Universe Today (Page 162)

Now We Know That Dark Matter Isn't Primordial Black Holes

By Matthew Williams - April 06, 2019 05:22 PM UTC | Cosmology

A new study by an international team of scientists has tested Hawking's theory of dark matter, and ruled out that it is not likely to be made up of tiny black holes.

Mars Express Saw the Same Methane Spike that Curiosity Detected from the Surface of Mars

By Evan Gough - April 04, 2019 04:00 PM UTC | Planetary Science

The Starhops Have Begun!

By Matthew Williams - April 04, 2019 03:38 PM UTC | Space Exploration

After a minor delay, SpaceX has conducted the first successful hop test of their Starship Hopper, a key step in validating the systems that will go into the full-scale prototype.

Carnival of Space #605

By susie - April 03, 2019 09:52 PM UTC | Site News

Weekly Space Hangout: Apr 3, 2019 - Dr. David Chudwin

By susie - April 03, 2019 08:11 PM UTC | Site News

India Destroyed a Satellite With a Missile Last Week, and Pieces Were Thrown Into an Orbit That Risks the International Space Station

By Matthew Williams - April 03, 2019 06:44 PM UTC | Space Policy

Last week, India shot down one of its own satellites with a missile. According to NASA, the resulting debris field is an "unacceptable" threat to the ISS.

Mars Helicopter Completes More Test Flights. It's Almost Ready to go to Mars

By Evan Gough - April 03, 2019 04:44 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Starhopper Tests Have Gotten Delayed Because of "Ice Formation in the Cryogenic Propellant Prevalves"

By Matthew Williams - April 03, 2019 02:07 PM UTC | Space Exploration

A technical issue has led to the "hop test" of the miniature version of the SpaceX Starship to be delayed once more. However, the company is still on track with their overall development of the system.

The Wait is Almost Over. We'll Finally See a Picture of a Black Hole's Event Horizon on April 10th

By Evan Gough - April 03, 2019 01:45 PM UTC | Black Holes

See the Moon Photobomb Saturn in an Amazing Capture

By David Dickinson - April 03, 2019 11:04 AM UTC | Observing

It's always awe-inspiring to see the clockwork motion of the heavens, transpire in real time. In a slow motion Universe, occultations give us the chance to see the cosmos pull off a celestial hat trick. This happen in a blink of an eye type event such as when the Moon, a planet or an asteroid winks out a distant star, or transpire as a leisurely affair as the Moon covers, then uncovers the disk of a planet.

Ground-Based Telescope Directly Observes the Atmosphere of an Extrasolar Planet, and Sees Swirling Clouds of Iron and Silicates

By Evan Gough - April 02, 2019 03:54 PM UTC | Exoplanets

Satellites Watched a Huge Fireball Explode Above the Bering Sea Late Last Year

By Matthew Williams - April 02, 2019 03:46 PM UTC | Planetary Science

NASA's Terra satellites recently spotted a fiery meteorite in Earth's atmosphere, which exploded above the Bering Sea.

Rivers on Mars Flowed for More Than a Billion Years

By Evan Gough - April 01, 2019 05:02 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Ep. 524: Judging Age & Origins, part 3 - Beyond Our System

By susie - April 01, 2019 04:24 PM UTC | Planetary Science

SpaceX Releases a New Render of What the All-Steel Starship Will Look Like Returning to Earth

By Matthew Williams - March 28, 2019 04:14 PM UTC | Space Exploration

SpaceX has released an impressive new image that shows its proposed Starship reentering the atmosphere of Earth.

Weekly Space Hangout: March 27, 2019 - Dr. Amanda Hendrix, Director of NASA's TREX

By susie - March 27, 2019 08:03 PM UTC | Site News

Maybe Self-Replicating Robot Probes are Destroying Each Other. That's Why We Don't See Them

By Matthew Williams - March 27, 2019 03:08 PM UTC | Space Exploration

A new study takes a look at the Fermi Paradox by considering the possibility that alien von Neumann probes could be devouring themselves.

Carnival of Space #604

By susie - March 26, 2019 04:36 PM UTC | Site News

Asteroid Bennu has Already Thrown Material off into Space 11 Times Since OSIRIS-REx Arrived

By Matthew Williams - March 25, 2019 06:55 PM UTC | Planetary Science

The OSIRIS-REx mission has revealed some interesting things about the asteroid Bennu, which includes the 11 plumes it witnessed in the past 3 months.

