Universe Today
Welcome to Jupiter - NASA's Juno Achieves Orbit around 'King of the Planets'
Messier 17 (M17) - the Omega Nebula
Located between 5,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth is the Omega Nebula, one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions in our galaxy
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Stars Are The Universe's Neat Freaks
A recently released catalogue showing the results of a Herschel survey has revealed how stars have cleaned the universe over billions of years
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Earth at Aphelion 2016
Our guide to earth at aphelion for July 4th, 2016.
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The Juno Mission
On July 4th, the Juno spacecraft - the second long-term mission to Jupiter - will arrive at the gas giant, and begin to shed light its many mysteries
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NASA Approves New Horizons Extended KBO Mission, Keeps Dawn at Ceres
In an 'Independence Day' gift to a slew of US planetary research scientists, NASA has granted approval to nine ongoing missions to continue for another two years this holiday weekend.
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The Dutch Are Going To The Moon With The Chinese
As part of China's Chang'e-4 lunar mission. a new radio antenna being developed in the Netherlands will be deployed to the far side of the Moon in 2018
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What is Time Dilation?
One of the strangest implications of Relativity is the concept of time dilation; how people moving at different speeds will experience different amounts of time. Dr. Brian Koberlein helps us figure it out.
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New System Discovered with Five Planets
Curiosity Finds Ancient Mars Likely Had More Oxygen and Was More Hospitable to Life
New chemical science findings from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity indicate that ancient Mars likely had a higher abundance of molecular oxygen in its atmosphere compared to the present day and was thus more hospitable to life forms, if they ever existed.
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Jupiter's Magnetosphere Will Blow Your Mind While it Kills Your Spacecraft
Behold The Distant Universe!
At the annual National Astronomy Meeting, members of the Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) team shared images that are the deepest view of the Universe yet
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Juno and the Deep Space Network: Bringing The Data Home
Sonny Giroux, Program Manager for NASA's Deep Space Network, explains how Juno uses the Network to communicate, and some of the unique challenges Juno poses.
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Bezos Is Building A House For His Big Brother
Blue Origin and its founder Jeff Bezos do a little one-upmanship on the old saying, "go big or go home." With the groundbreaking of their new orbital vehicle manufacturing complex, they are going big AND going home, building a home for Very Big Brother, the unofficial name of their rocket.
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Very Large Telescope Images Of Jupiter Prepare Us For Juno Arrival
In preparation for Juno's arrival at Jupiter, a team from the European Southern Observatory is creating a breathtaking infrared map of Jupiter
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Professor Stephen Hawking Intends To Map The Known Universe
At the upcoming Starmus science conference, Professor Stephen Hawking will unveil the most ambitious plan to map the known universe to date
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NASA Completes Awesome Test Firing of World's Most Powerful Booster for Human Mission to Mars - Gallery
The world's most powerful booster that will one day propel NASA astronauts on exciting missions of exploration to deep space destinations including the Moon and Mars was successfully ignited this morning, June 28, during an awesome ground test firing on a remote mountainside in Utah, that qualifies it for an inaugural blastoff in late 2018.
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Returned Samples Of Asteroid Itokawa Show Violent 4.5 Billion Year History
Asteroid Itokawa had a sometimes violent 4.5 billion year history, according to samples returned by Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa.
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7 Days Out From Orbital Insertion, NASA's Juno Images Jupiter and its Largest Moons
Now just 7 days out from a critical orbital insertion burn, NASA's Jupiter-bound Juno orbiter is closing in fast on the massive gas giant. And as its coming into focus the spacecraft has begun snapping a series of beautiful images of the biggest planet and its biggest moons.
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Messier 16 (M16) - The Eagle Nebula
Good News, Martian Colonists Can Eat All the Radishes They Want
Based on recent experiments led by a Dutch research team and MarsOne, we now know which crops can be grown on the Red Planet
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A Star Is About To Go 2.5% The Speed Of Light Past A Black Hole
Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT), researchers are about to observe the stars orbiting Sagittarius A*, which will test Einstein's theory of General Relativity like never before
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Spectacular Launch of Most Powerful Atlas Completes Constellation of Navy's Advanced Tactical Comsats - Gallery
Today's (June 24) spectacular launch of the most powerful version of the venerable Atlas V rocket from the sunshine state completes the orbital deployment of a constellation of advanced tactical communications satellites for the U.S. Navy.
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 418: Error 418 - I'm a Teapot!
HiRISE Captures Curiosity on the Naukluft Plateau
Orbital images of Mars can provide useful information on the changing nature of the Martian surface. And eye candy too!
