Universe Today

June 24, 2024June 25, 2024 by Nancy Atkinson

NASA Doesn't Know When Starliner Will Return From Orbit

An aurora streams below Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked to the forward port on the Harmony module as the International Space Station soared 266 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia. Photo credit: NASA/Matt Dominick

After helium leaks and thruster problems with Boeing’s Starliner capsule, NASA has been pushing back the return date from the International Space Station. On Friday, the agency announced they no longer had a planned return date. Instead, they will keep testing the capsule, trying to understand its issues, and seeing if they can make any fixes. Plenty of supplies are on the station, so there’s no urgent need to bring the two astronauts back to Earth.

June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Andy Tomaswick

Advanced Optics Could Help Us Find Earth 2.0

NASA has long been interested in building bigger and better space telescopes. Its Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) has funded several methods for building and deploying novel types of telescopes for various purposes. Back in 2019, one of the projects they funded was the Dual Use Exoplanet Telescope (DUET), which would use an advanced form of optics to track down a potential Earth 2.0.

June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Satellites are Going to Track Garbage Drifting Across the Oceans

Map of the Mediterranean Sea with the locations of the accumulations of marine litter detected thanks to the European satellite Copernicus Sentinel-2. Each red circle represents an accumulation detected between June 2015 and September 2021 (in blue, the urban and industrial areas of the river countries). (Image credit: M. Arias/A. Cózar/CSIC)

We are all too aware of the pollution on planet Earth. There are increased amounts of plastic and garbage on the world’s beaches and debris littering the oceans. Until now, it was thought that satellites weren’t capable of tracking marine debris but a supercomputer algorithm challenges that. 300,000 images were taken every three days at a resolution of 10 metres and were able to identify large concentrations of debris.

June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Will Space Tourists Be Getting Heart Attacks in Space?

Astronauts are considered by many to be an elite bunch of people; healthy, fit and capable in many disciplines. Went they travel into space they can face health issues related to weightlessness from reduction in bone density to issues with their eyesight. These are people at the peak of physical fitness but what will happen to the rest of us when space tourism really kicks off. It is likely that anyone with underlying health issues could worsen in space. A new study suggests those with cardiovascular issues may suffer heart failure in space!

June 23, 2024June 23, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Astronomers See a Black Hole Wake Up from its Ancient Slumber

The galaxy SDSS1335+0728 (shown here) suddenly started shining brighter than ever before and was classified as having an active galactic nucleus, powered by a massive black hole in the galaxy’s core. This is the first time the awakening of a massive black hole has been observed in real time. This artist’s impression shows the growing disc of material being pulled in by the black hole as it feeds on the gas available in its surroundings, making the galaxy light up. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser — The galaxy SDSS1335+0728 (shown here) suddenly started shining brighter than ever before -- waking up and giving off strong radiation. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Four years ago, the supermassive black hole hidden in the heart of galaxy SDSS1335+0728 roared awake and announced its presence with a blast of radiation. It marks the first time astronomers witnessed a sudden activation of a supermassive black hole in real time.

June 22, 2024June 22, 2024 by Laurence Tognetti

Venus is the Perfect Place to Count Meteors

DALL-E illustration depicting a meteor streaking through the atmosphere of Venus.

Watching meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere and streak across the sky as the visual spectacle known as meteors, it is one of the most awe-inspiring spectacles on Earth, often exhibiting multiple colors as they blaze through the atmosphere, which often reveals their mineral compositions. But what if we could detect and observe meteors streaking through the atmospheres of other planets that possess atmospheres, like Venus, and use this to better determine meteoroid compositions and sizes?

This is what a recently accepted study to Icarus hopes to address as a pair of international researchers investigate how a future Venus orbiter could be used to study meteors streaking through the planet’s thick atmosphere. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand meteoroids throughout the solar system.

June 22, 2024June 22, 2024 by Laurence Tognetti

Do Protons Decay? The Answer Might be on the Moon

Model of proton decay. (Credit: Wikipedia/Cjean42; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

Does proton decay exist and how do we search for it? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigate a concept of using samples from the Moon to search for evidence of proton decay, which remains a hypothetical type of particle decay that has yet to be observed and continues to elude particle physicists. This study holds the potential to help solve one of the longstanding mysteries in all of physics, as it could enable new studies into deep-level and the laws of nature, overall.

June 21, 2024June 21, 2024 by Mark Thompson

It’s Not Just Rocks, Scientists Want Samples Mars’s Atmosphere

Mars holds a very special place in our hearts. Chiefly because of all the other planets in the Solar System Mars is probably the place we are going to find some tantalising clues or maybe even evidence of prehistoric life. NASA Perseverance Rover has been trundling around the Jezero Crater looking for evidence that it was once hospitable to life. To that end it has not only been collecting rock samples but air samples too and scientists can’t wait to get their hands on them.

June 21, 2024June 21, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Something’s Always Been Off About the Crab Nebula. Webb Has Revealed Why!

Crab Nebula by JWST. The resulting neutron star at its heart spins rapidly and sends out a signal. That makes it a pulsar. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University)

The Crab Nebula has always fascinated me, albeit amazed me that it doesn’t look anything like a crab! It’s the result of a star that exploded at the end of its life back in 1054 CE, leaving behind what is known as a supernova remnant. Back then the explosion would have been visible to the naked eye, even in daytime. It was thought that the supernova that led to the cloud was from a less evolved star with a core made from oxygen, neon and magnesium. Recent studies by the James Webb Space Telescope reveals that it may actually be the core collapse of an iron rich star.

June 21, 2024June 21, 2024 by Evan Gough

Lake Shorelines on Titan are Shaped by Methane Waves

Map of Titan’s northern region of hydrocarbon ‘seas’ of methane and ethane, created from Cassini radar imaging. Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS. — Map of Titan’s northern region of hydrocarbon ‘seas’ of methane and ethane, created from Cassini radar imaging. New research suggests that wind-driven waves are eroding the moon's coastlines. Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS.

Distant Titan is an oddball in the Solar System. Saturn’s largest moon—and the second largest in the entire Solar System—has an atmosphere denser than Earth’s. It also has stable lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons on its surface.

New research shows that waves on these seas are eroding Titan’s coastlines.