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Space News & Blog Articles
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NASA's IBEX spacecraft bounces back from glitch to study edge of solar system
NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is back to normal operations after controllers successfully reset its computer March 2, NASA said.
Melting ice cores on frozen worlds could speed up the search for alien life
The Melter-Sublimator for Ice Science (MSIS) instrument offers a unique opportunity to help scientists process ice deposits on other worlds in a much more efficient way.
Weather forecast favorable for Relativity’s first orbital launch attempt
Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket rolls out to Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral. Credit: Relativity Space / Trevor Mahlmann
Forecasters from the U.S. Space Force predict mostly sunny conditions at Cape Canaveral during a three-hour launch window Wednesday afternoon for the first flight of Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket.
The three-hour launch window opens at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) Wednesday. Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket, primarily made of 3D printed parts, will take off from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and attempt to reach a low-altitude orbit at an altitude of more than 120 miles (200 kilometers), the company said.
There’s a 90% chance of favorable weather for Wednesday’s launch window, according to the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron. Forecasters expect scattered cumulus clouds and gusty winds up to 22 mph out of the northeast, but the winds will likely remain below limits for liftoff of the 110-foot-tall (33.5-meter) Terran 1 rocket. The weather team predicts a temperature around 76 degrees Fahrenheit during the launch window.
The Terran 1 rocket’s first test flight is a major moment for Relativity, a company founded in 2015 by Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, college classmates who worked short stints as engineers with Blue Origin and SpaceX. Ellis, 32, is CEO of Relativity, while the 3o-year-old Noone stepped down as the company’s chief technology officer in 2020 to help establish a venture capital firm called Embedded Ventures.
Staffed with veteran engineers from SpaceX and other launch companies, Relativity has lofty ambitions to develop a fully reusable 3D-printed rocket called the Terran R, a vehicle the company says will become a “point-to-point space freighter capable of missions between the Earth, moon and Mars.”
'Star Trek: Discovery' will come to a close with Season 5 in 2024
Come on, be honest: It's not like this was a really big surprise or anything.
X-rays reveal how famous supernova became a giant cosmic particle accelerator
In new research, astronomers have mapped the magnetic field in the historic Tycho supernova remnant that accelerates charged particles close to the speed of light.
Stars Can Eat Their Planets…and Spit Them Back Out Again
As tragic as it is, engulfment of a planetary object by its stellar parent is a common scenario throughout the universe. But it doesn’t have to end in doom. A team of astrophysicists have used computer simulations to discover that planets can not only survive when their star eats them, but they can also drive its future evolution.
Models of the formation of planetary systems have shown that many planets often end up being consumed by their parent star. It’s simply a matter of orbital dynamics. Random interactions among newly forming planets and the protoplanetary disk that surrounds a young star can send planets on chaotic trajectories. Some of those trajectories end up driving the planet out of the system altogether, while other trajectories send them hurdling into the star.
Another chance for engulfment happens near the end of a star’s life when it becomes a red giant. This too affects the gravitational dynamics of the system and can send some large planets into the atmosphere of its parent star.
But surprisingly the planet doesn’t always die when this happens. Astronomers have found many odd systems throughout the galaxy that indicate that planets have survived their journey into the star. For example, there are white dwarf systems orbited very closely by a giant planet, too close for that planet to have formed naturally. There are stars with a surprising amount of heavier metals in their atmospheres, a sign that a rocky object has plunged into it. And there are stars that are rotating far too quickly, their spin rate amplified by an infalling planet.
All of these systems might be the result of planetary engulfment with the planet affecting the further evolution of the star. But can a planet really survive in the intense atmosphere of a star? A team of astrophysicists set out to tackle that question using computer simulations of the interior of a star, tracking the evolution and fate of various kinds of planets that might fall into it. In their simulations they studied planets of various masses and also brown dwarfs. Their simulations bolster the idea that planets can survive engulfment.
Watch a Baby Planet Carve Out a Home for Itself
Astronomers have detected a small, compact source embedded in a gap in the disk surrounding a young star. They believe it is a baby planet in the process of growing.
Protoplanetary systems offer rare glimpses into the evolutionary history of solar systems like our own. We know already from extensive observations and theory that solar systems start out as vast clouds of interstellar gas that then compress and begin to rotate. Eventually that rotating gas flattens into a disk and planets begin forming around a central core.
While we have a very good understanding of the general picture, we do not understand the details of how planets form, especially the differences between inner rocky planets and outer giant worlds. So the more direct observations we can make of protoplanetary systems the better our understanding can be.
Unfortunately the process of planet formation plays out over millions of years, so it’s not like we can just stare at one system and watch it evolve before our very eyes.
Or can we?
Asteroids may have picked up building blocks of life from interstellar clouds
Scientists have taken a big step towards figuring out where building blocks of life such as amino acids and amines form in space.
Working together to make a difference
A partnership between ESA and PLAYMOBIL continues to inspire and educate children about space. It also helps to support the children’s humanitarian organisation UNICEF and its work with vulnerable children around the world.
Bright new comet discovered zooming toward the sun could outshine the stars next year
The newly discovered comet C/2023 A3 is making a close approach around the sun for the first time in 80,000 years, and might be as bright as a star in fall 2024.
Sucker Holes
When skies are cloudy, sucker holes may offer us a view — albeit often only a brief one — of the universe overhead.
The post Sucker Holes appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G lens review
This APS-C wide-angle zoom lens is designed for crop-sensor Sony cameras. It's sharp, versatile and provides excellent results but is it worth the high price tag?
Watch the Full Worm Moon rise in free telescope webcast on March 7
The Virtual Telescope Project will feature the Worm Full Moon shining over Rome on Tuesday (March 8), starting at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT).
Save 20% on the Lego Star Wars Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter
This is the way to a big saving on a 412-piece Lego set that's here in time for season three of "The Mandalorian."
5 mysteries we want to see unraveled in Mass Effect 4
Mass Effect 4 is in development, and fans are eager for a fresh face to the decade-old trilogy. Here's what we would like to see explained in the sequel to this incredible space game series.
Ursa Major Constellation: Everything you need to know about the Great Bear
Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is the third-largest constellation in the sky. We explore this well-known constellation in more detail here.
In designing 'Hello Tomorrow!' on Apple TV+, Maya Sigel shoots for the moon (exclusive)
An exclusive interview with "Hello Tomorrow!" Production Designer Maya Sigel
This former NASA astronaut steered a space shuttle to safety after overcoming gender discrimination
Former NASA astronaut Susan Kilrain recently discussed her eventful 1997 space shuttle mission and talked about gender discrimination in the aerospace field.
James Webb Space Telescope 'sees triple' with help from Einstein (photos)
Thanks to a massive galactic cluster and a light-bending phenomenon predicted by Einstein the James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the same galaxy three times in a single image.
