Universe Today (Page 201)

Monster Meteorite Found in Texas

By bob-king - November 04, 2016 10:54 AM UTC | Planetary Science

Meet the largest single chondrite in Texas.

Somebody Get This Supermassive Black Hole A Towel

By Evan Gough - November 03, 2016 03:19 PM UTC | Black Holes

Two galaxies collide, and one super-massive black hole is stripped almost naked of stars.

Beautiful Planetary Rings Are Dead Dwarf Planets! Dead Dwarf Planets!!!

By Matthew Williams - November 03, 2016 02:59 PM UTC | Planetary Science

A new study from a team of Japanese researchers shows that the rings of the gas giants might be the remains of dwarf planets, which they encountered billions of years ago

China Just Launched Its Largest Rocket Ever

By Nancy Atkinson - November 03, 2016 12:13 PM UTC | Space Exploration

What is the World's Deepest Ocean?

By Matthew Williams - November 02, 2016 07:00 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Determining which ocean is the deepest is tricky, but on average, the Pacific Ocean is deeper than the rest, thanks to the extreme depth of the Mariana Trench

NASA's New Asteroid Alert System Gives 5 Whole Days of Warning

By Evan Gough - November 02, 2016 03:17 PM UTC | Planetary Science

NASA's Scout Program for the early detection of asteroids passed it's first test, giving us 5 days notice of 2016 UR36's close encounter with Earth.

Watch Asteroid 2016 VA Pass Through Earth's Shadow

By David Dickinson - November 02, 2016 07:52 AM UTC | Planetary Science

Pure Metal Asteroid Has Mysterious Water Deposits

By Nancy Atkinson - November 01, 2016 09:02 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Water has been showing up in all sorts of unexpected places in our Solar System, such as the Moon, Mercury and Saturn's moon Ganymede. Add one more place to the list: Asteroid 16 Psyche. This metal-rich asteroid may have traces of water molecules on its surface that shouldn't be there, researchers say.

How Many Galaxies Are There in the Universe?

By Fraser Cain - November 01, 2016 06:45 PM UTC | Extragalactic

Did you hear that the Universe has 10x the number of galaxies? How did astronomers discover this, and what does it mean for the number of stars?

Why Does it Rain?

By Matthew Williams - November 01, 2016 06:10 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Rain is part of Earth's all-important hydrological cycle, where water evaporates from the Earth's surface, condenses, and falls from the sky.

Curiosity Finds a Melted Space Metal Meteorite on the Surface of Mars

By Matthew Williams - November 01, 2016 03:53 PM UTC | Planetary Science

An small object noticed in some of the Curiosity rover's images has been identified as a small meteorite, likely composed of iron-nickel

Even Though it's an Alien World, Titan's Canyons Would Look Very Familiar

By Matthew Williams - November 01, 2016 02:49 PM UTC | Planetary Science

The Cassini probe has found more features on Titan that resemble Earth, steep river valleys that empty into its largest methane lake

November Opens with a Splendid Gathering of Moon and Planets

By bob-king - November 01, 2016 10:30 AM UTC | Observing

At dusk on November 2, skywatchers will see a beautiful crescent Moon pair up with the planets Venus and Saturn.

Here's What Happens When NASA Engineers Carve Their Pumpkins

By Nancy Atkinson - October 31, 2016 09:44 PM UTC | Site News

Messier 25 - The IC 4725 Open Cluster

By tammy-plotner - October 31, 2016 04:30 PM UTC | Stars

SpaceX Makes Progress Replicating Failure that Caused Falcon 9 Pad Explosion

By ken-kremer - October 30, 2016 11:43 PM UTC | Space Exploration

SpaceX is making significant progress in replicating the failure in the helium pressurization system that led to the catastrophic launch pad explosion of the firms Falcon 9 rocket during a routine fueling test at their Florida Space Coast launch complex on September 1.

The Search Is On For Alien Signals Around Tabby's Star

By bob-king - October 28, 2016 06:03 PM UTC | Exoplanets

What's the Most Stable Shape for an Interstellar Lightsail?

By Matthew Williams - October 28, 2016 05:46 PM UTC | Space Exploration

A recent study by an international team of scientists looked at Project Starshot and assessed the likelihood of its success, based on several design features

Best Photos Yet of the Mars Lander's Demise

By bob-king - October 28, 2016 04:41 PM UTC | Planetary Science

New photos from NASA's Mars orbiter reveal the Schiaparelli lander crash in finer detail.

If it Wasn't Already Strange Enough, now Saturn's Hexagon Storm is Changing Color

By Matthew Williams - October 28, 2016 02:39 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Recent images from the Cassini space probe show that Saturn's hexagonal polar storm is changing, which may be due to seasonal variation

Weekly Space Hangout - October 28, 2016: Dr. Derrick Pitts of the Fels Planetarium

By Fraser Cain - October 28, 2016 02:20 PM UTC | Site News

It Took 15 Months, but all of New Horizons' Data Has Finally Been Downloaded

By Nancy Atkinson - October 27, 2016 07:22 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Planets Around Stars like Proxima Centauri are Probably Earth-Sized Water Worlds

By Matthew Williams - October 27, 2016 03:10 PM UTC | Exoplanets

A new study from the University of Bern indicates that most planets that orbit red dwarf stars might be water worlds, which could have a serious effect on the hunt for extra-terrestrial life

What is the Mars Curse?

