Matt Williams, Author at Universe Today

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020 by Matt Williams

Crew Dragon Abort Test is Scheduled for Saturday Morning

The uncrewed in-flight abort demonstration is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 18, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. There is a four-hour test window. Credits: SpaceX

As part of their Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Program, NASA has contracted with aerospace giants like SpaceX and Boeing to provide commercial launch services to the International Space Station (ISS). These services will consist of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon (Dragon 2) and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner bringing astronauts to orbit in the coming years, effectively restoring domestic launch capability to the US.

To get these spacecraft ready for flight, Boeing and SpaceX have been putting them through rigorous launch tests. Tomorrow morning (Saturday, Jan. 17th), SpaceX will be conducting its final test in preparation for crewed flights. This is the all-important in-flight abort test, which will be live-streamed by NASA TV – will take place at 7:45 AM EST (4:45 AM PST) from Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

January 16, 2020January 27, 2020 by Matt Williams

Scientists Figure Out How to Continuously Watch the Entire Planet With Just 4 Satellites

Artist's impression of the orbital debris problem. Credit: UC3M

For decades, scientists have been trying to figure out the minimum number of satellites that would be able to see every point on Earth. This question is motivated in part by the growing problem of space debris, but also by considerations of cost and efficiency. By the mid-1980s, researcher John E. Draim proposed a solution to this problem in a series of studies, claiming that a four-satellite constellation was all that was needed.

Unfortunately, his solution simply wasn’t practical at the time since a tremendous amount of propellant would be needed to keep the satellites in orbit. But thanks to a recent collaborative study, a team of researchers has found the right combination of factors to make a four-satellite constellation possible. Their findings could drive advances in telecommunication, navigation, and remote sensing while also reducing costs.

January 15, 2020January 16, 2020 by Matt Williams

It Takes Two Stars to Make a Gamma Ray Burst

Artist’s impression of gamma-ray burst with orbiting binary star. Credit: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick

In 1967, NASA scientists noticed something they had never seen before coming from deep space. In what has come to be known as the “Vela Incident“, multiple satellites registered a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) that was so bright, it briefly outshined the entire galaxy. Given their awesome power and the short-lived nature, astronomers have been eager to determine how and why these bursts take place.

Decades of observation have led to the conclusion that these explosions occur when a massive star goes supernova, but astronomers were still unsure why it happened in some cases and not others. Thanks to new research by a team from the University of Warwick, it appears that the key to producing GRBs lies with binary star systems – i.e. a star needs a companion in order to produce the brightest explosion in the Universe.

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 by Matt Williams

Balloon-Based Cosmic Ray Observatory is Now on its Second Trip Around Antarctica

The Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) instrument is used to study the origin of cosmic rays. (Photo: Wolfgang Zober)

In 2012, the balloon-borne observatory known as the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) took to the skies to conduct high-altitude observations of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs). Carrying on in the tradition of its predecessor (TIGER), SuperTiger set a new record after completing a 55-day flight over Antarctica – which happened between December of 2012 and January of 2013.

On December 16th, 2019, after multiple launch attempts, the observatory took to the air again and passed over Antarctica twice in the space of just three and a half weeks. Like its predecessor, SuperTIGER is a collaborative effort designed to study cosmic rays – high-energy protons and atomic nuclei – that originate outside of our Solar System and travel through space at close to the speed of light.

January 13, 2020January 16, 2020 by Matt Williams

New View of the Swan Nebula From NASA’s Airborne SOFIA Telescope

The first released VST image shows the spectacular star-forming region Messier 17, also known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula. Credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute.

The Omega Nebula (Messier 17), also known as the Swan Nebula because of its distinct appearance, is one of the most well-known nebulas in our galaxy. Located about 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius, this nebula is also one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions in the Milky Way. Unfortunately, nebulas are very difficult to study because of the way their clouds of dust and gas obscure their interiors.

For this reason, astronomers are forced to examine nebulas in the non-visible wavelength to get a better idea of their makeup. Using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a team of NASA scientists recently observed the Swan Nebula in the infrared wavelength. What they found has revealed a great deal about how this nebula and stellar nursery evolved over time.

