaped by pronounced periods of tectonic activity in the past, according to a new paper. It’s no longer active and its surface is more-or-less frozen in place now. But this discovery opens the door to better planning for future missions to Jupiter’s other frozen moon Europa. Unlike Ganymede, Europa is still tectonically active, and understanding past geological activity on Ganymede helps us understand present-day Europa.

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Soyuz Launch Carrying Two Astronauts is Forced to Abort, Landing Safely Back on Earth

Soyuz MS-10 shortly after launch, but before the failure. The craft executed an emergency ballistic landing and both crew members are safe. Image: NASA
Soyuz MS-10 shortly after launch, but before the failure. The craft executed an emergency ballistic landing and both crew members are safe. Image: NASA

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft carrying crew to the ISS was aborted shortly after launch on Thursday, Oct. 11th when its booster failed. The spacecraft executed an emergency ballistic landing with a sharp angle of descent. Both crew members on board—American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin—exited the capsule safely and are in good condition.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

348 Years Ago, a French Astronomer Monk Might have Witnessed the Collision Between a White and Brown Dwarf Star

This hourglass-shaped figure is named CK Vulpeculae. It was discovered by French Monk-Astronomer Per Dom Anthelme in 1670. A new study identifies it as the remnant of a collision between a white dwarf and a brown dwarf. Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. P. S. Eyres
This hourglass-shaped figure is named CK Vulpeculae. It was discovered by French Monk-Astronomer Per Dom Anthelme in 1670. A new study identifies it as the remnant of a collision between a white dwarf and a brown dwarf. Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. P. S. Eyres

There’s something poignant and haunting about ancient astronomers documenting things in the sky whose nature they could only guess at. It’s true in the case of Père Dom Anthelme, who in 1670 saw a star suddenly burst into view near the head of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. The object was visible with the naked eye for two years, as it flared in the sky repeatedly. Then it went dark. We call that object CK Vulpeculae.

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A German-French Hopping Robot Just Landed on the Surface of Asteroid Ryugu

The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) snapped this photo of the asteroid Ryugu during descent. The little hopping robot completed its brief mission and successfully transmitted all of its data back to Hayabusa2. Image: German Aerospace Center (CLR).
The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) snapped this photo of the asteroid Ryugu during descent. The little hopping robot completed its brief mission and successfully transmitted all of its data back to Hayabusa2. Image: German Aerospace Center (CLR).

Earlier this week asteroid Ryugu had a visitor. The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) landed on Ryugu on October 3rd after it was successfully deployed from the Japanese Hayabusa2 space probe. The little hopping robot’s visit was brief however, and it stopped functioning on Oct. 4th.

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