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Weekly Space Hangout - June 24, 2016: Dr. James Green
Centaurs Keep Their Rings From Greedy Gas Giants
Minor planets like Chariklo are good at keeping their ring systems away from larger planets, and we are beginning to understand why
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Antares Return to Flight Launch Likely Slips to August, Cygnus Completes Atmospheric Reentry
The long awaited maiden launch of Orbital ATK's revamped Antares commercial rocket utilizing new first stage engines, from its Virginia launch base, will likely slip from July to August, a company spokesperson confirmed to Universe Today.
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Can Boeing Launch A Crewed Starliner By February 2018?
According to Boeing, the first test launch of its Starliner crew capsule will take place in February 2018, a four month delay from its original date of October 2017.
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Time For NASA To Double Down On Journey To Mars
With the 2030s approaching, and an impending election, NASA needs to redouble its efforts to make a crewed mission to Mars happen
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Port Canaveral Considers Charging SpaceX 14 Times Normal Fee For Booster Return
Port Canaveral is considering a hefty raise to the fees it charges SpaceX for handling recovered boosters.
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Pancaked SpaceX Falcon Pulls into Port After Trio of Spectacular Landings; Photos/Videos
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL — The pancaked leftovers of a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage from last week's successful commercial launch but hard landing at sea, pulled silently and without fanfare into its home port over the weekend - thereby ending a string of three straight spectacular and upright soft ocean landings over the past two months.
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Huge Plasma Tsunamis Hitting Earth Explains Third Van Allen Belt
A transient third Van Allen belt was first observed in 2013, and new research explains how it was formed.
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What Are The Diameters of the Planets?
The planets of our Solar System vary considerably, with some being a fraction of Earth's diameter, and others many times its size
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Messier 15 (M15) - The Great Pegasus Cluster
Located in the Pegasus constellation, some 33,600 light years from Earth, is the M15 Great Pegasus Cluster, one of the oldest objects in the night sky
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Finding "The Lost Science" of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Carnival of Space #462
Seeking the Summer Solstice
Today marks the June solstice, as the Sun passes highest in the sky for observers across the northern hemisphere. Here's our post on 'all things solstice,' with facts, lore and more.
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NASA Brings Back the X-Plane, and This One's Electric
While NASA has had a long and storied history of building and testing experimental aircraft – called X-planes -- it has been almost a decade the space agency has developed any new aircraft. But an initiative announced earlier this year as part of the new budget has NASA back designing, building and flying a new series of X-planes, with the goal of creating more "green" aviation technologies that can then be utilized by the aeronautics industry.
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Saturn V's New Mission Is To...Mississippi?
The Saturn V rocket that was supposed to launch Apollo 19 to the Moon in 1973 has found a new home at the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi.
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 417: Error 417: Expectation Failed
Weekly Space Hangout - June 17, 2016: LIGO Team
Earth Has An Almost-Moon
Earth has a new dance partner, a quasi-moon named 2016 H03.
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What Are Virtual Particles?
As we've learned, black holes can evaporate over time thanks to the creation of virtual particles at the edge of the event horizon. Dr. Paul Matt Sutter returns to help us make sense of the science.
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First 3D Tools Printed Aboard Space Station
The Additive Manufacturing Facility, or 3D printer, on-board the ISS has made its first tool.
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Xenon Propulsion Pair of Telecom Satellites Roars Skyward from SpaceX's Sunshine State Launch Base - Gallery
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL — Nearly perfect weather greeted the blastoff of a nearly identical pair of xenon propulsion commercial telecom satellites carried to orbit today, Wednesday, June 15, by an upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Florida space coast.
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Second Gravitational Wave Source Found By LIGO
With the announcement of the second detection of elusive gravitational waves, scientists hope this is just the beginning of a new era of understanding our Universe.
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470 Million Year Old Meteorite Discovered In Swedish Quarry
A fossilized meteorite from a quarry in Sweden is a new type of space rock that's different from other meteors.
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SpaceX Set to Launch Stacked Pair of Electric Propulsion Comsats on June 15 - Watch Live
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL — Less than three weeks after their last launch and landing attempt involving a Thai payload, SpaceX is set to continue the firms rapid fire pace of satellite deliveries to orbit with a new mission involving a stacked pair of all-electric propulsion commercial comsats that are due to liftoff tomorrow, Wednesday morning.
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Peering for Pluto: Our Guide to Opposition 2016
The coming month is a great time to cross Pluto off of your observing life list, with our complete guide to Pluto at opposition for 2016.
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