Universe Today
Carnival of Space #455
Into the Red: Our Complete Guide to Mars Opposition 2016
The time to observe Mars is now, as the Red Planet heads towards a favorable opposition in May 2016. Here's our complete guide to all things Martian, including observing, imaging and more.
Continue reading
Dark Moon Discovered Orbiting Dwarf Planet Makemake
Planetary scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have spotted a dark mini-moon orbiting the distant dwarf planet Makemake. The moon, nicknamed MK 2, is roughly 160 km (100 miles) wide and orbits about 20,000 km (13,000 miles) from Makemake.
Continue reading
Bayesian Analysis Rains On Exoplanet Life Parade
It's tempting to think that life is plentiful in the Universe, if only we could locate it. But a pair of researchers using Bayesian analysis have poured cold water on that idea.
Continue reading
NASA Selects Aerojet Rocketdyne to Develop Solar Electric Propulsion for Deep Space Missions
NASA has selected Aerojet Rocketdyne to design and develop an advanced solar electric propulsion (SEP) system that will serve as a critical enabling technology for sending humans and robots on deep space exploration missions to cislunar space, asteroids and the Red Planet.
Continue reading
Spaceflight Will Give You The Body Of An Elderly Alcoholic Shut In
A recent study released by CU Anschutz indicates that prolonged time in space can cause liver damage, adding to overall health concerns
Continue reading
Stunning Auroras From the Space Station in Ultra HD - Videos
Stunning high definition views of Earth's auroras and dancing lights as seen from space like never before have just been released by NASA in the form of ultra-high definition videos (4K) captured from the International Space Station (ISS).
Continue reading
How Do We Terraform Jupiter's Moons?
Jupiter's four largest moons - the Galileans - have long been considered as possible sites for human habitation, and even terraforming
Continue reading
Chinese Space Baby Research Lands In Mongolia
China claims success in an experiment designed to test mammalian reproductive cell development in low-gravity.
Continue reading
Weekly Space Hangout - Apr. 22, 2016: Mike Simmons highlights Global Astronomy Month
How Do We Know There's a Planet 9?
Are you having trouble keeping track of all the planets in the Solar System? Good news! Astronomers have found evidence that there's another huge planet far out in the Solar System. Textbooks will need to be rewritten again. You're welcome.
Continue reading
Dawn Just Wants To Make All The Other Probes Look Bad
The team in charge of NASA's Dawn mission have asked to extend the spacecraft's journey to a third destination.
Continue reading
Landslides and Bright Craters on Ceres Revealed in Marvelous New Images from Dawn
Now in orbit for just over a year at dwarf planet Ceres, NASA's Dawn spacecraft continues to astound us with new discoveries gleaned from spectral and imagery data captured at ever decreasing orbits as well as since the probe arrived last December at the lowest altitude it will ever reach during the mission.
Continue reading
Recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster Moves Back to KSC for Eventual Reflight
The recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster that successfully carried out history's first upright touchdown from a just flown rocket onto a droneship at sea, has just been moved back to the firms processing hanger at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for testing and eventual reflight.
Continue reading
An Earth-like Planet Only 16 Light Years Away?
A new paper concludes that a super-Earth size planet may reside in the habitable zone of a star only 16 light years away.
Continue reading
Carnival of Space #454
Supermassive Black Holes In Distant Galaxies Are Mysteriously Aligned
Recent findings from a team of researchers in South Africa have shown that supermassive black holes in distance are all spinning in the same direction
Continue reading
Our Sun May Have Eaten A Super Earth For Breakfast
A Super-Earth may have formed in our Solar System's earlier days, and then been destroyed by the Sun.
Continue reading
What Is The Surface of Neptune Like?
As a gas giant, Neptune has no surface, in the traditional sense. But atop its cloud layers, some pretty amazing things are happening
Continue reading
What's Outside the Universe?
I've said in the past that the Universe isn't expanding into anything. But what if we're living in a vast multiverse, and our Universe is bumping up against other universes?
Continue reading
NASA Welds First Flight Section of SLS Core Stage for 2018 Maiden Launch
One weld at a time, the flight hardware for NASA's mammoth new Space Launch System (SLS) booster has at last started taking shape, promising to turn years of planning and engineering discussions into reality and a rocket that will one day propel our astronauts on a 'Journey to Mars.'
Continue reading
Gravity Waves On Pluto?
The changing brightness of the haze layers in Pluto's nitrogen atmosphere are caused by atmospheric gravity waves, according to data from New Horizons.
Continue reading
April Lunacy: Getting Ready for the Full 'Mini-Moon'
Why this week's Full Moon is the smallest of 2016. It's Mini-Moon season!
Continue reading
Antarctica Provides Plenty Of Mars Samples Right Now
Antarctica is a rich source of Martian meteorites, which are studied for clues to the formation and evolution of the Solar System.
