NASA's Ames Research Center News and Features
14 Feb 2020, 15:00 UTC
Over a year ago, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by a strange object at the edge of our solar system. Just a hazy form resembling a snowman on the day of the spacecraft’s closest approach, Arrokoth is now taking shape to be a fascinating and revelatory member of the region of the solar system beyond Neptune's orbit known as the Kuiper Belt. Untouched by the usual turmoil and impacts of most small objects, this pristinely preserved world could tell us about the earliest years of our solar system's formation.
Arrokoth Revealed: A First In-Depth Look at a Pristine World
14 Feb 2020, 15:00 UTC
Over a year ago, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by a strange object at the edge of our solar system. Just a hazy form resembling a snowman on the day of the spacecraft’s closest approach, Arrokoth is now taking shape to be a fascinating and revelatory member of the region of the solar system beyond Neptune's orbit known as the Kuiper Belt. Untouched by the usual turmoil and impacts of most small objects, this pristinely preserved world could tell us about the earliest years of our solar system's formation.
ESA Space Science
13 Feb 2020, 10:00 UTC
This image shows a region of Mars’ surface named Nilosyrtis Mensae. It comprises data gathered on 29 September 2019 during orbit 19908. The ground resolution is approximately 15 m/pixel and the images are centred at about 69°E/31°N. This image was created using data from the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The nadir channel is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, as if looking straight down at the surface. This perspective looks over the region from north to south.
Perspective view of Nilosyrtis Mensae
13 Feb 2020, 10:00 UTC
This image shows a region of Mars’ surface named Nilosyrtis Mensae. It comprises data gathered on 29 September 2019 during orbit 19908. The ground resolution is approximately 15 m/pixel and the images are centred at about 69°E/31°N. This image was created using data from the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The nadir channel is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, as if looking straight down at the surface. This perspective looks over the region from north to south.
IAU Press Releases
12 Feb 2020, 17:00 UTC
In June 2019, the International Astronomical Union expressed concern about the negative impact that the planned mega-constellations of communication satellites may have on astronomical observations and on the pristine appearance of the night sky when observed from a dark region. We here present a summary of the current understanding of the impact of these satellite constellations.
Understanding the Impact of Satellite Constellations on Astronomy
12 Feb 2020, 17:00 UTC
In June 2019, the International Astronomical Union expressed concern about the negative impact that the planned mega-constellations of communication satellites may have on astronomical observations and on the pristine appearance of the night sky when observed from a dark region. We here present a summary of the current understanding of the impact of these satellite constellations.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
11 Feb 2020, 14:18 UTC
In February 2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — SDO — is celebrating its 10th year in space. Over the past decade the spacecraft has kept a constant eye on the Sun, studying how the Sun creates solar activity and drives space weather — the dynamic conditions in space that impact the entire solar system, including Earth.
Ten Things We’ve Learned About the Sun From NASA’s SDO This Decade
11 Feb 2020, 14:18 UTC
In February 2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — SDO — is celebrating its 10th year in space. Over the past decade the spacecraft has kept a constant eye on the Sun, studying how the Sun creates solar activity and drives space weather — the dynamic conditions in space that impact the entire solar system, including Earth.
McDonald Observatory
10 Feb 2020, 17:15 UTC
A team of astronomers led by Brendan Bowler of The University of Texas at Austin has probed the formation process of giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs, a class of objects that are more massive than giant planets, but not massive enough to ignite nuclear fusion in their cores to shine like true stars. Using direct imaging with giant ground-based telescopes, they studied the orbits of these faint companions orbiting stars in 27 systems. These data, combined with modeling of the orbits, allowed them to determine that the brown dwarfs in these systems formed like stars, but the gas giants formed like planets. The research is published in the current issue of The Astronomical Journal.
Distant Giant Planets Form Differently than ‘Failed Stars’
10 Feb 2020, 17:15 UTC
A team of astronomers led by Brendan Bowler of The University of Texas at Austin has probed the formation process of giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs, a class of objects that are more massive than giant planets, but not massive enough to ignite nuclear fusion in their cores to shine like true stars. Using direct imaging with giant ground-based telescopes, they studied the orbits of these faint companions orbiting stars in 27 systems. These data, combined with modeling of the orbits, allowed them to determine that the brown dwarfs in these systems formed like stars, but the gas giants formed like planets. The research is published in the current issue of The Astronomical Journal.
Most Recent News
- 17 Feb 2020
- 16 Feb 2020
- 15 Feb 2020
- 14 Feb 2020
-
22:44 UTC
NASA Highlights Science on 20th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Space St...
-
21:27 UTC
Making Stars in Galaxies at the Beginning of the Universe
-
21:15 UTC
Citizen Scientists Discover Rare Cosmic Pairing of Brown Dwarfs
-
20:38 UTC
On Student Success, This Astronomer Walks the Walk
-
20:11 UTC
NASA Awards Contract to Launch CubeSat to Moon from Virginia
-
20:05 UTC
NASA Invites Media to View Orion Spacecraft for Artemis I Lunar Mis...
-
17:21 UTC
TRIDENT Mission Concept Led by USRA's Louise Prockter Among Four Se...
-
15:53 UTC
Galactic Cosmic Rays Affect Atmosphere of Saturn's Moon Titan
-
15:49 UTC
Voyager's Iconic "Pale Blue Dot" Photo — Carl Sagan’s Idea — Turns ...
-
15:00 UTC
Arrokoth Revealed: A First In-Depth Look at a Pristine World
-
13:57 UTC
Solar Orbiter braves challenging early days
-
13:32 UTC
ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse
-
22:44 UTC
Blogs
Starts With a Bang!
