Universe Today
Weekly Space Hangout - February 3, 2017: Meredith Rawls & the LSST
Meteorite Confirms 2 Billion Years of Volcanic Activity on Mars
A Martian meteorite that landed in Africa in 2012 has confirmed that Martian volcanic activity lasted 3 billion years or longer.
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A Novel Concept For Braking Breakthrough Starshot
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute have come up with an interesting way to slow down Starshot's mission to Alpha Centauri, a proposal which has the side benefit of exploring Proxima b as well.
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Superbowl Smackdown: Watch the Moon Occult Aldebaran on Sunday
Sure, this Superbowl Sunday brings with it the promise of sacks, fumbles and tackles... but have you ever seen the Moon run down a star in the end zone? Just such an event, termed as an occultation happens this weekend for folks living around the Mediterranean and — just maybe for some sharp-eyed telescope owning observers based around the Caribbean this coming weekend.
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Get Away From It All with these Amazing DTM Views of Mars
Preleminary Results In NASA Twins Study Released
NASA has released the preliminary results of their study of prolonged stays in space on the human body.
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What is the Weather like on Mars?
Martian weather is both fascinating and extreme, involving such things as dry ice snows, planet-wide dust storms, and aurorae.
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Outstanding Opportunity Rover Making 'Amazing New Discoveries' 13 Years After Mars Touchdown - Scientist Tells UT
NASA's truly outstanding Opportunity rover continues "making new discoveries about ancient Mars" as she commemorates 13 Years since bouncing to a touchdown on Mars, in a feat that is "truly amazing" - the deputy chief scientist Ray Arvidson told Universe Today exclusively.
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What is a Butte?
The geological feature known as a "butte" (French for "small hill") is quite common to Earth, and planets like Mars as well.
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Vortex Coronagraph A Game Changer For Seeing Close In Exoplanets
A new instrument installed on the Keck Observatory allows astronomers to see exoplanets that are very close to their stars.
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Carnival of Space #494
SpaceX Shuffles Falcon 9 Launch Schedule, NASA Gets 1st Launch from Historic KSC Pad 39A
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - SpaceX announced Sunday (Jan. 29) a significant shuffle to the Falcon 9 launch schedule, saying that a key NASA mission to resupply the space station is moving to the head of the line and will now be their first mission to launch from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center- formerly used to launch space shuttles.
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What is a Planet?
The concept of a planet has evolved considerably over time, thanks to ongoing discoveries and refinements in the field of astronomy.
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Unprecedented Views of Saturn's Rings as Cassini Dances Death Spiral
Messier 33 - The Triangulum Galaxy
Located in the Triangulum constellation, about 3 million light-years from Earth, is the Triangulum Galaxy (aka. Messier 33).
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NASA Tribute Exhibit Honors Fallen Apollo 1 Crew 50 Years After Tragedy
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER VISITOR COMPLEX, FL - NASA unveiled a new tribute exhibit honoring three fallen astronaut heroes 50 years to the day of the Apollo 1 tragedy on January 27, 1967 when the three man crew perished in a flash fire on the launch pad during a capsule test that was not considered to be dangerous.
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A Proposal For Juno To Observe The Volcanoes Of Io
Two Boston University researchers propose a plan for NASA's Juno probe to remotely study Io's volcanic eruptions.
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Harvard Physicist Creates Metallic Hydrogen Using Diamond Vise
According to a study by two Harvard researchers, they have succeeded in creating metallic hydrogen for the first time in history.
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Four Planet System Directly Imaged In Motion
Jason Wang, a graduate student from UC Berkeley, has created a video that captures the peculiar orbits of gas giants in a four-planet system
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JPL Needs Citizen Scientists To Hunt Martian Polygonal Ridges
NASA is seeking citizen-scientists to help them identify ridge formations on Mars, which could help us to understanding at the geological forces at work there
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Boeing Unveils Blue Spacesuits for Starliner Crew Capsule
Boeing has unveiled the advanced new lightweight spacesuits that astronauts will sport as passengers aboard the company's CST-100 Starliner space taxi during commercial taxi journey's to and from and the International Space Station (ISS) and other low Earth orbit destinations.
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What's That Bright Star in the Sky?
What's that bright light in the sky? How come I never noticed it before? That's not a star at all, it's Venus, and it is awesome.
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Weekly Space Hangout - January 27, 2017: Kimberly Cartier & Exoplanet WASP 103b
Space Jellyfish Show Types Of Pulsar Wind Nebulas
A series of studies based on data obtained from Chandra X-ray observatory may held shed light on the mysteries of pulsars.
