Universe Today (Page 160)

Astronomers Watch a Star Get Spaghettified by a Black Hole

By Brian Koberlein - October 13, 2020 04:17 PM UTC | Black Holes

When a black hole consumes a star, it does so by turning it into spaghetti first. Astronomers have seen it happen.

An Exoplanet So Hot There Are 7 Different Kinds of Gaseous Metals in its Atmosphere

By Evan Gough - October 13, 2020 03:22 PM UTC | Exoplanets

Comet P1 NEOWISE Makes a Brief Late October Appearance

By David Dickinson - October 13, 2020 01:17 PM UTC | Observing

The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) caught another intriguing object on August 2, 2020 as part of its extended sky survey mission, as Comet C/2020 P1 NEOWISE is set to become a fine binocular object in late October and early November.

How to See What's on the Other Side of a Wormhole Without Actually Traveling Through it

By Paul Sutter - October 12, 2020 04:50 PM UTC | Physics

Black Holes Make Complex Gravitational-Wave Chirps as They Merge

By Brian Koberlein - October 12, 2020 01:17 PM UTC | Black Holes

When black holes collide, they emit chirps of gravitational waves even after they have merged.

The Moon is the Perfect Spot for SETI

By Matthew Williams - October 11, 2020 05:44 PM UTC | Astrobiology

A recent white paper submitted to the PSA Decadal Survey 2023-2032 recommends that a lunar observatory be built that can search the Universe for signs of intelligent life!

Want the Fastest Solar Sail? Drop it Into the Sun First

By Matthew Williams - October 10, 2020 07:20 PM UTC | Space Exploration

A new study from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy shows how a "Sun Diver," a light sail that dives closer to the Sun, could make these promising spacecraft much faster!

Radio Astronomers are Worried About Mega-Constellations and the Square Kilometer Array

By Matthew Williams - October 10, 2020 04:46 PM UTC | Observing

With all the satellite constellations heading to space in the near future, there are concerns they will interfere with radio telescopes like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

Just How Bad are Superflares to a Planet's Habitability?

By Evan Gough - October 09, 2020 06:11 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy

Matter makes up exactly 31.5±1.3% of the Universe

By Fraser Cain - October 09, 2020 01:20 PM UTC | Cosmology

Simulation Helps Explain Saturn's Mysterious Hexagon

By Nancy Atkinson - October 09, 2020 12:32 PM UTC | Planetary Science

An Amazing Sky Mosaic Courtesy of Stellina...and a New Telescope from Vaonis

By David Dickinson - October 09, 2020 12:31 PM UTC | Telescopes

Check out this stunning new deep-sky panoramic and new light-weight 'smartscope,' courtesy of Vaonis.

The Solar System has a second plane where objects orbit the Sun

By Paul Sutter - October 09, 2020 05:07 AM UTC | Planetary Science

Planets Don't Wait for Their Star to Form First

By Evan Gough - October 08, 2020 06:26 PM UTC | Exoplanets

Weekly Space Hangout: October 7, 2020, Dr. David Warmflash Discusses Mixed-Reality Surgical System

By Nancy Graziano - October 08, 2020 04:19 PM UTC | Space Exploration

This week we welcome back to the show Dr. David Warmflash. Since he was last with us, David has been named as Co-Principal Investigator and Medical Director for a new NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBRI) Phase I study titled "Mixed-Reality Holographic Training System to Enable High-Value Surgical and Complex Medical Procedures by Astronauts."

Gravitational-Wave Lensing is Possible, but it's Going to be Incredibly Difficult to Detect

By Brian Koberlein - October 08, 2020 03:06 PM UTC | Physics

Because gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, they can be lensed just as light waves are. But observing this effect will be difficult.

Time Flies. NASA Releases a Mosaic of TESS' View of the Northern Sky After Two Years of Operation

By Evan Gough - October 08, 2020 02:56 PM UTC | Missions

Astronomers Will Be Able to Use the World's Biggest Radio Telescope to Search for Signals from Extraterrestrial Civilizations

By Andy Tomaswick - October 08, 2020 01:28 PM UTC | Astrobiology

7% of the Stars in the Milky Way's Center Came From a Single Globular Cluster That Got Too Close and Was Broken Up

By Evan Gough - October 07, 2020 06:01 PM UTC | Milky Way

The Air Leak on the International Space Station is Worse Than Previously Believed

By Matthew Williams - October 06, 2020 11:59 PM UTC | Space Exploration

The crew aboard the ISS have managed to narrow the search for the leak, which NASA and Roscosmos both insist does not pose a danger to the crew or their operations

Here's a Clever Idea, Looking for the Shadows of Trees On Exoplanets to Detect Multicellular Life

By Evan Gough - October 06, 2020 08:25 PM UTC | Astrobiology

The Carina Nebula. Seen With and Without Adaptive Optics

By Evan Gough - October 06, 2020 08:15 PM UTC | Telescopes

Lakes On Titan Will Have Layers, Like Lakes On Earth, But for a Completely Different Reason

By Andy Tomaswick - October 06, 2020 06:01 PM UTC | Planetary Science

The Colorful Walls of an Exposed Impact Crater on Mars

By Nancy Atkinson - October 06, 2020 02:14 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Machine Learning Software is Now Doing the Exhausting Task of Counting Craters On Mars

By Evan Gough - October 05, 2020 03:55 PM UTC | Planetary Science

What the Astronauts Saw as They Orbited the Moon During Apollo 17

By Nancy Atkinson - October 05, 2020 12:41 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Those are Exoplanets. You're Looking at Actual Exoplanets 63 Light-Years Away!

By Matthew Williams - October 04, 2020 08:26 PM UTC | Exoplanets

By combining two exoplanet detection methods for the first time ever, the GRAVITY collaboration has confirmed the existence of a second planet around Beta Pictoris

Einstein. Right again

By Brian Koberlein - October 03, 2020 02:08 PM UTC | Physics

Astronomers can now test the limit of relativity and whether new physics lies beyond Einstein's model.

Did Pioneer See Phosphine in the Clouds of Venus Decades Ago?

By Evan Gough - October 02, 2020 08:22 PM UTC | Astrobiology

A Supernova Exploded Dangerously Close to Earth 2.5 Million Years Ago

By Evan Gough - October 02, 2020 04:33 PM UTC | Stars

What Decides the Shape of Planetary Nebulae? Whatever's Orbiting a Star When it Dies

By Paul Sutter - October 02, 2020 10:55 AM UTC | Stars

Beyond "Fermi's Paradox" XI: What is the Transcension Hypothesis

By Matthew Williams - October 01, 2020 11:07 PM UTC | Astrobiology

Could it be that the reason we haven't heard from any aliens is because they transcended and aren't interested in talking anymore?

A Balloon Mission that Could Try to Confirm Life On Venus

By Matthew Cimone - October 01, 2020 07:37 PM UTC | Astrobiology

Mars Express Finds Even More Ponds of Water Under the Ground on Mars

By Matthew Williams - October 01, 2020 07:18 PM UTC | Planetary Science

A reexamination of data obtained by the Mars Express probe has found more evidence of stable bodies of water beneath the southern polar icecap on Mars.