17 Feb 2020, 15:01 UTC
We’ve come fantastically far in our understanding of the distant Universe. Here’s how we’ll go even farther.
4 Cosmic Records That The James Webb Space Telescope Should Shatter
17 Feb 2020, 15:01 UTC
We’ve come fantastically far in our understanding of the distant Universe. Here’s how we’ll go even farther.
Starts With a Bang!
14 Feb 2020, 15:01 UTC
It took thousands of scientists working for hundreds of years for us to arrive at this picture, and yet the lack of a consensus on what the expansion rate actually is tells us that either something is dreadfully wrong, we have an unidentified error somewhere, or there’s a new scientific revolution just on the horizon.
The Expanding Universe Might Not Depend On How You Measure It, But When
14 Feb 2020, 15:01 UTC
It took thousands of scientists working for hundreds of years for us to arrive at this picture, and yet the lack of a consensus on what the expansion rate actually is tells us that either something is dreadfully wrong, we have an unidentified error somewhere, or there’s a new scientific revolution just on the horizon.
Discover
14 Feb 2020, 13:00 UTC
You don’t have to be a scientist to know that stars shine. It’s what they’re known for. But how and why they shine was unknown for thousands of years, and only became clear in the 20th century, as humans puzzled out the power of nuclear fusion.
How Do Stars Produce and Release Energy?
14 Feb 2020, 13:00 UTC
You don’t have to be a scientist to know that stars shine. It’s what they’re known for. But how and why they shine was unknown for thousands of years, and only became clear in the 20th century, as humans puzzled out the power of nuclear fusion.
Most Recent Blogs
- 17 Feb 2020
-
23:24 UTC
Thanksgiving Storm, Marquette, Michigan, 2019
-
23:22 UTC
Making a “Mega-Telescope” for Exoplanets
-
22:55 UTC
Blue Origin Opens Huntsville Manufacturing Facility
-
22:25 UTC
Carnival of Space #651
-
22:18 UTC
Researchers Develop Smaller, Lighter Radiation Shielding
-
22:17 UTC
SpaceX Launches 80th Successful Falcon-9 Mission with 60 More Starl...
-
22:11 UTC
Op-Ed | The United States won’t go back to the moon, I’ll follow Ch...
-
21:58 UTC
Skyrora studies Iceland as potential launch site
-
21:51 UTC
Carnival of Space #651
-
21:51 UTC
Carnival of Space #651
-
21:45 UTC
Work starts on £135m Space Park Leicester
-
21:39 UTC
STFC: Space Life and Biomedical Sciences Symposium
-
21:37 UTC
Protected: Circumpolar Laser Tests at Gemini North – iotw2008a
-
21:35 UTC
Cleaning M3 - Way Up High!
-
21:34 UTC
Spacebit Mission One: Lunar Rover in 2021
-
21:32 UTC
10 Amazing Discoveries About the Sun From NASA’s Solar Dynamics Obs...
-
21:16 UTC
Blue Origin opens rocket engine factory
-
21:12 UTC
Western Australia Government Invests in Robotics Partnership
-
21:05 UTC
Intelsat revises IS-29e replacement plan, preps second-gen Epic ord...
-
20:15 UTC
Space policy roundup – Feb.17.2020
-
18:57 UTC
SpaceX launches fifth batch of Starlink satellites, misses booster ...
-
18:28 UTC
Solar wind samples suggest new physics of massive solar ejections
-
18:21 UTC
War of the Worlds: Watch the Moon Occult Mars Tuesday Morning
-
18:15 UTC
SKY GUY VIEWING ALERT! MOON COVERS MARS 2/18/20
-
18:02 UTC
The Space Show this week – Feb.17.2020
-
18:00 UTC
Watch the Moon and Mars Meet Up in the Early Morning Sky
-
17:57 UTC
Why the hunt for alien life is pointless | Letters
-
17:33 UTC
NRAO, SETI Institute Agree on New Research Programs
-
17:16 UTC
SpaceX Launches Fifth Starlink Mission
-
17:00 UTC
ALMA Explores Possible Interacting Twin Disks
-
16:54 UTC
This Week on The Space Show
-
16:00 UTC
An exoplanet is generating radio waves from its red dwarf sun
-
15:58 UTC
SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites for new megaconstellation, m...
-
15:22 UTC
Solar Orbiter Science Instrument Sends First Measurements to Ground...
-
15:01 UTC
4 Cosmic Records That The James Webb Space Telescope Should Shatter
-
14:18 UTC
Rare Corona of the Planet Jupiter Caught in Stunning Image
-
14:14 UTC
Watch SpaceX send 60 Starlink broadband satellites into a different...
-
14:00 UTC
Astro Photobombs: These Things Can Ruin Your Image
-
14:00 UTC
Bibmanager: A BibTex Manager Designed for Astronomers
-
14:00 UTC
A Fast Radio Burster is seen to repeat every 16 days... deepening t...
-
14:00 UTC
The Super-Cool Materials That Send Heat to Space
-
13:43 UTC
SpaceX Falcon 9 – Starlink-4 Launch Video
-
13:33 UTC
Cork-coated spacecraft to be chucked out of the ISS for re-entry te...
-
13:16 UTC
ODD MOMENT …..
-
13:16 UTC
MY PEACE…
-
13:16 UTC
Orion Nebula, M42, NGC 1976 (Eyepiece View Colors Emulation)
-
13:16 UTC
The Crab Nebula in Hubble Palette
-
13:16 UTC
Long exposure of winter stars over the farrafer gate
-
13:15 UTC
MILKY WAY……
-
13:15 UTC
Mars meets the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae
-
23:24 UTC
