Posted on by Matt Williams

New Horizons took this shot of MU69 as it sped away from its encounter

Graphic of Ultima Thule showing its true shape. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

On December 31st, 2018, NASA’s New Horizons mission made history by being the first spacecraft to rendezvous with the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) named Ultima Thule (2014 MU69). This came roughly two and a half years after New Horizons became the first mission in history to conduct a flyby of Pluto. This latest encounter led to some stunning images of the KBO as the spacecraft made it’s approach.

But of course, these were not the last images New Horizons was going to capture of this object. While making its flyby of Ultima Thule on New Year’s Day, the spacecraft took a number of images that revealed something very interesting about Ultima Thule’s shape. Rather than consisting of two spheres that are joined together, Ultima Thule is actually made up of two segments – one that looks like a pancake, the other a walnut.

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Posted on by Susie Murph

Astronomy Cast Ep. 517: Fritz Zwicky and the Zwicky Transient Facility

One of the most influential astronomers in the 20th Century was Fritz Zwicky. He had his hand in the discovery of dark matter, gravitational lensing, supernovae and neutron stars. And he also worked on a few more controversial ideas like, uh, tired light. Let’s learn more about Zwicky.

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Posted on by Matt Williams

New SpaceX Raptor Engine Beats the Chamber Pressure of Russia’s RD-180 Engine, According to Elon Musk

The Raptor engine undergoing test-firings at SpaceX's Rocket Development and Test Facility near McGregor, Texas. Credit: SpaceX

2019 has been shaping up to be an interesting year for SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk. After completing work on the miniaturized version of the Starship (Starship Alpha or “Starship hopper”) over the holidays, SpaceX moved ahead with the test-firing of its new Raptor engine in late January/early February. In accordance with Musk’s vision, these engines will give the Starship the necessary thrust to reach the Moon and Mars.

The test-firing took place at SpaceX’s Rocket Development and Test Facility, located just outside of McGregor, Texas. As Musk recently tweeted, the tests went very well, achieving the thrust necessary for both the Starship and its first-stage booster, the Super-Heavy. Musk also claimed that the engine broke the previous record for combustion chamber pressure, which was established by the Russian RD-180.

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Posted on by Matt Williams

This is Kepler’s Final Image

MATLAB Handle Graphics. Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center

On October 30th, 2018, after nine years of faithful service, the Kepler Space Telescope was officially retired. With nearly 4000 candidates and 2,662 confirmed exoplanets to its credit, no other telescope has managed to teach us more about the worlds that exist beyond our Solar System. In the coming years, multiple next-generation telescopes will be deployed that will attempt to build on the foundation Kepler built.

And yet, even in retirement, Kepler is still providing us with impressive discoveries. For starters, NASA started the new year by announcing the discovery of several new exoplanets, including a Super-Earth and a Saturn-sized gas giant, as well as an unusually-sized planet that straddles these two categories. On top of that, NASA recently released the “last lighty” image and recordings obtained by Kepler before it ran out of fuel and ended its mission.

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Posted on by Matt Williams

A Star’s Outburst is Releasing Organic Molecules Trapped in the ice Around it

Artist’s impression of the protoplanetary disk around a young star V883 Ori. The outer part of the disk is cold and dust particles are covered with ice. ALMA detected various complex organic molecules around the snow line of water in the disk. Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

According to widely-accepted theories, the Solar System formed roughly 4.6 billion years ago from a massive cloud of dust and gas (aka. Nebular Theory). This process began when the nebula experienced a gravitational collapse in the center that became our Sun. The remaining dust and gas formed a protoplanetary disk that (over time) accreted to form the planets.

However, scientists remain unsure about when organic molecules first appeared in our Solar System. Luckily, a new study by an international team of astronomers may be able to help answer that question. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA), the team detected complex organic molecules around the young star V883 Ori, which could someday lead to the emergence of life in that system.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

InSight Just Put a Windshield Over its Seismometer

The InSight lander has deployed SEIS's wind and thermal shield. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-CalTech
The InSight lander has deployed SEIS's wind and thermal shield. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-CalTech

NASA’s InSight lander arrived on Mars on November 26th, 2018. Since then, it’s been busying itself studying its landing spot, and taking its time to carefully place its instruments. It spent several weeks testing the seismometer and adjusting it, and now it’s placed the domed, protective shield over the instrument.

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Posted on by Matt Williams

The Milky Way is Actually Warped

Artist’s impression of the warped and twisted Milky Way disk. Credit: Chen Xiaodian/Kavli Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics

For centuries, astronomers have been studying the Milky Way in order to get a better understanding of its size and structure. And while modern instruments have yielded invaluable observations of our galaxy and others (which have allowed astronomers to gain a general picture of what it looks like), a truly accurate model of our galaxy has been elusive.

For example, a recent study by a team of astronomers from National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has shown that the large-scale structure of the Milky Way is quite warped. Based on their findings, it appears that this effect becomes increasingly evident the farther away one ventures from the core.

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Posted on by Evan Gough

ESA is Planning a Mission to the Smallest Spacerock Ever Visited: the Moon of an Asteroid

An illustration of the ESA's Hera spacecraft at Didymos. Image Credit: ESA–ScienceOffice.org
An illustration of the ESA's Hera spacecraft at Didymos. Image Credit: ESA–ScienceOffice.org

For some small minority of humans, Death By Asteroid is a desirable fate. The idea probably satisfies their wonky Doomsday thinking. But for the rest of us, going out the same way the dinosaurs did would just be embarrassing. Thankfully, the ESA’s Hera mission will visit the smallest spacerock ever, and will help us avoid going the way of the dinosaurs.

For added kicks, it will forestall the happiness of any over-earger doomsday cultists, and the rest of us can revel in their existential anguish.

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