The Universe is positively vibrating with gravitational waves. Scientists with the LIGO/Virgo collaboration have just announced they found a total of 39 gravitational wave events in the first six months of their third observing run, 26 of which were previously announced, but 13 of which are new. Given that the first two observing runs yielded […]
New Simulation Shows Exactly What’s Happening as Neutron Stars Merge
Neutron stars are the remnants of massive stars that explode as supernovae at the end of their fusion lives. They’re super-dense cores where all of the protons and electrons are crushed into neutrons by the overpowering gravity of the dead star. They’re the smallest and densest stellar objects, except for black holes, and possibly other […]
Earth’s Biggest Telescopes Reopen After Months of COVID Closures
After more than six months of COVID-related closures, observational astronomy is largely getting back to work. Many of the world’s biggest telescopes have reopened their domes in recent weeks, returning their gazes to the heavens for the first time since the pandemic forced a global shutdown of observational astronomy in March. Other major telescopes expect […]
This is What Perseverance’s Landing Site Looked Like Billions of Years Ago. See Why it’s Such a Compelling Target?
Today is a milestone in NASA’s Perseverance mission to Mars. At 1:40 pm Pacific time today, the rover will have traveled 235.4 million km (146.3 million miles). That means the spacecraft is halfway to Mars and its rendezvous with Jezero Crater. The spacecraft isn’t traveling in a straight line, and the planets are moving, so […]
OSIRIS-REx Collected So Much Material, the Sample Capsule Overflowed. Time to Bring it All Home.
Is there such as thing as too much asteroid? Scientists and engineers for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx decided to perform an “early stow” of the sample from Asteroid Bennu collected by the spacecraft on October 20, because the collection container is full-to-overflowing, possibly jamming the collector head from sealing shut. Images sent back from OSIRIS-REx on Oct. […]
Probing an Unusual ‘Hot Neptune’
Scientists have created the first global temperature map for a planet discovered by TESS, a ‘hot Neptune’ known as LTT 9779b. The first of two just released papers also notes that this is the first spectral atmospheric characterization of a TESS planet. That makes this unusual discovery (lead author Ian Crossfield calls it a “planet […]
UPDATE: Life above hell? Serious doubt cast on Venus phosphine finding
In September, a team of astronomers made a startling announcement: They had detected the signature of a gas called phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus, a chemical that, on Earth, is created by life. Venus has no known non-biological way to produce this molecule in the quantities observed. Had they found evidence of life in […]
Mathematicians have found the shortest route to visit 2 million stars
By Leah Crane The most efficient path that visits each of 2 million stars just onceRoskilde University and University of Waterloo We have found the best path to take between the stars. The travelling salesman problem, an infamous mathematical puzzle that seeks the shortest route between many locations while visiting each only once and returning […]
When we look out at alien worlds, are those alien worlds looking back?
When I was a kid, and survived on a diet of 100% trashy sci-fi, I would sometimes go outside at night, look up at the stars, and wonder how many worlds were out there. More to the point, who was out there looking back at me. I’ll admit the thought made me uneasy, like I […]
Back into the Clouds of Venus
We’re a long way from knowing what is going on in terms of possible life in the clouds of Venus, but one thing is already clear: The phosphine signature, as well as its implications, is going to be thrashed out in the journals, as witness a new study from Rakesh Mogul (Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, […]