Nothing says springtime on Mars like defrosting dunes.
Continue reading “It’s Springtime on Mars, and the Dunes are Defrosting”It’s Springtime on Mars, and the Dunes are Defrosting
Russian Space Agency Employees are now Forbidden to Travel Outside Russia (Because They Might not Come Back)
As Russia wages its terrible war against its neighbour Ukraine, the deteriorating situation inside Russia is leading many Russians to flee the collapsing economy. According to Russian journalist Kamil Galeev, Roscosmos Director Dmitry Rogozin is prohibiting Roscosmos employees from leaving the increasingly isolated nation.
Continue reading “Russian Space Agency Employees are now Forbidden to Travel Outside Russia (Because They Might not Come Back)”Astronomy Jargon 101: Nova
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll feel like a brand new person after today’s topic: nova!
Continue reading “Astronomy Jargon 101: Nova”Here are the 7 Best Places to Search for Life in the Solar System
If humanity is ever going to find life on another planet in the solar system, it’s probably best to know where to look. Plenty of scientists have spent many, many hours pondering precisely that question, and plenty have come up with justifications for backing a particular place in the solar system as the most likely to hold the potential for harboring life as we know it. Thanks to a team led by Dimitra Atri of NYU Abu Dhabi, we now have a methodology by which to rank them.
Continue reading “Here are the 7 Best Places to Search for Life in the Solar System”Smaller, Ground-Based Telescopes can Study Exoplanet Atmospheres too
The next step to understanding exoplanets is to understand their atmospheres better. Astronomers can determine a planet’s mass, density, and other physical characteristics fairly routinely. But characterizing their atmospheres is more complicated.
Astronomers have had some success studying exoplanet atmospheres, and spacecraft like the James Webb Space Telescope and the ESA’s ARIEL mission will help a lot. But there are thousands of confirmed exoplanets with many more to come, and the Webb has many demands on its time.
Can smaller, ground-based telescopes play a role in understanding exoplanet atmospheres?
Continue reading “Smaller, Ground-Based Telescopes can Study Exoplanet Atmospheres too”LEGO Releases the new Rocket Launch Center set, Recreating the Artemis Moon Missions
One way to inspire kids to get interested in STEM is to introduce them to it at an early age. Lego is one of the best gateways to that interest, and the company has been busy churning out space-themed toys for most of its existence. Now another entry has joined that long, distinguished line of interlocking brick system designs – the Rocket Launch Center, #60351.
Continue reading “LEGO Releases the new Rocket Launch Center set, Recreating the Artemis Moon Missions”A Tiny Asteroid was Discovered Mere Hours Before it Crashed Into the Earth
Last week, a small asteroid was detected just two hours before it impacted Earth’s atmosphere. Luckily, it was only about 3 meters (10 feet) wide, and the space rock, now known as 2022 EB5 likely burned up in Earth’s atmosphere near Iceland at 21:22 UTC on March 11.
While it is wonderful that astronomers can detect asteroids of that size heading towards our planet — as well as determine the asteroid’s trajectory and precisely predicted its impact location — the last-minute nature of the discovery definitely causes a pause. What if it had been bigger?
Continue reading “A Tiny Asteroid was Discovered Mere Hours Before it Crashed Into the Earth”Starlink is the Only Communications Link for Some Ukrainian Towns, but the Terminals Could Also be a Target
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to an outpouring of support and material aid from the international community. For his part, Elon Musk obliged Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov‘s request for assistance by sending free Starlink terminals to Ukraine. For some besieged communities, like the city of Mariupol, this service constitutes the only means of getting up-to-date information, communicating with family members, or sharing their stories from the front lines of the war.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and its Minister of Digital Transformation, thanked Musk on Twitter for the devices. However, there is also the possibility that as the fighting continues, Starlink transmissions could become beacons for Russian airstrikes. John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with The Citizen Lab (University of Toronto), pointed out this potential danger via Twitter and even recommended strategies for how this can be avoided.
Continue reading “Starlink is the Only Communications Link for Some Ukrainian Towns, but the Terminals Could Also be a Target”Planets Have Just Started to Form in This Binary System
Astronomers have watched the young binary star system SVS 13 for decades. Astronomers don’t know much about how planets form around proto-binary stars like SVS 13, and the earliest stages are especially mysterious. A new study based on three decades of research reveals three potentially planet-forming disks around the binary star.
Continue reading “Planets Have Just Started to Form in This Binary System”Astronomy Jargon 101: Open Cluster
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You’ll start drifting away from your friends after reading today’s today: open clusters!
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