Evan Gough, Author at Universe Today

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

Your Umbrella is Insufficient on a Planet Where it Rains Iron

Work by the Geneva cartoonist Frederik Peeters: «Singing in the Iron Rain: An Evening on WASP-76b». (Detail - © Frederik Peeters)

Imagine a planet where it rained iron. Sounds impossible. But on one distant exoplanet, which is tidally locked to its star, the nightside has to contend with a ferrous downpour.

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

Slime Mold Grows the Same as the Large Scale Structure of the Universe

Image of the large-scale structure of the Universe, showing filaments and voids within the cosmic structure. Credit: Millennium Simulation Project. Now, the latest FLAMINGO simulation provide more detail about the evolution of the Universe within these structures. — Image of the large-scale structure of the Universe, showing filaments and voids within the cosmic structure. Who knows how many other civilizations might be out there? Credit: Millennium Simulation Project

Matter in the Universe is not distributed equally. It’s dominated by super-clusters and the filaments of matter that string them together, surrounded by huge voids. Galaxy super-clusters are at the top of the hierarchy. Inside those is everything else: galaxy groups and clusters, individual galaxies, and solar systems. This hierarchical structure is called the “Cosmic Web.”

But how and why did the Universe take this form?

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 by Evan Gough

70 Million Years Ago, Days Were 30 Minutes Shorter, According to this Ancient Clam

Fossil rudist bivalves (Vaccinites) from the Al-Hajar Mountains, United Arab Emirates. Credit: Wikipedia, Wilson44691 – Own work, Public Domain

Has humanity been doing it all wrong? We’re busy staring off into space with our futuristic, ultra-powerful telescopes, mesmerized by ethereal nebulae and other wondrous objects, and trying to tease out the Universe’s well-kept secrets. Turns out, humble, ancient clams have something to tell us, too.

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020 by Evan Gough

These are the Boulders OSIRIS-REx is Going to Use to Navigate Down to the Surface of Bennu

During the sample collection event, Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) will guide NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to asteroid Bennu’s surface. The spacecraft takes real-time images of the asteroid’s surface features as it descends, and then compares these images with an onboard image catalog. The spacecraft then uses these geographical markers to orient itself and accurately target the touchdown site. Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

Meet OSIRIS-REx’s “Guide Boulders.”

When the NASA spacecraft first arrived at asteroid Bennu over a year ago, the surface of the asteroid was much different than expected. Instead of a surface with large, smooth areas, nearly the entire surface is covered in boulders. That meant that NASA had to do a re-think of the sampling procedure.

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020 by Evan Gough

Life Could be Common Across the Universe, Just Not in Our Region

The building blocks of life can, and did, spontaneously assemble under the right conditions. That’s called spontaneous generation, or abiogenesis. Of course, many of the details remain hidden to us, and we just don’t know exactly how it all happened. Or how frequently it could happen.

March 9, 2020March 9, 2020 by Evan Gough

OSIRIS-REx did its Closest Flyover Yet, just 250 Meters Above its Sample Site

Artist’s conception of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample return spacecraft collecting regolith samples at asteroid Bennu. Credits: NASA/Lockheed Martin

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is getting closer, physically and temporally, to its primary goal. The spacecraft arrived at Bennu at the end of 2018, and for just over a year it’s been studying the asteroid, searching for a suitable sampling site. To do that, it’s getting closer and closer.

March 9, 2020March 9, 2020 by Evan Gough

Every Part of Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket is Gigantic, Including its Nose Cone

One half of the fairing for Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. Image Credit: Blue Origin

Massive. Enormous. Huge. Gigantic. And whatever other words you find in the thesaurus all do the job when it comes to describing Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket. Especially its nosecone.

March 7, 2020March 7, 2020 by Evan Gough

Artwork Inspired by Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Artist Mik Petter created this unique, digital artwork using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The original JunoCam image was taken on July 10, 2017, at 10:10 p.m. EDT. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Mik Petter

Artist Mik Petter has created a vibrant new piece of art based on JunoCam images of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS). The piece makes use of fractals, which are recursive mathematical creations; increasingly complex patterns that are similar to each other, yet never exactly the same.

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 by Evan Gough

Curiosity Finds Organic Molecules That Could Have Been Produced by Life on Mars

A computer generated view of Mars, with an area including Gale Crater beginning to catch morning light. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What do coal, crude oil, and truffles have in common? Go ahead. We’ll wait.

The answer is thiophenes, a molecule that behaves a lot like benzene. Crude oil, coal, and truffles all contain thiophenes. So do a few other substances. MSL Curiosity found thiophenes on Mars, and though that doesn’t conclusively prove that Mars once hosted life, its discovery is an important milestone for the rover. Especially since truffles are alive, and oil and coal used to be, sort of.

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020 by Evan Gough

Japan Suspends its Funding for the 30-Meter Telescope

An artist's illustration of the Thirty Meter Telescope at its preferred location at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Image Courtesy TMT International Observatory

Japan has suspended its funding contribution to the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii. An international consortium is behind the TMT, which was proposed for the summit of Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is one of the most desirable observing locations on Earth. It’s already host to several observatories, including the Subaru Telescope and the Keck Observatory. The $1.4 billion TMT would be the most powerful telescope there.