Evan Gough, Author at Universe Today

December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 by Evan Gough

NASA’s TESS Watched an Outburst from Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Comet 46P/Wirtanen. Image Credit: By Stub Mandrel at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75160399

TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, has imaged an outburst from the comet 46P/Wirtanen. It caught the outburst in what NASA is calling the clearest images yet of a comet outburst from start to finish. A comet outburst is a significant but temporary increase in the comet’s activity, outside of the normal sunlight-driven vaporization of ices that creates a comet’s coma and tail.

Astronomers aren’t certain what causes them, but a new study based on this observation is shedding some light on them.

December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 by Evan Gough

These Incredible Images of Alien Worlds are Actually Miniatures

View from an alien moon by Adam Makarenko. Image Copyright: Adam Makarenko

Have you heard of Adam Makarenko? No?

Adam is an artist who makes physical models of exoplanets then creates elaborate photo shoots of them. Adam is our new favorite Instagram feed at Universe Today, and he even took over the UT Instagram feed recently.

December 9, 2019December 9, 2019 by Evan Gough

Why Are Particles Getting Ejected Off of Asteroid Bennu?

OSIRIS-REx discovered particles being ejected from asteroid Bennu shortly after arriving at the asteroid. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018, and just one week later, it discovered something unusual about Bennu: the asteroid was ejecting particles into space.

The spacecraft’s navigation camera first spotted the particles, but scientists initially thought they were just stars in the background. After closer scrutiny, the OSIRIS-REx team realized they were particles of rock, and were concerned that they might pose a hazard.

December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 by Evan Gough

It’s Time to Decide. Where Should OSIRIS-REx Take a Sample from Bennu?

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018. During the past year, it’s been imaging the surface of the asteroid extensively, looking for a spot to take a sample from. Though the spacecraft has multiple science objectives, and a suite of instruments to meet them, the sample return is the key objective.

Now, NASA has narrowed the choice down to four potential sampling locations on the surface of the asteroid.

December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 by Evan Gough

Neptune-Sized Planet Found Orbiting a Dead White Dwarf Star. Here’s the Crazy Part, the Planet is 4 Times Bigger Than the Star

Astronomers have found a white dwarf star which appears to be surrounded by a truncated disc of gas. The disc was probably created from a gas planet being torn apart by its gravity.

Astronomers have discovered a large Neptune-sized planet orbiting a white dwarf star. The planet is four times bigger than the star, and the white dwarf appears to be slowly destroying the planet: the heat from the white dwarf is evaporating material from the planet’s atmosphere, forming a comet-like tail.

December 5, 2019December 5, 2019 by Evan Gough

There’s a New Record for the Most Massive Black Hole Ever Seen: 40 Billion Solar Masses

Image of Abell 85 cluster of galaxies obtained at the USM Wendelstein observatory of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University. The central bright galaxy Holm15A has an extended core. A team of astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the University Observatory Munich were able to use new data to directly measure the mass of central black hole of this galaxy: it is 40 billion times more massive than our Sun. Image Credit: Matthias Kluge/USM/MPE

Astronomers have spotted a 40 billion solar mass black hole in the Abell 85 cluster of galaxies. They found the behemoth using spectral observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT.) There are only a few direct mass measurements for black holes, and at about 700 million light years from Earth, this is the most distant one.

December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by Evan Gough

IKEA’s New Collection is Inspired by the Challenges of Living on Mars

An artist's illustration of a Mars settlement. Image: Bryan Versteeg/MarsOne — An artist's illustration of an early Mars settlement. Credit: Bryan Versteeg/MarsOne

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is a simulated Martian habitat in Utah. It’s owned by the Mars Society, and it’s the society’s second such station. The MDRS is a research facility, and while there, scientists must live as if they were on Mars, including wearing simulated space suits.

One group of visitors wasn’t there for science, but for interior design. Two years ago, a trio of Ikea designers spent three days at the MDRS to develop Ikea products for small spaces. As it turns out, they ended up using their experience at the MDRS to help outfit the MDRS itself.

December 3, 2019December 3, 2019 by Evan Gough

Landslides Work Differently on Mars, and Now We Might Know Why

Erosion on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/UA/HiRise

Some landslides, both here on Earth and on Mars, behave in a puzzling way: They flow a lot further than friction should allow them too.

They can also be massive, including a well-preserved one in Valles Marineris that is the same size as the state of Rhode Island. Scientists have speculated that it might be so large because a layer of ice that existed in the past provided lubrication. But a new study suggests that no ice is needed to explain it.

November 28, 2019November 28, 2019 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Are About to Detect the Light from the Very First Stars in the Universe

The Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope in remote Western Australia. Brown University.

A team of scientists working with the Murchison Widefield Array (WMA) radio telescope are trying to find the signal from the Universe’s first stars. Those first stars formed after the Universe’s Dark Ages. To find their first light, the researchers are looking for the signal from neutral hydrogen, the gas that dominated the Universe after the Dark Ages.

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by Evan Gough

When Martian Storms Really Get Going, they Create Towers of Dust 80 Kilometers High

The yellow-white cloud in the bottom-center of this image is a Mars "dust tower" - a concentrated cloud of dust that can be lofted dozens of miles above the surface. The blue-white plumes are water vapor clouds. This image was taken on Nov. 30, 2010, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

When a huge dust storm on Mars—like the one in 2018—reaches its full power, it can turn into a globe-bestriding colossus. This happens regularly on Mars, and these storms usually start out as a series of smaller, runaway storms. NASA scientists say that these storms can spawn massive towers of Martian dust that reach 80 km high.

And that phenomenon might help explain how Mars lost its water.