Universe Today

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

If a Star Has Less Metals, it Might Have a Better Chance to Spark Life

An illustration of the variations among the more than 5,000 known exoplanets discovered since the 1990s. Could their stars' metallicity play a role in making them habitable to life? Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In the hunt for habitable worlds around other stars, planetary atmospheres provide fertile places to look. But, as a group of scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Studies in Germany found, maybe astronomers should focus on a star’s metallicity, too. That’s because there seems to be a direct link between their metallicity, how much UV radiation they give off, and the atmospheres of rocky planets orbiting them. It turns out that metal-poor stars provide better conditions for life on their planets than metal-rich ones do.

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 by Matt Williams

NASA Wants New Ideas for Launching Lunar Payloads and Unlocking Climate Science!

NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge 2023. Credit: HeroX

NASA has a long history of crowdsourcing solutions, seeking input from the public, entrepreneurs, and citizen scientists. Currently, the agency is tasked with preparing for the long-awaited return to the Moon (the Artemis Program) and addressing the growing problem of Climate Change. The former entails all manner of requirements, from launch vehicles and human-rated spacecraft to logistical concerns and payload services. The latter calls for advances in climate science, Earth observation, and high-quality data collection.

To enlist the help of entrepreneurs in addressing these challenges, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has once again teamed up with the world-leading crowdsourcing platform HeroX to launch the NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge. With a total prize purse of $1,000,000, NASA is looking for ideas to develop and commercialize state-of-the-art technology and data usage that advances lunar exploration and climate science. The challenge launched on April 10th and will run until November 29th, after which the winners will be invited to a live pitch event hosted at the Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit and Expo in Washington, D.C.

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Here's How NASA is Planning to Protect Earth From Asteroids and Comets

This diagram shows the orbits of 2,200 potentially hazardous objects as calculated by JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Highlighted is the orbit of the double asteroid Didymos, the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The large impact craters dotting our planet are powerful reminders that asteroids and comets strike the Earth from time to time. As often said, it’s not a question of “if”; it’s a matter of “when” our planet will face an impending strike from space. But an impact is one existential threat humanity is finally starting to take seriously and wrap its head around.

Seemingly spurred by the success of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), NASA just released a new planetary defense strategy and action plan, describing its efforts to find and identify potentially hazardous objects to provide an advanced warning, and then even push them off an impact trajectory.

This 10-year strategy looks to advance efforts to protect the Earth from a devastating encounter with a Near Earth asteroid or comet.

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Hakuto-R Spacecraft Just Captured its Own Stunning Version of ‘Earthrise’

The Hakuto-r lunar lander took this 'Earthrise"-like image from its current location in lunar orbit. Credit: ispace.

The Hakuto-R lunar lander, currently in orbit around the Moon, just captured a beautiful “Earthrise”-like image, and one with an interesting side note. The Mission 1 lander, from the Tokyo-based commercial company ispace, took the image during the time of the April 20 solar eclipse, where totality was visible in Australia; and so the photo includes a perfect view of the shadow of the Moon passing above the Land Down Under.

The spacecraft was approximately 100 km (60 miles) above the lunar surface when it took the photo.

April 24, 2023July 11, 2023 by Matt Williams

NASA is Sending Humans Back to the Moon, But it Won't Stop There. Next Comes Mars

NASA recently announced the astronauts that will make up the Artemis II crew. This mission will see the four-person crew conduct a circumlunar flight, similar to what the uncrewed Artemis I mission performed, and return to Earth. This mission will pave the way for the long-awaited return to the Moon in 2025, where four astronauts will fly to the Moon, and two (“the first woman and first person of color“) will land on the surface using the Starship HLS. These missions are part of NASA’s plan to establish a program of “sustained lunar exploration and development.”

As NASA has emphasized for over a decade, the Artemis Program is part of their “Moon to Mars” mission architecture. On Tuesday, April 18th, NASA released the outcomes from its first Architecture Concept Review (ARC 2022), a robust analysis designed to align with its overall mission strategy and define the supporting architecture. This included an Architecture Document and an executive summary that provide a detailed picture of the mission architecture and design process, plus six supporting white papers that addressed some of the biggest questions regarding exploration and architecture.

April 23, 2023April 23, 2023 by Scott Alan Johnston

The Milky Way has Trapped the Large Magellanic Cloud With its Gravity. What Comes Next?

Our galaxy’s largest nearby companion is the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy visible to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere. In recent years, new theoretical research and better observational capabilities have taught astronomers a great deal about our (not-so-little) neighbour. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the LMC is helping shape the Milky Way’s evolution.

April 22, 2023April 22, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

UFO Office Fails to Find Anything That Defies the Laws of Physics

UFO encounter video — Cockpit video shows an anomalous aerial encounter in 2015. Credit: U.S Navy Video

The head of the Pentagon office that is reviewing reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP – commonly known as UFOs, unidentified flying objects) told the US Congress this week that his office is now reviewing more than 650 incidents, but so far, none exhibited anything that was evidence of extraterrestrial activity or defied the known laws of physics.

April 21, 2023April 23, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

We Could Soon See Landslides on Europa and Ganymede

Image of potential flat, smooth terrain on Ganymede imaged by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 2000 that could be indicative of landslides. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Brown University)

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) recently launched Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission and NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission could allow scientists to image landslides on the icy moons of Europa and Ganymede due to potential moonquakes on these small worlds. This comes after a recent study examined fault scarps on Europa and Ganymede orbiting Jupiter and Enceladus and Dione orbiting Saturn with the goal of drawing a connection between tectonic activity (quakes) and observed mass wasting (landslides) on these surfaces. The researchers “consider whether such smooth material can be generated by mass wasting triggered from local seismic shaking”, according to the study.

April 21, 2023April 21, 2023 by David Dickinson

Views of This Week’s Amazing Hybrid Solar Eclipse

Totality! Credit: Michael Zeiler, The Great American Eclipse.

Amazing views from Earth and space of this week’s rare hybrid solar eclipse.

This week’s solar eclipse didn’t disappoint, as eclipse chasers flocked to the path Thursday on April 20^th, for some amazing views. This was a rare hybrid solar eclipse, with an annular path along one part of the track, and totality along another. Only seven such eclipses occur this century.

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Mount Everest from Space

Clouds gather on Nepal's sub-tropical side of the Himalayas with Mount Everest at the center of this photograph taken by an external high definition camera on the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the Indian subcontinent. Courtesy NASA.

Earth is a favorite target for the cameras and astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This week, NASA shared an amazing picture of the Himalayan mountain range as seen from space. This jagged set of mountains stretches out across Asia above the Indian subcontinent and is home to Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth. It’s centered in the image.