Astronomy Archives

April 14, 2022April 14, 2022 by Evan Gough

A Fleet of Space Telescopes Flying in Formation Could Reveal Details on Exoplanets

An exoplanet seen from its moon (artist's impression). Via the IAU.

We’ve found thousands of exoplanets in the last couple of decades. We’ve discovered exoplanets unlike anything in our own Solar System. But even with all we’ve found, it seems like there’s more and more to discover. Space scientists of all types are always working on the next generation of missions, which is certainly true for exoplanets.

Chinese researchers are developing an idea for an exoplanet-detecting array of space telescopes that acts as an interferometer. But it won’t only detect them. The array will use direct imaging to characterize distant exoplanets in more detail.

April 14, 2022April 14, 2022 by David Dickinson

Apollo 11 Moon Dust Sells at Auction for a Cool Half Million

A lunar moon dust sample with a strange history made its way to the auction block yesterday.

On July 20, 1969, NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped off the landing pad of the Eagle lunar lander and into history. About eight minutes afterwards, Armstrong performed a crucial task, and collected a small ‘contingency sample’ of the Sea of Tranquility landing site. The sample was a small assurance that, in the event of a hasty departure—due to say, a malfunction or landing site instability—they did indeed still manage to retrieve the very first lunar material for return to Earth.

April 13, 2022April 13, 2022 by Shawn DiCenza

Even Mercury has Geomagnetic Storms

Can other planets have geomagnetic storms, even if their magnetosphere is weak and they don’t have an ionosphere like Earth? This question has now been answered, according to research done by a team of scientists in the United States, Canada, and China.

The research team found evidence that Mercury has a ring current, part of a magnetosphere, consisting of charged particles flowing laterally in a doughnut shape around the planet but that excludes the poles. This evidence came from data obtained from the Messenger space probe while it was dropping towards the planet at the end of its mission on April 14, 2015.

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 by Paul M. Sutter

Astronomy Jargon 101: Tidal Heating

Artist concept of V723 Mon and its companion. Lauren Fanfer/Ohio State

In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll feel the heat from today’s topic: tidal heating!

April 12, 2022April 14, 2022 by Evan Gough

Just a Few Pixels Would let Astronomers Map Surface Features on an Exoplanet Like Oceans and Deserts

Direct images of exoplanets are rare and lack detail. Future observatories might change that, but for now, exoplanet images don’t tell researchers very much. They merely show the presence of the planets as blobs of light.

But a new study shows that only a few pixels can help us understand an exoplanet’s surface features.

April 12, 2022 by Shawn DiCenza

Gamma ray Telescopes Might be Able to Detect the Gravitational Waves Caused by Merging Supermassive Black Holes

Gamma rays could be the new source for observing gravitational waves, according to a recent release from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. This would make a possible third way to observe gravitational waves including laser interferometry and radio waves.

In 1916 Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, ripples in space-time moving out in all directions away from massive accelerating objects. According to his theory, these waves would travel at the speed of light and would carry with them information about where they came from and would allow us to learn more about gravity.

Continue reading “Gamma ray Telescopes Might be Able to Detect the Gravitational Waves Caused by Merging Supermassive Black Holes”

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 by Paul M. Sutter

Astronomy Jargon 101: Umbra

This diagram explains the geometry of the lunar eclipse. When the moon is entirely in the Earth’s umbra (known as a total lunar eclipse or umbral eclipse), all sunlight reaching the lunar surface has been refracted or scattered through Earth’s atmosphere. When the moon is in the Earth’s penumbra (known as a penumbral eclipse), illumination comes from both direct sunlight and sunlight refracted and scattered through the planet's atmosphere. This is similar to an exoplanet transit observation.

In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll be cool in the shade of today’s topic: umbra!

April 11, 2022April 11, 2022 by Evan Gough

Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A is Lopsided

Coloured image of Cassiopeia A based on data from the space telescopes Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech [via Wikimedia]

Cassiopeia A is the remnant of a supernova that exploded 11,000 light-years away. The light from the exploding star likely reached Earth around 1670 (only a couple of years before Newton invented the reflecting telescope.) But there are no records of it because the optical light didn’t reach Earth.

The Cass A nebula ripples with energy and light from the ancient explosion and is one of the most-studied objects in deep space. It’s an expanding gas shell blasted into space when its progenitor star exploded.

But Cass A isn’t expanding evenly, and astronomers think they know why.

April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 by Shawn DiCenza

Space Force is Releasing Decades of Tracking Data on a Thousand Bright Meteor Fireballs

When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere at a very high speed it heats up. This heating up produces a streak of light and is termed a meteor. When a meteor is bright enough, about the brightness of Venus or brighter, it becomes a fireball. Sometimes these fireballs explode in the atmosphere, becoming bolides. These bolides are bright enough to be seen even during the day.

Studying bolides as they pass through the atmosphere can help model larger asteroids, something of interest to the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) which is run by NASA. These asteroids can be deadly if they are large enough, and learning how to predict their behavior is essential to protecting our planet from a devastating impact with long-term implications for the survival of many species on Earth.

April 8, 2022April 8, 2022 by Scott Alan Johnston

Astronauts are Practicing Landing at the Moon's South Pole

The European Space Agency (ESA) is learning how to touch down safely at the South Pole of the Moon, without ever leaving Earth. Actual Moon landings seem to be on the horizon in the next decade via the Artemis program, and astronauts are going to have to learn to handle the unique challenges of landing in the Moon’s polar environment. With low angle sunlight and deep, permanently shadowed craters, the Moon’s South Pole poses difficulties no Apollo mission ever faced. To get hands-on experience with this environment without risking human life, ESA is putting astronauts through their paces on high-tech simulators.