Space and astronomy news
It’s a Carnival of exoplanetary proportions! This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Emily Lakdawalla at The Planetary Society. With the launch of Kepler there’s lots of interesting posts about exoplanets, and lots of other great links, too. Check it out! And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to all the …
[/caption] NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is ready to be moved to the launch pad today and will blast off within weeks, with a mission to address an age-old question: Are we alone? Kepler is scheduled to blast into space from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5 at 10:48 …
[/caption] The CoRoT satellite has found the smallest terrestrial exoplanet yet, — with a diameter just under twice that of Earth — complete with a rocky surface you could walk on and possibly even oceans to sail across. However, if you traveled there, you might want to bring some protection, as the temperature of this …
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[/caption] Two of the hottest and most engaging topics in space and astronomy these days are 1.) exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – and 2.) dark matter—that unknown stuff that seemingly makes up a considerable portion of our universe. There’s a spacecraft currently in development that could help answer our questions about whether there …
[/caption] In June of 2008, astronomers announced the finding of one of the smallest exoplanets yet around a normal star other than the Sun. The planet – believed to be a rocky exo-world — was found through a microlensing event, and was estimated to be 3.3 times the size of Earth, orbiting a brown dwarf …
Continue reading “Exoplanet Could Be More Earth-like Than Previously Thought”
[/caption] In September, it was announced the Chandra X-ray Observatory had spotted something very odd about BD+20 307. The binary system appeared to have a dusty disk surrounding it, indicative of a young, planet-forming system a fraction of the age of the Solar System. However, it was well known that the binary was actually several …
Continue reading “Hunt is on for “Killer” Third Star in BD+20 307 Binary System”
This just in from Scott Miller at Astronomy Cast LIVE. Once again we will be providing live video coverage of press events at the 213th A A S meeting being held in Long Beach CA Jan 5-8th. The video streams can be found here. If for some reason this link does not work try searching …
The nominations are in, the votes have been counted and the Universe Today writers have been consulted; the Top 10 Scientific Endeavours of 2008 are decided! After much consideration by the readers of the Universe Today, it became quickly apparent what the popular choice would be, and some of the Top 10 may not come …
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2008 has been a landmark year for space science and physics endeavour. We’ve peered deep into the cosmos and fitted new pieces into some of the most intriguing universal puzzles. We’ve explored other planets with technology we wouldn’t have recognised a decade ago. We’ve assembled some of the most complex experiments to test theories of …
Continue reading “Nominations: The Universe Today Top 10 Scientific Endeavours of 2008”
[/caption]2008 has been an astounding year of scientific discovery. To celebrate this fact, Time Magazine has listed the “Top 10 Scientific Discoveries” where space exploration and physics dominate. Other disciplines are also listed; including zoology, microbiology, technology and biochemistry, but the number 1 slot goes to the most ambitious physics experiment of our time. Can …
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