Space and astronomy news
Many planetary systems may get snuffed out before they even get a chance to form, according to new research. The culprit: nearby stars, capable of evaporating entire protoplanetary disks just when they begin to form.
Continue reading “Young Stars can Evaporate Nearby Disks Before They can Form Planets”
For years astronomers have puzzled over a strange excess of gamma rays coming from the galactic center. Annihilating dark matter has always been a tantalizing explanation, and new research claims that it’s the best answer.
Continue reading “Is Dark Matter Responsible for Extra Gamma Rays Coming From the Center of the Milky Way?”
The central core of our galaxy is not a friendly place for star formation, and yet new observations have revealed almost four dozen newly-forming systems. These results challenge our understanding of the complicated physics of our galactic heart.
Continue reading “There are new Stars Forming Near the Core of the Milky Way Despite the Harsh Environment”
By comparing our local Comet Hale-Bopp to the interstellar visitor 2I/Borisov, a team of astronomers have concluded that the interloper is perhaps one of the most pristine comets we’ve ever seen.
Continue reading “Interstellar Comet Borisov is so Pristine, it’s Probably Never Been Close to a Star Before”
New research has found that as the number of satellites in Earth orbit continues to increase, their accumulated light pollution will brighten the night sky – making it much harder to do fundamental astronomy.
Continue reading “Satellites Have Brightened the Skies by About 10% Across the Entire Planet”
The EmDrive is a hypothetical rocket that proponents claim can generate thrust with no exhaust. This would violate all known physics. In 2016, a team at NASA’s Eagleworks lab claimed to measure thrust from an EmDrive device, the news of which caused quite a stir. The latest attempt to replicate the shocking results has resulted in a simple answer: the Eagleworks measurement was from heating of the engine mount, not any new physics.
Continue reading “In a Comprehensive new Test, the EmDrive Fails to Generate any Thrust”
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot – the largest and most powerful of all the storms in the solar system – has been churning for hundred of years. Recently dozens of smaller storms have slammed into the Red Spot. Those smaller storms only caused superficial damage – and may have ended up feeding the beast itself.
Continue reading “Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has a Dark Secret. It Feeds on Smaller Storms”
Underneath its shell of ice, the globe-spanning ocean of Enceladus isn’t sitting still. Instead, it might possibly host massive ocean currents, driven by changes in salinity.
Continue reading “There are Ocean Currents Under the ice on Enceladus”
Breathe it while you still can. A new research study forecasts the future of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere and finds grim news. As the sun continues to warm, carbon dioxide will bind to rocks. This will starve plants, and in as little as a billion years they won’t be able to produce enough oxygen to keep our planet habitable (for us).
Continue reading “A Billion Years From now There won’t be Much Oxygen in the Earth’s Atmosphere”
Red giant stars are, well, red and giant. But astronomers have always had difficulty estimating their temperatures, due to their complex and turbulent atmospheres. Without an accurate gauge of their temperatures, it’s difficult to tell when they will end their lives in gigantic supernova explosions. Now a team of astronomers have developed a more effective technique for taking the temperature of red giants, based on the amount of iron in the stars.
Continue reading “Measuring the Temperatures of Red Giants is Actually Pretty Tricky”