Space and astronomy news
The commercial space sector is about to get a little more crowded. SpaceX and Blue Origin have created headlines with their ongoing development of reusable launch vehicles. Now Virgin Orbit‘s “Launcher One” is carving out its own niche in the commercial space market, as an efficient, flexible launcher of small satellites.
Continue reading “Virgin Orbit Shows off its “Launcher One”, a Rocket Carried by an Airplane”
The universe wasn’t always such a well-lit place. It had its own Dark Ages, back in the days before stars and galaxies formed. One of the big questions in astronomy concerns how stars and galaxies shaped the very early days of the Universe. The problem is, there’s no visible light travelling through the Universe from this time period.
Now, a team of astronomers led by Dr. Benjamin McKinley of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and Curtin University are using the Moon to help unlock these secrets.
Continue reading “Whoa. That’s the Milky Way, Bouncing off the Moon in Radio Waves”
The ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has spotted a funny cloud on Mars, right near the Arsia Mons Volcano. At first glance it looks like a plume coming out of the volcano. But it’s formation is not related to any internal activity in this long-dead volcano. It’s a cloud of water ice known as an orographic or lee cloud.
The cloud isn’t linked to any volcanic activity, but its formation is associated with the form and altitude of Arsia Mons. Arsia Mons is a dormant volcano, with scientists putting its last eruptive activity at 10 mya. This isn’t the first time this type of cloud has been seen hovering around Arsia Mons.
What would it be like to be onboard the Cassini orbiter as it made its way around Jupiter and Saturn and their moons? Pretty cool. Now a new video made from Cassini images pieces together parts of that stately journey.
Space Force is here. For real. The President said he was going to create it, and now the White House has released some details on this new branch of the US armed forces.
Some see the hand of God, some see the law of large numbers, and some just see cool looking icebergs. Whichever way you lean, these rectangular icebergs grab your attention.
Continue reading “Polar Researchers Spot Two Rectangular Icebergs”
At the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy lurks a Supermassive Black Hole (SMBH) named Sagittarius A* (Sag. A-star). Sag. A* is an object of intense study, even though you can’t actually see it. But new images from the Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array (ALMA) reveal swirling high-speed clouds of gas and dust orbiting the black hole, the next best thing to seeing the hole itself.
Continue reading “Gas and Dust Seen Swirling Around our Galaxy’s Supermassive Black Hole”
Have you always wanted some cool space sounds for your phone? Maybe a ringtone that says “Houston, Tranquility Base, here. The Eagle has landed.” Or maybe the iconic and historic Neil Armstrong utterance, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Well, now you can have them.
Continue reading “NASA Has Some Cool Space Sounds You Can Use for Ringtones”
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.
Continue reading “This is How NASA Releases Almost Half a Million Gallons of Water in 60 Seconds”
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.