January 12, 2020January 12, 2020 by Matt Williams

In About 3 Million Years, WASP-12b Will Spiral into its Star and be Consumed

Artist's impression of the searing-hot gas planet WASP-12b and its star. A Princeton-led team of astrophysicists has shown that this exoplanet is spiraling in toward its host star, heading toward certain destruction in about 3 million years. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astronomers estimate that in about four billion years, our Sun will exit the main sequence phase of its existence and become a red giant. This will consist of the Sun running out of hydrogen and expanding to several times its current size. This will cause Earth to become uninhabitable since this Red Giant Sun will either blow away Earth’s atmosphere (rendering the surface uninhabitable) or expand to consume Earth entirely.

In a lot of ways, Earth is getting off easy with these predicted scenarios. Other planets, such as WASP-12b, don’t have the luxury of waiting billions of years for their star to reach the end of its lifespan before eating them up. According to a recent study by a team of Princeton-led astrophysicists, this extrasolar planet is spiraling in towards its star and will be consumed in a fiery death just 3 million years from now.

January 11, 2020January 11, 2020 by Matt Williams

Hubble Finds Teeny Tiny Clumps of Dark Matter

Using the gravitational lensing technique, a team was able to examine how light from distant quasar was affected by intervening small clumps of dark matter. Credit: NASA/ESA/D. Player (STScI)

To put it simply, Dark Matter is not only believed to make up the bulk of the Universe’s mass but also acts as the scaffolding on which galaxies are built. But to find evidence of this mysterious, invisible mass, scientists are forced to rely on indirect methods similar to the ones used to study black holes. Essentially, they measure how the presence of Dark Matter affects stars and galaxies in its vicinity.

To date, astronomers have managed to find evidence of dark matter clumps around medium and large galaxies. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and a new observing technique, a team of astronomers from UCLA and NASA JPL found that dark matter can form much smaller clumps than previously thought. These findings were presented this week at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

January 9, 2020January 9, 2020 by Matt Williams

An Upcoming Impact With the Magellanic Clouds is Already Causing Star Formation in the Milky Way

A newfound cluster of young stars (blue star) sits on the periphery of the Milky Way. These stars probably formed from material originating from neighboring dwarf galaxies called the Magellanic Clouds. Credit: NASA/D. Nidever

For some time, astronomers have known that collisions or mergers between galaxies are an integral part of cosmic evolution. In addition to causing galaxies to grow, these mergers also trigger new rounds of star formation as fresh gas and dust are injected into the galaxy. In the future, astronomers estimate that the Milky Way Galaxy will merge with the Andromeda Galaxy, as well as the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds in the meantime.

According to new results obtained by researchers at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York city, the results of our eventual merger with the Magellanic Clouds is already being felt. According to results presented at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society this week, stars forming in the outskirts of our galaxy could be the result of these dwarf galaxies merging with our own.

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by Matt Williams

Chang’e-4 Wraps Up a Year Roving on the Far Side of the Moon

Image of the Yutu-2 rover moving away from the Chang'e-4 mission's landing zone. Credit: CNSA

China greeted the New Year with some impressive lunar milestones. For starters, last Friday (Jan. 3rd) was the first anniversary of the Chang’e-4 mission becoming the first robotic mission to make a landing on the far side of the Moon. A day prior, the Yutu-2 rover also celebrated the end of its 13th lunar day of science operations and the fact that it was the first rover to travel a record 357.695 meters (1,173.5 ft) on the far side of the Moon.

January 8, 2020April 7, 2020 by Matt Williams

This Simulation Shows what We’ll be Able to See with WFIRST

Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

When it takes to space in 2025, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) will be the most powerful observatory ever deployed, succeeding the venerable Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. Relying on a unique combination of high resolution with a wide field of view, WFIRST will be able to capture the equivalent of 100 Hubble-quality images with a single shot and survey the night sky with 1,000 times the speed.

In preparation for this momentous event, astronomers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have been running simulations to demonstrate what the WFIRST will be able to see so they can plan their observations. To give viewers a preview of what this would look like, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has shared a video that simulates the WFIRST conducting a survey of the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy (M31).