Universe Today (Page 162)

Planetary Scientists Have Chosen a Few Landing Sites for the Mars 2020 Rover

By Matthew Williams - November 05, 2018 06:53 PM UTC | Planetary Science

At the fourth Landing Site Workshop in October, NASA held a vote on where the Mars 2020 rover will land once it reaches the Red Planet

Exoplanets Will Need Both Continents and Oceans to Form Complex Life

By Matthew Williams - November 05, 2018 01:49 PM UTC | Exoplanets

A new study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics indicates that exoplanets with too much water or too much landmass may not be a good place to look for life.

Astronomy Cast Ep. 504: Radar, Lidar, and Sonar

By susie - November 05, 2018 09:07 AM UTC | Physics

An Extremely Large Hole has Been Dug for the Extremely Large Telescope

By Matthew Williams - November 02, 2018 04:02 PM UTC | Telescopes

The ESO has broken ground on the Extremely Large Telescope, which will be the world's largest and most-advanced telescope once it is complete in 2024.

Timelapse Shows the Glowing Wreckage from Supernova 1987a Expanding Outward Over 30 Years

By Evan Gough - November 02, 2018 03:52 PM UTC | Stars

Weekly Space Hangout: Oct 31, 2018 - David Dickinson

By Fraser Cain - November 02, 2018 12:08 PM UTC | Site News

It's Over For Kepler. The Most Successful Planet Hunter Ever Built is Finally out of Fuel and Has Just Been Shut Down.

By Matthew Williams - November 02, 2018 12:02 AM UTC | Exoplanets

After eight years of service and thousands of exoplanet discoveries, the Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel and will be retired.

This is What Icebergs Look Like at the End of Their Lives. This One's 18 Years Old

By Evan Gough - November 01, 2018 04:01 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Parker Solar Probe Became the Closest Thing We've Ever Sent to the Sun. And it's Just Getting Started.

By Evan Gough - October 31, 2018 07:17 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy

Yes! Hubble is Back in Operation

By Matthew Williams - October 31, 2018 06:38 PM UTC | Telescopes

After a malfunction with one of its gyros placed it in safe mode, NASA has announced that Hubble is now back online!

Carnival of Space #584

By susie - October 31, 2018 04:07 PM UTC | Site News

Could 'Oumuamua Be an Extraterrestrial Solar Sail?

By Matthew Williams - October 31, 2018 02:18 PM UTC | Astrobiology

A new study by researchers from the CfA offers a compelling explanation for 'Oumuamua strange appearance and behavior - could it be an interstellar solar sail sent by aliens?

Comet 46P Wirtanen Rounds Out 2018

By David Dickinson - October 31, 2018 11:56 AM UTC | Planetary Science

One. More. Comet. Though the next great 'Comet of the Century' has yet to make its appearance in 2018, we've had a steady stream of binocular comets this year, including Comets C/2017 S3 PanSTARRS, 38P Stephan-Oterma, and 21P Giacobini-Zinner. Now, the calendar year may have saved the best for last, as periodic Comet 46P Wirtanen takes center stage.

Scary Giant Blue Stars May Unlock Mysteries of Stellar Evolution

By Paul Sutter - October 31, 2018 08:36 AM UTC | Stars

Virgin Orbit Shows off its "Launcher One", a Rocket Carried by an Airplane

By Evan Gough - October 30, 2018 05:50 PM UTC | Space Exploration

What is the Direct Imaging Method?

By Matthew Williams - October 30, 2018 02:11 PM UTC | Exoplanets

A highly effective (but very difficult) method of exoplanet detection involves capturing direct images of bodies orbiting distant stars from their reflected light or heat signatures.

How Science Journalism Helped Me Become a Better Sci-Fi Writer

By Matthew Williams - October 29, 2018 03:41 PM UTC | Site News

My work with Universe Today has helped fashion me into a better science fiction writer and led to the publication of my first books!

Whoa. That's the Milky Way, Bouncing off the Moon in Radio Waves

By Evan Gough - October 29, 2018 03:04 PM UTC | Milky Way

Messier 70 - the NGC 6681 Globular Cluster

By tammy-plotner - October 29, 2018 02:00 PM UTC | Extragalactic

Located in the "tea pot" of the Sagittarius constellation, some 29,300 light years from Earth, is the globular cluster known as Messier 70

Astronomy Cast Ep. 503: Gravity Mapping

By susie - October 29, 2018 09:04 AM UTC | Physics

Blue Origin will be Landing its Rockets on a Used Cargo Ship. It'll Get Converted in Time for First Flights in 2021

By Matthew Williams - October 28, 2018 04:39 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Blue Origin recently received a large cargo ship, which they will retool to retrieve the first stage of their reusable New Glenn rocket.

There's a Funny Cloud on Mars, Perched Right at the Arsia Mons Volcano. Don't Get Too Excited, Though, it's not an Eruption

By Evan Gough - October 27, 2018 02:16 PM UTC | Planetary Science

This 1500km long cloud on Mars is formed by the size and shape of Arsia Mons, but it's not related to any volcanic activity in this long-dead volcano.

Gravitational waves were only recently observed, and now astronomers are already thinking of ways to use them: like accurately measuring the expansion rate of the Universe

By Paul Sutter - October 26, 2018 08:50 PM UTC | Cosmology

Has a New Dwarf Galaxy Been Found Hiding Behind Andromeda?