Continue reading
Dwarf Dark Matter Galaxy Hides In Einstein Ring
The discovery of a Dwarf Dark Galaxy addresses the Missing Satellite Problem, and tells us we're on the right track in our understanding of the Universe, and Dark Matter's role in it.
Continue reading
'Wow!' Signal Was...Wait For It...Comets
Nearly 40 years after it was first detected, a Florida astronomer proposes that comets may be to blame for the famed extraterrestrial "Wow! signal".
Continue reading
Space Station Gets Experimental New Room with Installation of BEAM Expandable Habitat
The International Space Station (ISS) grew in size today, April 16, following the successful installation of an experimental new room - the BEAM expandable habitat module.
Continue reading
Is Alpha Centauri The Best Place To Look For Aliens?
With all the attention Breakthrough Starshot has been getting some are wondering if Alpha Cantauri is the best place to mount an interstellar mission
Continue reading
Sensational Photos Show 'Super Smooth' Droneship Touchdown of SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster - SpaceX VP
SpaceX has released a slew of up close photos showing the sensational "super smooth" touchdown last week of a Falcon 9 booster on a tiny droneship at sea located several hundred miles (km) off the East coast of Florida. "This time it really went super smooth," Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX VP of Flight Reliability, told Universe Today
Continue reading
Astronomy Cast Ep. 411: The Science of Sunset Colors
Icy Hot: Europa's Frozen Crust Could Be Warmer Than We Thought
ExoMars Takes First Hi-Res Image With The Lens Cap On
ExoMars returns its first image, proof that the camera system is functioning as intended.
Continue reading
A Super-Fast Star System Shrugs Its Shoulders At Physics
Researchers have discovered the first Hyper-Velocity binary star, and its location, and possible relationship with Dark Matter, is a puzzle.
Continue reading
Weekly Space Hangout - Apr. 15, 2016: Dr. Howard Trottier
How to Safely Watch Mercury Transit the Sun on May 9
On Monday, May 9 Mercury will make one of its relatively rare transits of the Sun. Get ready for the event by making sure you have access to a telescope and solar filter.
Continue reading
Are there Storms on the Moon?
We're always concerned about the weather here on Earth, but what about the Moon? Is there any weather up there that astronauts will have to worry about?
Continue reading
Bigelow and ULA Partner to Launch Commercial Space Habitat in 2020
Bigelow Aerospace and United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced they are joining forces to develop and launch the world's first commercial space habitat to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by 2020 - potentially as a huge and revolutionary new addition to the International Space Station (ISS).
Continue reading
NASA Discovers 72 New Asteroids Near Earth
Since 2013, the NEOWISE mission has surveyed more than 19,000 asteroids and comets and discovered 72 new Near Earth Objects (NEOs)
Continue reading
Hawking Supports Tiny Spacecraft To Alpha Centauri
Stephen Hawking supports a plan to send tiny nano-spacecraft to the Centauri system within a generation.
Continue reading
What Causes Air Pollution?
Air pollution is a major issue facing us Earthlings, and knowing its causes (both natural and man-made) is a key part in addressing it
Continue reading
April 12, 1961: The First Human in Space
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space.
Continue reading
The Laws Of Cosmology May Need A Re-Write
A more accurate measurement of standard candles has thrown a wrench into our standard model of cosmology.
Continue reading
Carnival of Space #453
SpaceX Falcon 9 Recovered 1st Stage Arrives Back in Port After Historic Upright Landing at Sea
The SpaceX Falcon 9 that triumphantly accomplished history's first upright landing of the spent first stage of a rocket on a barge at sea - after launching a critical cargo payload to orbit for NASA - sailed back into port at Cape Canaveral overnight in the wee hours of this morning, April 12, standing tall.
Continue reading
Prelude to Transit: Catching Mercury Under Dusk Skies
One of the best dusk apparitions of the planet Mercury occurs this weekend... this event also sets us up for a very special event next month: a transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun.
Continue reading
When Will Earth Lock to the Moon?
The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth so it always shows us the same face. But the Earth is slowing down so that it'll eventually lock to the Moon as well. What are the forces involved and when will this happen?
Continue reading
Messier 11 (M11) - The Wild Duck Cluster
Astronomy Cast Ep. 410: Planet 9 Facts and Fiction
SpaceX Dragon Carrying New Inflatable Room Captured and Mated to Space Station
A SpaceX commercial cargo freighter jam packed with more than three and a half tons of research experiments, essential crew supplies and a new experimental inflatable habitat reached the International Space Station (ISS) and the gleeful multinational crew of six astronauts and cosmonauts on Sunday, April 10.
Continue reading
Huge Sunspot Turns Earthward
A massive sunspot emerged this past weekend, reversing the downward trend for solar cycle #24... for now.
Continue reading