Universe Today

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Evan Gough

Main Sequence and White Dwarf Binaries are Hiding in Plain Sight

This ALMA image shows the binary HD101584. The pair of stars share a common envelope, and are surrounded by complex clouds of gas. Image Credit: By ALMA, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86644758

Some binary stars are unusual. They contain a main sequence star like our Sun, while the other is a “dead” white dwarf star that left fusion behind and emanates only residual heat. When the main sequence star ages into a red giant, the two stars share a common envelope.

This common envelope phase is a big mystery in astrophysics, and to understand what’s happening, astronomers are building a catalogue of main sequence-white dwarf binaries.

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Evan Gough

What a Misplaced Meteorite Told Us About Mars

The Lafayette Meteorite was chipped off the surface of Mars and then sped through space for roughly 11 million years. It eventually found its way into a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and has since been teaching scientists about Mars. (Photo provided by Purdue Brand Studio.)

11 million years ago, Mars was a frigid, dry, dead world, just like it is now. Something slammed into the unfortunate planet, sending debris into space. A piece of that debris made it to Earth, found its way into a drawer at Purdue University, and then was subsequently forgotten about.

Until 1931, when scientists studied and realized it came directly from Mars. What has it told them about the red planet?

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Evan Gough

Uranus is Getting Colder and Now We Know Why

This zoomed-in image of Uranus, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) Feb. 6, 2023, reveals stunning views of the planet’s rings. The planet's upper atmosphere has been cooling for decades, New research has an explanation. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI).

Uranus is an oddball among the Solar System’s planets. While most planets’ axis of rotation is perpendicular to their orbital plane, Uranus has an extreme tilt angle of 98 degrees. It’s flopped over on its side, likely from an ancient collision. It also has a retrograde orbit, opposite of the other planets.

The ice giant also has an unusual relationship with the Sun that sets it apart from other planets.

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by David Dickinson

How Scientists Repurposed a Camera on ESA’s Mars Express Mission

A camera aboard the Mars Express orbiter finds a new lease on life.

Sometimes, limitations can lead to innovation. A recent paper highlights how researchers are utilizing the VMC (Visual Monitoring Camera) aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA) venerable Mars Express orbiter.

The work is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of the Basque Country.

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Andy Tomaswick

SpIRIT CubeSat Demonstrates a Operational Gamma and X-Ray Detector

CubeSats are becoming more and more capable, and it seems like every month, another CubeSat is launched doing something new and novel. So far, technology demonstration has been one of the primary goals of those missions, though the industry is moving into playing an active role in scientific discovery. However, there are still some hurdles to jump before CubeSats have as many scientific tools at their disposal as larger satellites. That is where the Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) CubeSat, the first from the Univeristy of Melbourne’s Space Lab, hopes to make an impact. Late in 2023, it launched with a few novel systems to operate new scientific equipment, and its leaders published a paper a few months ago detailing the progress of its mission so far.

November 20, 2024November 14, 2024 by Paul M. Sutter

Sun-Like Stars Around Black Holes: What Gives?

Illustration of star remnants after it is shredded by a supermassive black hole. Credit: NASA

Buried in the treasure trove of the Gaia catalog were two strange black hole systems. These were black holes orbiting sun-like stars, a situation that astronomers long thought impossible. Recently a team has proposed a mechanism for creating these kinds of oddballs.

November 19, 2024November 20, 2024 by Alan Boyle

Starship’s Booster (and Donald Trump) Make a Splash With Sixth Flight Test

SpaceX's Starship lifts off from its Texas pad for the launch system's sixth flight test. (Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX’s Starship launch system went through its sixth flight test today, and although the Super Heavy booster missed out on being caught back at its launch pad, the mission checked off a key test objective with President-elect Donald Trump in the audience.

Trump attended the launch at SpaceX’s Starbase complex in the company of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has been serving as a close adviser to the once and future president over the past few months. In a pre-launch posting to his Truth Social media platform, Trump wished good luck to “Elon Musk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project.”

November 19, 2024November 19, 2024 by Evan Gough

The Strange Pulsar at the Center of the Crab Nebula

Hubble image of the Crab Nebula supernova remnant captured with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (ASU)

Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, we all have a vivid image of the Crab Nebula emblazoned in our mind’s eyes. It’s the remnant of a supernova explosion Chinese astronomers recorded in 1056. However, the Crab Nebula is more than just a nebula; it’s also a pulsar.

The Crab Pulsar pulsates in an unusual ‘zebra’ pattern, and an astrophysicist at the University of Kansas thinks he’s figured out why.

November 19, 2024November 14, 2024 by Paul M. Sutter

The Biggest Black Holes May Start From The Tiniest Seeds

An artist's conception of jets protruding from a quasar. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

The existence of gigantic black holes in the very early universe challenges our assumptions of how black holes form and grow. New research suggests that these monsters may have found their origins in the earliest epochs of the Big Bang.

November 18, 2024November 18, 2024 by Matt Williams

China’s Proposed Cargo Shuttle, the Haolong, Has Entered Development

The model of a Haolong spacecraft is on display at the exhibition hall of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China at the Airshow China 2024 in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province from November 12 to 17, 2024. Credit: Liu Xuanzun/GT

The 2024 China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition was held in Zhuhai last week – from November 12th to 17th, 2024. Since 1996, and with support from the Chinese aerospace industry, this biennial festival features actual products, trade talks, technological exchanges, and an air show. This year’s big highlight was China’s newly announced reusable space cargo shuttle, the Haolong (Chinese for “dragon”). According to chief designer Fang Yuanpeng, the spacecraft has entered the engineering phase and will be ready for space in the near future.