Space and astronomy news
Humans in space have to eat. In the early days of space exploration, they got to eat paste and drink Tang (or so the legends tell us). That’s hardly a great long-term diet. Plants should be in there, too. And, astronauts aboard the ISS have been growing gardens in space for years.
Continue reading “Can Plants be Adapted to Thrive in Space?”
Researchers using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory have detected neutrinos emanating from the energetic core of an active galaxy millions of light-years away. Neutrinos are difficult to detect, and finding them originating from the galaxy is a significant development. What does the discovery mean?
Continue reading “IceCube Senses Neutrinos Streaming From an Active Galaxy 47 Million Light-Years Away”
The study of extrasolar planets has led to some astounding discoveries, many of which have defied the expectations of astronomers and challenged our notions about the forms planetary systems can take. For example, the discovery of Jupiter-sized planets that orbit closely to their stars (“Hot Jupiters”) defied what astronomers suspected about gas giants. Previously, the general consensus was that gas giants form beyond the “Frost Line” – the boundary beyond which volatile elements (like water) freeze solid – and remain there for the rest of their lives.
Interestingly, this will happen when our Sun leaves its main sequence phase and enters its Red Giant Branch (RGB) phase. This raises the question of what happens to Hot Jupiters when their parent stars expand to become Red Giants. Using advanced 3D simulations, a team of researchers led by the Compact Object Mergers: Population Astrophysics and Statistics (COMPAS) consortium simulated how red giants will expand to engulf Hot Jupiters. Their findings could answer another mystery confronting astronomers, which is why some binary systems have one rapidly-rotating star with strange chemical compositions.
Continue reading “What Happens to Hot Jupiters when their Star Becomes a Red Giant?”
The sun is currently sleeping. Its surface and corona are relatively quiet as it prepares to ramp up for an expected phase of high activity in 2025. This past October, the ESA’s Solar Orbiter was able to sneak in a close-up peak at the Sun as it slumbers.
Continue reading “Solar Orbiter Records a Stunning Timelapse of Solar Activity as it Completes its Latest Flyby”
An asteroid 1.5 km across is no joke. Even a much smaller one, about the size of a house, can explode with more power than the first nuclear weapons. When an asteroid is greater than 1 km in diameter, astronomers call them “planet-killers.” The impact energy released from a planet-killer striking Earth would be devastating, so knowing where these asteroids are and where they’re headed is critically important.
Our defensive capability against asteroid strikes is in its infancy, so advance notice of asteroids that could cross Earth’s orbit is critical. We’ll need time to prepare.
Continue reading “Three New Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Discovered, Including a big one That Measures 1.5 km Across”
The November 8th total lunar eclipse spans the Pacific and is the last until 2025.
Set your alarms: if skies cooperate, next Tuesday morning’s lunar eclipse on November 8th is worth getting up for and braving the cold. Not only is this one of the top astronomical events for 2022, but it’s also the last total lunar eclipse for a while…until, in fact, March 14, 2025.
Continue reading “Our Guide to Tuesday’s Total Lunar Eclipse”
In-situ resource utilization is a hot topic these days in space exploration circles, and scientists and engineers have had a great advantage of getting access to new materials from bodies on the solar system that either have never been seen before, such as asteroids or haven’t been visited in decades, such as the moon. Recently, China’s Chang’e 5 brought back the first sample of lunar regolith to Earth in almost 50 years. Using part of that sample, researchers from several Chinese universities have developed an automated system to create rocket fuel and oxygen out of CO2, using the lunar regolith as a catalyst.
Continue reading “Researchers Make Rocket Fuel Using Actual Regolith From the Moon”
There are plenty of exciting places in the solar system to explore. But few are more interesting than Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It’s one of the only planetary bodies known to have all six necessary components of Earth-based life. It has an active ocean and most likely hydrothermal vents, similar to those on Earth, where some species exist entirely separately from any solar-powered biosphere. All of this makes it one of the most likely candidates for life in the solar system – and the center of much astrobiological attention. Now a team from a variety of European countries and the US has proposed a mission to the moon that could profoundly impact our understanding of our place in the universe – if the European Space Agency (ESA) funds it.
Continue reading “ESA is Considering a Mission to Enceladus”
Solar sailing seems like a simple concept – instead of being pushed along by the wind, as in a typical sailing ship, a spacecraft can use highly reflective said to be pushed along simply by sunlight. But as with almost all engineering challenges, that technique is much easier said than done. Sunlight can head up one side of a sail more than another, causing the ship to rotate unexpectedly. Other unforeseen situations could arise that can also have catastrophic consequences for any mission using this propulsion technology. Luckily, there is a way to account for those situations, though it involves a lot of math. Control theory is common in system design, and now researchers at Beihang University have devised a control scheme that they think could help minimize the risk to solar sails.
Continue reading “How do you Keep a Solar Sail Stable?”
There’s no question that light pollution is a growing problem. Thankfully many scientists and advocates are working for change. And you can be a part of that change with a simple app that you can download to catalog the street lights in your neighborhood.
Continue reading “You Can Help Measure Light Pollution with Your Phone”