By Matthew Williams - October 26, 2018 06:30 PM UTC | Extragalactic

Thanks to the work of an amateur astronomer, an international team of scientists recently confirmed the existence of a previously-unknown dwarf galaxy behind Andromeda.

Asteroid Phaethon breaks all the rules. It acts like a comet, it supplies particles to a meteor shower. Oh, and it's blue

By Matthew Williams - October 25, 2018 11:05 PM UTC | Planetary Science

A team of astronomers recently observed Phaeton, a Near-Earth Object (NEO) that behaves like both an asteroid and a comet

Our New Book is Out! Everything You Need to Know to Become an Amateur Astronomer

By Fraser Cain - October 25, 2018 05:23 PM UTC | Site News

Binary Stars Orbiting Each Other INSIDE a Planetary Nebula

By Matthew Williams - October 25, 2018 05:13 PM UTC | Stars

An international team of astronomers recently observed an unexpected sight, a binary star system that is set to collide and explode in a nova inside of a nebula.

Being Cassini. Experience What It Was Like to Fly Past Jupiter and Saturn and Their Moons

By Evan Gough - October 25, 2018 03:44 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Here You Go, It's Official: Space Force. Seriously Though, Why Couldn't they have Called it Star Fleet?

By Evan Gough - October 25, 2018 01:44 PM UTC | Space Policy

Weekly Space Hangout: Oct 24, 2018 - Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder

By Fraser Cain - October 24, 2018 07:47 PM UTC | Physics

Polar Researchers Spot Two Rectangular Icebergs

By Evan Gough - October 24, 2018 05:39 PM UTC | Planetary Science

It Could be Possible to Transfer Data Through Gravitational Waves

By Matthew Williams - October 24, 2018 04:32 PM UTC | Physics

A new study by a team of Russian scientists demonstrates how gravitational waves could be encoded to send information, in the same way that radio waves are used now.

Gravitational Waves Might be the Key to Finding Dark Matter

By Paul Sutter - October 23, 2018 08:03 PM UTC | Physics

Gas and Dust Seen Swirling Around our Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole

By Evan Gough - October 23, 2018 05:47 PM UTC | Black Holes

A team using ALMA has observed gas and dust cloudlets near the super massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Carnival of Space #583

By susie - October 23, 2018 03:34 PM UTC | Site News

NASA Has Some Cool Space Sounds You Can Use for Ringtones

By Evan Gough - October 23, 2018 03:17 PM UTC | Site News

This is How NASA Releases Almost Half a Million Gallons of Water in 60 Seconds

By Evan Gough - October 23, 2018 02:02 PM UTC | Missions

To keep the extremely powerful Space Launch System safe during launch, NASA has developed the IOP/SS (Ignition Overpressure Protection and Sound Suppression water deluge system. It releases almost half a million gallons of water during launch.

To Find Evidence of Life on Exoplanets, Scientists Should Search for "Purple Earths"

By Matthew Williams - October 22, 2018 06:00 PM UTC | Astrobiology

Astronomy Cast Ep. 502: No Touching: Determining Composition of Worlds Remotely

By susie - October 22, 2018 05:16 PM UTC | Observing

Exos Aerospace Completes Successful Launch Test of Their SARGE Rocket

By Matthew Williams - October 22, 2018 03:00 PM UTC | Space Exploration

The commercial launch provider Exos aerospace successfully completed its launch test, pushing the company closer to providing greater access to space

How Hubble Unlocked the Universe

By Paul Sutter - October 20, 2018 09:44 AM UTC | Observing

A Red Dwarf Blasts off a Superflare. Any Life on its Planets Would Have a Very Bad Day

By Evan Gough - October 19, 2018 06:33 PM UTC | Stars

Astronomers observed a red dwarf superflare much more powerful than anything our Sun can produce. Bad news for any habitable-zone planets orbiting it.

How Mission Delays Hurt Young Astronomers

By Paul Sutter - October 19, 2018 09:39 AM UTC | Missions

A Star Exploded as a Supernova and Then Collapsed Into a Neutron Star. But Only a Fraction of its Matter was Released

By Matthew Williams - October 18, 2018 04:46 PM UTC | Stars

An international team of scientists recently witnessed the birth of a binary neutron star system, which was indicated by a rather faint and short-lived supernova.

Review: The Most Unknown

By David Dickinson - October 18, 2018 11:37 AM UTC | Site News

We recently came across a fascinating documentary that not only looks at some of the big questions today in multi-interdisciplinary science. We're talking about The Most Unknown, directed by Peabody-award winning filmmaker Ian Cheney

Australian astronomers have been able to double the number of mysterious fast radio bursts discovered so far

By Matthew Williams - October 17, 2018 04:34 PM UTC | Cosmology

Using the Australia Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder in western Australia, a team of researchers almost doubled the number of FRBs observed in our Universe

You've Got to Watch this Stunning NASA Video of Arctic Sea Ice. Now at its Lowest Levels

By Evan Gough - October 16, 2018 04:04 PM UTC | Planetary Science

In the 60 years that NASA has been keeping track, the arctic seasonal sea ice is the thinnest and youngest it's ever been. It also covers a much smaller area.