Universe Today

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 by Andy Tomaswick

Lunar Rovers Could be Dropped Into Lava Tubes to Explore Their Depths

Technical challenges abound when doing space exploration. Some areas are so remote or isolated that engineers need to build a special purpose-made vehicle to visit them. That is certainly the case for some of the more remote parts of the moon – especially the as-yet unexplored caves on the moon. Now a graduate student at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) seems to have developed just such an access system.

March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 by Matt Williams

Machine Learning Will be one of the Best Ways to Identify Habitable Exoplanets

Illustration of Kepler-186f, a recently-discovered, possibly Earthlike exoplanet that could be a host to life. Scientists could use this one or one like it to measure planetary entropy production as a prelude to exploration. (NASA Ames, SETI Institute, JPL-Caltech, T. Pyle) — New research indicates that eccentric orbits may play a role in planet habitability. Credit: NASA Ames, SETI Institute, JPL-Caltech, T. Pyle)

The field of extrasolar planet studies is undergoing a seismic shift. To date, 4,940 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,711 planetary systems, with another 8,709 candidates awaiting confirmation. With so many planets available for study and improvements in telescope sensitivity and data analysis, the focus is transitioning from discovery to characterization. Instead of simply looking for more planets, astrobiologists will examine “potentially-habitable” worlds for potential “biosignatures.”

This refers to the chemical signatures associated with life and biological processes, one of the most important of which is water. As the only known solvent that life (as we know it) cannot exist, water is considered the divining rod for finding life. In a recent study, astrophysicists Dang Pham and Lisa Kaltenegger explain how future surveys (when combined with machine learning) could discern the presence of water, snow, and clouds on distant exoplanets.

March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 by Matt Williams

Wondering About the 6 Rays Coming out of JWST's Test Image? Here's why They Happen

At the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) in Baltimore, Maryland, NASA engineers are busy aligning the mirrors and instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In the meantime, the mission team has provided us with another glimpse of what this observatory – a successor to the venerable Hubble Space Telescope – will see once it is fully operational. The latest teaser is a “telescope alignment evaluation image” of a distant star that looks red and spiked!

March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 by Brian Koberlein

Astronomers Could Detect Gravitational Waves by Tracking the Moon's Orbit Around the Earth

An artist view of primordial gravitational waves. Credit: Carl Knox, OzGrav/Swinburne University of Technology

Gravitational waves are notoriously difficult to detect. Although modern optical astronomy has been around for centuries, gravitational wave astronomy has only been around since 2015. Even now our ability to detect gravitational waves is limited. Observatories such as LIGO and Virgo can only detect powerful events such as the mergers of stellar black holes or neutron stars. And they can only detect waves with a narrow range of frequencies from tens of Hertz to a few hundred Hertz. Many gravitational waves are produced at much lower frequencies, but right now we can’t observe them. Imagine raising a telescope to the night sky and only being able to see light that is a few shades of purple.

March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Mars Orbiter Captures Images of China’s Rover From Space

The Chinese Zhurong rover landed on Mars in May 2021.This HiRISE image, acquired on 11 March 2022, shows the rover's new location. Credit: NASA/JPL/UofA

China’s Tianwen-1 lander and Zhurong rover touched down on the Martian plain Utopia Planitia on May 14, 2021 after spending about three months orbiting the Red Planet. While the Chinese Space Agency has shared images of the rover and lander (including a cute family portrait taken by a wireless remote camera), NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been following the rover’s travels from above.

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Chris Hadfield Drives in the Desert With a new Lunar Rover Prototype

The FLEX (Flexible Logistics & Exploration) rover. Credit: Astrolab.

As the Apollo astronauts found out, mobility is everything. Apollo’s Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) – sometimes called the Lunar Rover or Moon Buggy – completely changed how the astronauts could explore the lunar surface.

Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 said, “Without it, the major scientific discoveries of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 would not have been possible, and our current understanding of lunar evolution would not have been possible.”

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 by Evan Gough

The Building Blocks of Earth Could Have Come From Farther out in the Solar System

Artist's impression of the asteroid belt. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago via accretion. Earth’s building blocks were chunks of rock of varying sizes. From dust to planetesimals and everything in between. Many of those chunks of rock were carbonaceous meteorites, which scientists think came from asteroids in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt.

But some evidence doesn’t line up well behind that conclusion. A new study says that some of the Earth-forming meteorites came from much further out in the Solar System.

March 18, 2022March 10, 2022 by Paul M. Sutter

Astronomy Jargon 101: Local Group

Artist's illustration of the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way, the two largest galaxies in the Local Group. Credit: NASA

In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! Get your friends together to talk about today’s topic: the Local Group!

March 18, 2022March 20, 2022 by Brian Koberlein

There are Deposits of ice at Mercury's Poles too

Although the Arecibo radio telescope is no more, it continues to deliver scientific discoveries. There is a wealth of Arecibo data astronomers continue to mine for new discoveries, and one of them is thanks to an astronomical technique known as planetary radar.

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 by Nancy Atkinson

Now That is a Big Rocket. Space Launch System Rolls out to the Launch pad for a Series of Tests

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen illuminated by spotlights atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Friday, March 18, 2022, after being rolled out to the launch pad for the first time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Under the full Moon, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket rolled out to the launchpad for the first time. The journey began at the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, with the gigantic stack of the mega rocket arriving at Launch Pad 39B in preparation for a series of final checkouts before its Artemis I test flight.

The four-mile trip for SLS and the Orion spacecraft, on top of the crawler-transporter took 10 hours and 28 minutes, and the 3.5-million-pound rocket and spacecraft arrived at the pad at 4:15 a.m. on March 18.