By Fraser Cain - October 27, 2016 02:33 PM UTC | Planetary Science

If you're going to send a spacecraft to Mars, you've got to know that place has an insatiable hunger for our plucky robot companions. Why is this place cursed?

Astronomy Cast Ep. 426: Confirmation Bias

By Fraser Cain - October 27, 2016 01:32 PM UTC | Site News

How Will We Get to Mars? New Book and TV Series Provide the Details

By Nancy Atkinson - October 27, 2016 10:21 AM UTC | Planetary Science

What is a Waxing Moon?

By Matthew Williams - October 26, 2016 04:15 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Between a New Moon and a Full Moon, the Moon goes through its "waxing" phases, where its surface increases in luminosity

Evidence Continues To Mount For Ninth Planet

By Matthew Williams - October 26, 2016 02:58 PM UTC | Planetary Science

A new study produced by researchers at Caltech links the existence of Planet 9 to the axial tilt of our Sun, something that was previously unexplained

New 'Selfie' MicroSatellite Captures Images of Chinese Space Station

By Nancy Atkinson - October 25, 2016 05:38 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Carnival of Space #480

By susie - October 25, 2016 04:28 PM UTC | Site News

Book Review: A History of the Solar System

By Mark Mortimer - October 25, 2016 02:01 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy

Can We Get Space Madness?

By Fraser Cain - October 25, 2016 11:01 AM UTC | Space Exploration

If science fiction has taught us anything, it's that nothing makes a person go crazier than the harsh isolation of deep space. Will we all go crazy out there, among the stars?

Boo! A Black Moon Halloween Weekend

By David Dickinson - October 25, 2016 06:45 AM UTC | Site News

This Halloween weekend's top astronomical event features something that you won't see in the sky: a Black Moon.

How Many Planets are There in the Galaxy?

By Matthew Williams - October 24, 2016 06:15 PM UTC | Exoplanets

Humans have wondered how many planets could exist within our Galaxy, and some of our best estimates say there could be ten of billions!

Seasonal Change On Titan Is Dynamic Business

By Matthew Williams - October 24, 2016 02:36 PM UTC | Planetary Science

At a joint meeting in Pasadena, California last week, European and American scientists were treated to some of the latest findings about Saturn's moon Titan.

What are Molecules?

By Matthew Williams - October 23, 2016 05:05 PM UTC | Astrobiology

Molecules are the basic buildings blocks of life and matter, and our understanding of them has evolved considerably over time.

First Cygnus Cargo Ship from Virginia in Two Years Docks at Space Station

By ken-kremer - October 23, 2016 04:27 PM UTC | Space Exploration

What is a Magnetic Field?

By Matthew Williams - October 22, 2016 09:00 AM UTC | Physics

Magnetic fields are fascinating things. They are intrinsic to Iron magnets, but can also be generated by electrical circuits and even planets!

MIT Claims they are Programming Humanoid Robots to help Explore Mars. But we all Know It's Cylons!

By Matthew Williams - October 21, 2016 09:56 PM UTC | Space Exploration

MIT and other institutions are programming NASA's R5 robot to help astronauts explore Mars and other worlds beyond!

Schiaparelli is Gone. Smashed on the surface of Mars

By bob-king - October 21, 2016 05:29 PM UTC | Planetary Science

It appears that Europe's Schiaparelli Mars lander crashed-landed on the planet's surface and may have exploded.

Astronomers Think They Know Where Rosetta's Comet Came From

By bob-king - October 21, 2016 11:51 AM UTC | Planetary Science

A new study reveals that Rosetta's Comet likely spent billions of years chilling in the Kuiper Belt before chance interactions with Neptune and Jupiter wrangled it into the inner Solar System.

Weekly Space Hangout - October 21, 2016: Dr. Voula Saridakis of @histastro & Morgan is a Tilted Sun

By Fraser Cain - October 21, 2016 02:05 AM UTC | Site News

Mars' Moon Deimos

By Matthew Williams - October 20, 2016 08:30 PM UTC | Planetary Science

The smaller of Mars' two moons - Deimos - is a strange mysterious satellite. And while its origins are still not clear, future missions might remedy that!

No, There Won't Be 15 Days of Darkness in November. It's Another Stupid Hoax.

By Evan Gough - October 20, 2016 04:31 PM UTC | Site News

Don't bother stocking up on candles. There won't be 15 days of darkness in November.

Carnival of Space #479

By susie - October 20, 2016 02:50 PM UTC | Site News

What is a Nova?

By Fraser Cain - October 20, 2016 01:49 PM UTC | Stars

We've talked about supernovae plenty of times, but what about just regular, plain old novae? What are they, and how are they different from the star destroying explosions we know and love?