Space News & Blog Articles

Using telescopes that study the sky in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum, astronomers have successfully mapped the structure of the magnetic field of the Milky Way galaxy. While magnetic fields are difficult to measure in space, an international team of astronomers used the Teide Observatory on Tenerife in the Canary Islands to conduct 10 years of observations.

The team’s collaboration, called QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) used two 2.5 m diameter telescopes, to observe the sky in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Learning more about our galaxy’s magnetic field can provide information about star formation, cosmic rays, and many other  astrophysical processes.

The team said their work complements data gathered by previous space missions dedicated to the study of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the fossil radiation left behind by the Big Bang, which gave a detailed insight into the early history of the cosmos.

“These new maps give a detailed description in a new frequency range, from 10 to 40 GHz, complementing those from space missions such as Planck and WMAP,” said José Alberto Rubiño, lead scientist of the QUIJOTE Collaboration, in a press release. “We have characterized the synchrotron emission from our Galaxy with unprecedented accuracy. This radiation is the result of the emission by charged particles moving at velocities close to that of light within the Galactic magnetic field. These maps, the result of almost 9,000 hours of observation, are a unique tool for studying magnetism in the universe.”

The work on this mapping project started in 2012, and the team has now published a series of 6 scientific papers that provide the most accurate description to date of the polarization of the emission of the Milky Way at microwave wavelengths. Polarization is a “property of transverse waves such as light waves that specifies the direction of the oscillations of the waves and signifies the presence of a magnetic field,” the team explained.

Unistellar’s eQuinox 2 is set to continue the smartscope revolution into 2023.

A great telescope just got better. Unistellar just announced the release of its new eQuinox 2. The smartscope will be part of the Unistellar line, joining the eVscope 2 and eQuinox.

The release was announced recently at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. The eQuinox 2 Will retail at 2,499$ USD. Like the original eQuinox, the eQuinox2 has no eyepiece, digital or otherwise; everything is viewed and done through your smartphone controller app or tablet.

What’s new: The eQuinox 2 features a 114mm mirror and a focal length of 450mm, yielding an f/ratio of about f/4. The Sony imaging sensor is also upgraded from the IMX224 used in the original eQuinox to the IMX347 sensor, increasing it from 4.8 megapixels to 6.2 megapixels. This means a higher resolution, and shorter imaging times needed to achieve the same results. Where this feature is expected to shine is in planetary imaging mode, something that wide-field telescopes typically fall short in. The Sony image sensor upgrade, coupled with the intelligent image processing capability built into Unistellar’s Enhanced Vision technology promises to snare and stack moments of good seeing, similar to the ‘lucky imaging technique’ pioneered by amateur astronomers in the past. The eQuinox 2 also affords a slightly wider field of view than the original at 34 by 47 arc minutes across, ideal for imaging the full disk of the Moon.

The eQuinox 2 features a generous 64 GB of storage, and is highly portable, weighing in at just 9 kilograms plus mount and tripod. Unistellar even sells an optional backpack for its line of telescopes, including the eQuinox 2.

We live in an era of renewed space exploration, where multiple agencies are planning to send astronauts to the Moon in the coming years. This will be followed in the next decade with crewed missions to Mars by NASA and China, who may be joined by other nations before long. These and other missions that will take astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Earth-Moon system require new technologies, ranging from life support and radiation shielding to power and propulsion. And when it comes to the latter, Nuclear Thermal and Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NTP/NEP) is a top contender!

NASA and the Soviet space program spent decades researching nuclear propulsion during the Space Race. A few years ago, NASA reignited its nuclear program for the purpose of developing bimodal nuclear propulsion – a two-part system consisting of an NTP and NEP element – that could enable transits to Mars in 100 days. As part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program for 2023, NASA selected a nuclear concept for Phase I development. This new class of bimodal nuclear propulsion system uses a “wave rotor topping cycle” and could reduce transit times to Mars to just 45 days.

The proposal, titled “Bimodal NTP/NEP with a Wave Rotor Topping Cycle,” was put forward by Prof. Ryan Gosse, the Hypersonics Program Area Lead at the University of Florida and a member of the Florida Applied Research in Engineering (FLARE) team. Gosse’s proposal is one of 14 selected by the NAIC this year for Phase I development, which includes a $12,500 grant to assist in maturing the technology and methods involved. Other proposals included innovative sensors, instruments, manufacturing techniques, power systems, and more.

Nuclear propulsion essentially comes down to two concepts, both of which rely on technologies that have been thoroughly tested and validated. For Nuclear-Thermal Propulsion (NTP), the cycle consists of a nuclear reactor heating liquid hydrogen (LH2) propellant, turning it into ionized hydrogen gas (plasma) that is then channeled through nozzles to generate thrust. Several attempts have been made to build a test this propulsion system, including Project Rover, a collaborative effort between the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) that launched in 1955.

Bimodal nuclear thermal rockets conduct nuclear fission reactions similar to those employed at nuclear power plants and with large naval vessels (aircraft carriers and submarines). As with all versions of NTP, the cycle consists of a nuclear reactor that heats a propellant like deuterium (H2) that is then channeled through nozzles to create thrust. Several attempts have been made to build a test this propulsion system, including Project Rover, a collaborative effort between the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) that launched in 1955.

Something extraordinary happens about every 10,000 to 100,000 years in galaxies like the Milky Way. An unwary star approaches the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the galaxy’s center and is torn apart by the SMBH’s overpowering gravity. Astronomers call the phenomenon a tidal disruption event (TDE.)

Usually, a TDE spells doom for the star as its gas is torn away into the black hole’s accretion ring, causing a bright flaring visible for hundreds of millions of light years. But researchers have found one black hole that’s playing with its food.

It’s difficult to fathom the powerful forces at work when an SMBH eats a star.

Our own Sun is massive and incorporates 99.86% of the mass in the Solar System. That gives it enormous gravitational power. Its reach extends from tiny, speedy Mercury, its nearest neighbour, all the way out to the Oort Cloud, the hypothesized home of icy long-period comets up to 200,000 astronomical units, or 3.2 light-years, away.

But SMBHs are so massive that the Sun barely registers in comparison. An SMBH’s gravitational force is so mighty that it seems to hold their entire galaxy together.