Universe Today

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

NASA and ULA Successfully Test a Giant Inflatable Heat Shield That Could Land Heavier Payloads on Mars

Illustration of Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID). Credit: NASA

A new type of heat shield was successfully tested last week, with the hopes this type of inflatable decelerator could be used in the future to land humans and large payloads on Mars or for atmospheric entry on other planets on moons.

The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on November 10 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. LOFTID was a secondary payload on the launch of the Joint Polar Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) weather satellite.

November 12, 2022November 13, 2022 by Laurence Tognetti

Will Triton finally answer, ‘Are we alone?’

NASA’s Voyager 2 took this global color mosaic of Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, in 1989. (Credit: NASA/NASA-JPL/USGS)

We recently examined how and why Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus, could answer the longstanding question: Are we alone? With its interior ocean and geysers of water ice that shoot out tens of kilometers into space that allegedly contains the ingredients for life, this small moon could be a prime target for future astrobiology missions. But Enceladus isn’t the only location in our solar system with active geysers, as another small moon near the edge of the solar system shares similar characteristics, as well. This is Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, which has been visited only once by NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. But are Triton’s geysers the only characteristics that make it a good target for astrobiology and finding life beyond Earth?

November 12, 2022November 12, 2022 by Anton Pozdnyakov

SLS Hurricanes, James Webb Fixed, Strange Quark Star

JWST’s MIRI is fully operational again. Have astronomers found the first strange star? The first test of an inflatable heat shield. And SLS just got hit by a Hurricane. Again.

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 by Matt Williams

This Nearby Dwarf Galaxy has Been a Loner for Almost the Entire age of the Universe

Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte as seen by the VLT Survey Telescope. Ctedit: ESO

The James Webb Space Telescope Early Release Science (ERS) program – first released on July 12th, 2022 – has proven to be a treasure trove of scientific finds and breakthroughs. Among the many areas of research it is enabling, there’s the study of Resolved Stellar Populations (RSTs), which was the subject of ERS 1334. This refers to large groups of stars close enough that individual stars can be discerned but far enough apart that telescopes can capture many of them at once. A good example is the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM) dwarf galaxy that neighbors the Milky Way.

Kristen McQuinn, an assistant professor of astrophysics at Rutgers University, is one of the lead scientists of the Webb ERS program whose work is focused on RSTs. Recently, she spoke to Natasha Piro, a NASA senior communications specialist, about how the JWST has enabled new studies of the WLM. Webb‘s improved observations have revealed that this galaxy hasn’t interacted with other galaxies in the past. According to McQuinn, this makes it a great candidate for astronomers to test theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Here are the highlights of that interview:

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022 by Andy Tomaswick

We’ll Inevitably see Another Interstellar Object. Which Ones Make the Best Targets to Visit?

We finally have the technological means to detect interstellar objects. We’ve detected two in the last few years, ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, and there are undoubtedly more out there. As such, there’s been a lot of interest in developing a mission that could visit one once we detect it. But what would such a mission look like? Now, a draft paper from a team of primarily American scientists has taken a stab at answering that question and moved us one step closer to launching such a mission.

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Scott Alan Johnston

Keck's new Planet Hunter Instrument Comes Online, Searching for Smaller, More Earth-Sized Exoplanets

There’s a new planet hunter in town, and it’s got its sights set on nearby Earth-sized planets in the galactic neighborhood.

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Divers Have Found a Piece of the Space Shuttle Challenger Off the Coast of Florida

Space Shuttle Challenger memorial poster — A memorial poster of space shuttle Challenger's orbiter tribute, or OV-099, which hangs in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Courtesy NASA.

Nearly 37 years ago the world watched in stunned horror as an explosion destroyed the space shuttle Challenger. The accident occurred 73 seconds after liftoff and killed seven astronauts. Memories of shuttle pieces falling into the sea remain with everyone who witnessed the catastrophe.

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

A New View of the Cone Nebula From the Very Large Telescope

The Cone Nebula is part of a star-forming region of space, NGC 2264, about 2500 light-years away. This image was released on the occasion of ESO’s 60th anniversary. Credit: ESO

Here’s a dramatic and spectacular new view of the Cone Nebula, as seen by the Very Large Telescope (VLT). This nebula is part of a distant star-forming region called NGC 2264, which about 2,500 light-years away. Its pillar-like appearance is a perfect example of the shapes that can develop in giant clouds of cold molecular gas and dust, known for creating new stars.

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Woohoo! JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument is Fully Operational Again

pillars of creation — The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared view of the Pillars of Creation. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI)

Engineers with the James Webb Space Telescope have figured out a way to work around a friction issue that arose with the telescopes’ Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The team is now planning to resume observations with the instrument’s medium resolution spectrometry (MRS) mode, which has not been used since August.

November 9, 2022November 9, 2022 by Matt Williams

The Case of the “Missing Exoplanets”

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

Today, the number of confirmed exoplanets stands at 5,197 in 3,888 planetary systems, with another 8,992 candidates awaiting confirmation. The majority have been particularly massive planets, ranging from Jupiter and Neptune-sized gas giants, which have radii about 2.5 times that of Earth. Another statistically significant population has been rocky planets that measure about 1.4 Earth radii (aka. “Super-Earths”). This presents a mystery to astronomers, especially where the exoplanets discovered by the venerable Kepler Space Telescope are concerned.

Of the more than 2,600 planets Kepler discovered, there’s an apparent rarity of exoplanets with a radius of about 1.8 times that of Earth – which they refer to as the “radius valley.” A second mystery, known as “peas in a pod,” refers to neighboring planets of similar size found in hundreds of planetary systems with harmonious orbits. In a study led by the Cycles of Life-Essential Volatile Elements in Rocky Planets (CLEVER) project at Rice University, an international team of astrophysicists provide a new model that accounts for the interplay of forces acting on newborn planets that could explain these two mysteries.