Space and astronomy news
Universe Today has explored the potential for sending humans to Europa, Venus, Titan, and Pluto, all of which possess environmental conditions that are far too harsh for humans to survive. The insight gained from planetary scientists resulted in some informative discussions, and traveling to some of these far-off worlds might be possible, someday. In the …
You think you know someone, then you see them in a slightly different way and BAM, they surprise you. I’m not talking about other people of course, I’m talking about a fabulous star that has been studied and imaged a gazillion times. Beta Pictoris has been revealed by many telescopes, even Hubble to be home …
Continue reading “Webb Blocks the Star to See a Debris Disk Around Beta Pictoris”
The way astronomers study planets in our own solar system is surprisingly similar to the way they study exoplanets, despite the latter being orders of magnitude more distant. The key is spectroscopy – examining the wavelengths of light that reach a telescope from a planet’s atmosphere. Different molecules allow different wavelengths to pass through, creating …
Continue reading “Weather in the Solar System Can Teach Us About Weather on Exoplanets”
For almost half a century, the term “Anthropocene” has been informally used to describe the current geological epoch. The term acknowledges how human agency has become the most significant factor when it comes to changes in Earth’s geology, landscape, ecosystems, and climate. According to a new study by a team of geologists and anthropologists, this …
Continue reading “We've Entered a New Era: The Lunar Anthropocene”
In 1950, while sitting down to lunch with colleagues at the Los Alamos Laboratory, famed physicist and nuclear scientist Enrico Fermi asked his famous question: “Where is Everybody?” In short, Fermi was addressing the all-important question that has plagued human minds since they first realized planet Earth was merely a speck in an infinite Universe. …
Continue reading “Why Don't We See Robotic Civilizations Rapidly Expanding Across the Universe?”
A new paper shows how gravitational lenses could be used to beam power from one star system to another.
A new study considers all the challenges, benefits, and necessary steps for settling Mars.
Astronomers using JWST were surprised to find mature-looking galaxies in the early Universe; they challenged existing models of cosmology. Astronomers wanted to see if these were ubiquitous, so they examined 19 galaxies in a different part of the sky. They measured high-redshift galaxies but did not find the same unusual mass distribution. This led them to suggest that those initial discoveries were outliers and not indicative of the early Universe.
BOULDER, Colo. — NASA says it’s going to play a bigger role in studying what’s behind unidentified anomalous phenomena, the newfangled name for what we used to call UFOs. But exactly how should NASA step into that role? The astrophysicist who helped get the ball rolling last year as NASA’s associate administrator for science is …
Continue reading “What’s Next for NASA’s UFO Research? Outside Observers Weigh In”
At the heart of large galaxies like our Milky Way, there resides a supermassive black hole (SMBH.) These behemoths draw stars, gas, and dust toward them with their irresistible gravitational pull. When they consume this material, there’s a bright flare of energy, the brightest of which are quasars. While astrophysicists think that SMBHs eat too …
Continue reading “Gluttonous Black Holes Eat Faster Than Thought. Does That Explain Quasars?”