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Carl Sagan's Theory Of Early Mars Warming Gets New Attention
Carl Sagan hit on the idea 40 years ago. Now, a team of scientists have discovered that a trifecta of gases may have warmed Mars enough for liquid water to gush.
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A Farewell to Plutoshine
Sometimes, its not the eye candy aspect of the image, but what it represents. A recent image of Pluto's large moon Charon courtesy of New Horizons caught our eye. Looking like something from the grainy era of the early Space Age, we see a crescent Charon, hanging against a starry background...
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Rogue NASA, EPA, NPS Twitter Accounts Launched to Protest Trump Directives
Rogue sites protesting the Trump team's new guidelines for federal agencies are popping up everywhere.
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NASA Webb Telescope Resumes Rigorous Vibration Qualification Tests
Engineers have resumed a series of critical and rigorous vibration qualification tests on NASA's mammoth James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland to confirm its safety, integrity and readiness for the unforgiving environment of space flight, after pausing due to a testing 'anomaly' detected in early December 2016.
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Galactic Stripping Mystery Uncovered
Juno Just Took One Of The Best Images Of Jupiter Ever
Japan Becomes A Military Space Player With Latest Launch
In a potentially controversial move, Japan recently deployed an x-band communications satellite to reduce its reliance on other providers for communications with its military forces.
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Could NASA Be Muzzled Under Trump Administration?
Astronomy Cast Ep. 438: Destroy and Rebuild, Pt. 2: Geoengineering
Carnival of Space #492-493
New Age in Weather Forecasting Begins with Spectacular 1st Images from NASA/NOAA GOES-16 Observatory
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - A new age has begun in the nations weather forecasting capabilities with the release today (Jan. 23) of the spectacular first images gathered by the recently launched NASA/NOAA GOES-16 observatory.
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Vital Air Force Missile Reconnaissance Satellite SBIRS GEO 3 Launched - Photo/Video Gallery
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL - A vital missile reconnaissance satellite for the U.S. Force soared to space atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral at dinnertime Friday night, Jan. 20, 2017.
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Here's the Highest Resolution Map of Pluto We'll Get from New Horizons
Members of the New Horizons team recently conducted a live panel discussion where they talked about the spacecraft's greatest accomplishments, which included the highest resolution map of Pluto ever created.
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How to See the Space Station Fly in Front of the Moon
Want to see the the space station zip across the Moon or Sun? Here are step-by-step instructions how.
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USAF Missile Defense SBIRS Observatory Streaks to Orbit during Spectacular Evening Blastoff
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL - A U.S. Air Force missile defense reconnaissance observatory that will track the telltale infrared signatures of incoming enemy missiles and is vital to America's national security blasted off in spectacular fashion off this evening, Jan. 20, 2017, as it streaked to orbit from the Florida Space Coast.
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The Carina Constellation
Located in the southern sky is the constellation Carina, which has several impressive stars and associated Deep Sky Objects.
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Gene Cernan, Last Man on the Moon, Honored at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER VISITOR COMPLEX, FL - Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, and one of America's most famous and renowned astronauts, was honored in a ceremony held at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Florida, on Jan. 18. [Story/photos expanded]
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Weekly Space Hangout - January 20, 2017: Dan Dixon - Project Lead & Creator of Universe Sandbox
What is the Alcubierre "Warp" Drive?
In 1994, Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a way to travel faster than light without violating the laws of relativity, and attempts to make it work are ongoing.
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Bullseye: Amazing SpaceX Images Highlight Perfect Falcon 9 Landing
NASA: 2016 Was the Warmest Year on Record... Again!
According to independent analyses by NASA and the NOAA, 2016 was the warmest year on record, making it the 16th warmest year in a row since 2001.
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Adventures With "Copyscope"
Every telescope has a story to tell. We returned back to the U S of A recently, and one of our first tasks upon re-establishing our lives back in Florida was to dig through the archaeological strata that is our storage unit. Headlamp on and Leatherman in hand, we worked our way through layers put in place over years of storage unit drop-off runs.
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Air Force Missile Warning SBIRS GEO 3 Satellite Set for Spectacular Night Liftoff Jan. 19; 1st 2017 Cape Launch-Watch Live
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL - A U.S. Air Force satellite that will provide vital early warnings on incoming enemy missiles that are critical to the defense of our homeland is set for a spectacular nighttime blastoff on Thursday Jan. 19 from the Florida Space Coast. Update: Launch reset to Jan 20 at 7:42 pm EST
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New NASA-themed TV Pilot by 'The Martian' Author Andy Weir
What Was the Carrington Event?
In 1859, the Sun gave off the most powerful solar flare on record. A blast of radiation and particles so strong it fried electrical wires and set telegraph towers on fire.
What would happen if a solar storm of this magnitude happened today? It would be a very bad day indeed.
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