Universe Today

November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

The Echoes From Inflation Could Still Be Shaking the Cosmos Today

In the very early universe, physics was weird. A process known as “inflation,” where best we understand the universe went from a single infinitesimal point to everything we see today, was one such instance of that weird physics. Now, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science have sifted through 15 years of pulsar timing data in order to put some constraints on what that physics looks like.

November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 by Evan Gough

Life Might Be Easiest to Find on Planets that Match an Earlier Earth

Artist's impression of the "pale orange dot" - what early Earth would have looked like. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy

We’re inching closer and closer to reliably detecting biosignatures on distant planets. Much of the focus is on determining which chemicals indicate life’s presence.

But life can also create free energy in a system, and excess energy can create chemical disequilibrium. That’s what happened on Earth when life got going. Could chemical disequilibrium be a biosignature?

November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 by David Dickinson

Vaonis Introduces Limited Edition Vespera Passengers Smartscope

A top name in smartscope technology releases an exciting new limited edition unit.

A great product just got better. France-based telescope maker Vaonis announced this week the release of an upgraded version of their Vespera smartscope telescope. Dubbed Vespera: Passengers, the telescope promises users will “embark on a cosmic odyssey, unveiling the Universe’s best kept secrets.” But you have to act soon to reserve yours, as only 70 of the 222 limited edition units are left.

November 16, 2023November 15, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

The Lunar Swirl Mystery Deepens

This is an image of the Reiner Gamma lunar swirl on the Moon, supplied by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA LRO WAC science team

For years, people noticed strange features on the Moon dubbed “Lunar Swirls.” They’re bright regions that appear to be concentrations of lighter-colored material on the surface. It turns out that interactions between the solar wind and magnetic regions on the Moon may play a role at two sites.

November 15, 2023November 21, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Virgin Galactic Flies Science Experiments to the Edge of Space

The Galactic 05 expedition crew at work at apogee. Courtesy Virgin Galactic.

On November 2, Virgin Galactic flew Unity 2 on the Galactic 05 mission. It carried two scientists, a private tourist, and an astronaut trainer on a sub-orbital trip flown by Pilots Mike Masucci and Kelly Latimer. It was the company’s sixth successful flight in six months and the last for 2023.

November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 by Evan Gough

JWST Shows Ice-Covered Pebbles Delivering Water to New Planets

This artist's illustration shows a compact protoplanetary disk and an extended one. New JWST observations shows that the pebble drift theory of planet formation is correct, and that large disks impede icy pebble drift, while smaller disks don't. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

The JWST has delivered a breakthrough in planetary science. Its observations show that a long-proposed theory of planet formation is true. Up until now, thick veils of dust in young solar systems have obscured the evidence.

But the JWST saw through it all, and now we know the truth: Ice-covered pebbles from outer solar systems deliver water to still-forming planets closer to their stars.

November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 by Matt Williams

Plants Could Grow in Lunar Regolith Using Bacteria

Plants grown in a volcanic ash lunar simulant (left) compared with those grown in the lunar soil (right) Credit: UF/IFAS/Tyler Jones

In the next decade, NASA, China, and their international and commercial partners plan to establish habitats on the Moon. Through the Artemis Program, NASA will deploy the orbiting Lunar Gateway and the Artemis Base Camp on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, China (and its partner Roscosmos) will deploy the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), consisting of an orbital and surface element. The creation of this infrastructure will enable a “sustained program of lunar exploration and development” that could lead to a permanent human presence there.

To ensure that humans can work and live sustainably beyond Earth, astronauts and crews will need to be able to harvest local resources to see to their needs – in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). This includes using lunar water ice and regolith to grow plants, providing astronauts with food and an additional source of oxygen and biomass. To test the potential for growing plants on the Moon, a Chinese research team conducted a series of experiments where they grew tobacco plants in simulated lunar soil with the help of bacteria.

November 15, 2023November 9, 2023 by Paul M. Sutter

How Black Holes Consume Entropy

Artist view of orbiting black holes. Credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Entropy is one of those fearsomely deep concepts that form the core of entire fields of physics (in this case, thermodynamics) that is unfortunately so mathematical that it’s difficult to explain in plain language. But we will give it a try. Whenever I see the word entropy, I like to replace it with the phrase “counting the number of ways that I can rearrange a scenario while leaving it largely the same.” That’s a bit of a mouthful, I agree, and so entropy will have to do.

November 15, 2023November 9, 2023 by Paul M. Sutter

The Origins of the Black Hole Information Paradox

Artist's impression of an ultramassive black hole (UBH). Credit: ESA/Hubble/DSS/Nick Risinger/N. Bartmann

While physics tells us that information can neither be created nor destroyed (if information could be created or destroyed, then the entire raison d’etre of physics, that is to predict future events or identify the causes of existing situations, would be impossible), it does not demand that the information be accessible. For decades physicists assumed that the information that fell into a black hole is still there, still existing, just locked away from view.

November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 by Mark Thompson

Need to Map an Iceberg in a Hundredth of a Second? Ask a Computer

Image of an iceberg on the Arctic Ocean — An Iceberg in the Arctic Ocean

Satellites really are quite a wonder. They can help forecast the weather, track climate change and help you navigate around the world. There are even satellites that can not only track icebergs but can map the Antarctic in the merest blink of an eye. In fact, faster than that since a typical blink takes about 0.2 seconds but the Sentinel-1 satellites can map icebergs in just 0.01 seconds, that’s 20 times for every blink of an eye!