Space and astronomy news
Nine months have passed since NASA’s OSIRIS-REx returned its samples of asteroid Bennu to Earth. The samples are some of the Solar System’s primordial, pristine materials. They’ve made their way into scientists’ hands, and their work is uncovering some surprises.
Some of the material in the samples indicates that Bennu had a watery past.
Continue reading “Asteroid Samples Were Once Part of a Wetter World”
Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the Universe, second only to black holes. Like black holes, neutron stars are what remains after a star reaches the end of its life cycle and undergoes gravitational collapse. This produces a massive explosion (a supernova), in which a star sheds its outer layers and leaves behind a super-compressed stellar remnant. In fact, scientists speculate that matter at the center of the star is compressed to the point that even atoms collapse and electrons merge with protons to create neutrons.
Traditionally, scientists have relied on the “Equation of State” – a theoretical model that describes the state of matter under a given set of physical conditions – to understand what physical processes can occur inside a neutron star. But when a team led by scientists from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) examined three exceptionally young neutron stars, they noticed they were 10-100 times colder than other neutron stars of the same age. For this, the researchers concluded that these three stars are inconsistent with most of the proposed equations of state.
Continue reading “These Three Neutron Stars Shouldn't Be So Cold”
Over the years we have often seen astronauts gently and deftly moving structures into place with their bare hands. Thinks are easy to move in space but getting them there is slightly more tricky and costly. A new piece of research has explored the possibility of growing structures in space based on food substrates. NASA has now awarded a grant to a proposal to investigate further growing structures using fungal mycelial composites, that’s mushrooms to you and I.
Continue reading “Growing Habitats and Furniture in Space Out of Mushrooms”
In the coming years, NASA and other space agencies plan to extend the reach of human exploration. This will include creating infrastructure on the Moon that will allow for crewed missions on a regular basis. This infrastructure will allow NASA and its international partners to make the next great leap by sending crewed missions to Mars (by 2039 at the earliest). Having missions operate this far from Earth for extended periods means that opportunities for resupply will be few and far between. As a result, crews will need to rely on In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), where local resources are leveraged to provide for basic needs.
In addition to air, water, and building materials, the ability to create propellant from local resources is essential. According to current mission architectures, this would consist of harvesting water ice in the polar regions and breaking it down to create liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2). However, according to a new study led by engineers from McGill University, rocket propellant could be fashioned from lunar regolith as well. Their findings could present new opportunities for future missions to the Moon, which would no longer be restricted to the polar regions.
Continue reading “Making Rocket Fuel Out of Lunar Regolith”
As everybody who saw May’s spectacular auroral displays knows, the Sun is in its most active period in 11 years. The active region sunspot group that unleased the giant X-class flare rotated around the Sun, away from our direct view. But, that isn’t keeping the Solar Orbiter from spotting what’s happening with it and other active regions as they travel around on the Sun.
Continue reading “Seeing Both Sides of the Sun at the Same Time”
As the most volcanic object in the Solar System, Jupiter’s moon Io attracts a lot of attention. NASA’s Juno spacecraft arrived at the Jovian system in July 2016, and in recent months, it’s been paying closer attention to Io.
Though Io’s internal workings have been mostly inscrutable, images and data from Juno are starting to provide a fuller picture of the strange moon’s volcanic inner life.
Continue reading “Volcanic Plumes Rise Above Lava Lakes on Io in this Juno Image”
Protecting the astronauts of the Artemis program is one of NASA’s highest priorities. The agency intends to have a long-term presence on the Moon, which means long-term exposure to dangerous radiation levels. As part of the development of the Artemis program, NASA also set limits to the radiation exposure that astronauts can suffer. Other hazards abound on the lunar surface, including a potential micrometeoroid strike, which could cause catastrophic damage to mission equipment or personnel. NASA built a team to design and develop a “Lunar Safe Haven” to protect from these hazards. Their working paper was released in 2022 but still stands as NASA’s best approach to long-term living on the lunar surface.
Continue reading “Could A Mound of Dust and Rock Protect Astronauts from Deadly Radiation?”
Martin Vargic is a space enthusiast, author, and graphic artist from Slovakia. He created two new infographic posters that show almost 1600 exoplanets of different types and sizes. One is called Icy and Rocky Worlds, and the other is called The Exoplanet Zoo.
Continue reading “Take a Look at These Stunning New Exoplanet Infographics”
Humanity is facing an atmospheric threat of our own device, and our internecine squabbles are hampering our ability to neutralize that threat. But if we last long enough, the reverse situation will arise. Our climate will cool, and we’ll need to figure out how to warm it up. If that day ever arises, we should be organized enough to meet the challenge.
If there are other civilizations out there in the galaxy, one may already be facing a cooling climate or an ice age. Could we detect the greenhouse chemicals they would be purposefully emitting into their atmosphere in an attempt to warm their planet?
Continue reading “Could We Detect an Alien Civilization Trying to Warm Their Planet?”
Every year on June 30, Asteroid Day marks the anniversary of a meteor airburst in 1908 that leveled hundreds of square miles of Siberian forest land. But a more recent meteor blast — and a new plan for getting advance warning of the next one — is receiving some added attention for this year’s Asteroid Day.
The first-ever Schweickart Prize, named in honor of Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, is going to a researcher who has proposed a system for spotting potentially threatening asteroids coming at us from a difficult-to-monitor zone between Earth and the sun. It was just such an asteroid that blew up over the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, spraying debris that injured about 1,500 people and caused an estimated $33 million in property damage.
The proposal from astronomy Ph.D. student Joseph DeMartini calls for setting up a consortium of ground-based observatories, anchored by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, to focus on the twilight sky just after sunset and just before sunrise. Those are the times of day when astronomers have the best chance of finding sunward near-Earth objects (NEOs) that spend much of their time within Earth’s orbit.
“It’s a very interesting proposal that we hope gets picked up,” Rusty Schweickart said.
Continue reading “Happy Asteroid Day! Schweickart Prize Spotlights Planetary Defense”