Ep. 523: Judging Age & Origins, Pt. 2 Across the Solar System

By susie - March 25, 2019 04:20 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Messier 82 - the Cigar Galaxy

By tammy-plotner - March 25, 2019 03:45 PM UTC | Extragalactic

Located in the vicinity Ursa Major constellation, roughly 12 million light years from Earth, is the starburst galaxy known as the Messier 82 (aka. the Cigar Galaxy).

Pulsar Seen Speeding Away From the Supernova That Created it

By Matthew Williams - March 22, 2019 03:55 PM UTC | Stars

Recent observations have revealed a pulsar that appears to have been accelerated by the very supernova explosion that created it.

LIGO Just Got a Big Upgrade, Will Begin Searching for Gravitational Waves Again on April 1st

By Matthew Williams - March 20, 2019 03:53 PM UTC | Physics

After undergoing upgrades, the LIGO observatory will be going back online this April, with "almost daily" detections of gravitational wave events expected.

The Incredible Challenge of Landing Heavy Payloads On Mars

By Fraser Cain - March 20, 2019 03:36 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Weekly Space Hangout: March 20, 2019 - Dr. Michael Zemcov of NASA's SPHEREx Mission

By susie - March 20, 2019 01:44 PM UTC | Site News

Six People Have Begun a 122-Day Simulated Mission on the Moon

By Matthew Williams - March 19, 2019 05:37 PM UTC | Space Exploration

The SIRIUS-19 experiment recently kicked off, with six cosmonauts entering a simulated lunar environment (where they will spend the next 122 days conducting experiments).

Almost 13,000 Years Ago, a Comet Impact Set Everything on Fire

By Matthew Williams - March 19, 2019 02:50 PM UTC | Planetary Science

A new discovery in South America has added further weight to the Young Dryas Impact theory, which states that a sudden shift in its climate 12,800 years ago was due to a comet hitting Earth.

SpaceX Tests the Starship's Hexagonal Heatshield. Starhopper Tests Could Come as Early as This Week

By Evan Gough - March 19, 2019 02:38 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Spot Failed Soviet Venus Probe Kosmos 482 in Earth Orbit

By David Dickinson - March 19, 2019 11:38 AM UTC | Space Exploration

Messier 81 - the Bode Galaxy

By tammy-plotner - March 18, 2019 07:30 PM UTC | Extragalactic

Astronomy Cast Bonus Episode: Dust with Dr. Paul Sutter

By susie - March 18, 2019 06:32 PM UTC | Cosmology

Astronomy Cast Ep. 522: Judging Age & Origins, part 1 - Earth Rocks

By susie - March 18, 2019 04:51 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Carnival of Space #603

By susie - March 18, 2019 02:54 PM UTC | Site News

Which Habitable Zones are the Best to Actually Search for Life?

By Matthew Williams - March 16, 2019 10:12 PM UTC | Exoplanets

A new study conducted by an international team of scientists examines what the term "habitable zone" means and how next-generation telescopes will test our assumptions.

SLS Rocket Promises To Do Better

By smanley - March 15, 2019 10:57 PM UTC | Space Exploration

The SLS rocket found its future launch manifest severely curtailed in a new budget request. This leaves the long overdue rocket with uncertain long term prospects.

Progress for the Skylon. Europe agrees to continue working on the air-breathing SABRE engine

By Matthew Williams - March 15, 2019 06:03 PM UTC | Space Exploration

The ESA and Reaction Engines recently took another step towards the realization of the hypersonic SABRE engine.

Do You See the "Cosmic Bat" in NGC 1788?

By Evan Gough - March 15, 2019 05:12 PM UTC | Extragalactic

This Star has been Kicked Out of the Milky Way. It Knows What It Did.

By Evan Gough - March 15, 2019 03:48 PM UTC | Milky Way

The Iridium Flare Era is About to End

By David Dickinson - March 15, 2019 12:40 PM UTC | Observing

Fast-forward to 2019, and the age of the predictable Iridium flare may be coming to an end. Already, scrolling through Heavens-Above reveals very few Iridium flares for the coming months, and these familiar nighttime flashes may become a thing of the past come 2020.