Featured Posts
Bad Astronomy
16 Apr 2020, 13:00 UTC
Well cripes, this didn't take long: Just a couple of weeks after astronomers announced that there's evidence of a possible second planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, another group has announced they may have an actual image of it!
Is this an actual image of a planet orbiting the nearest star? Maaaaaaaybe.
16 Apr 2020, 13:00 UTC
Well cripes, this didn't take long: Just a couple of weeks after astronomers announced that there's evidence of a possible second planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, another group has announced they may have an actual image of it!
Parabolic Arc
15 Apr 2020, 18:22 UTC
After the successful completion of its “Checkpoint” rehearsal, NASA’s first asteroid-sampling spacecraft is one step closer to touching down on asteroid Bennu. Yesterday, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft performed the first practice run of its sample collection sequence, reaching an approximate altitude of 246 feet (75 meters) over site Nightingale before executing a back-away burn from the asteroid. Nightingale, OSIRIS-REx’s primary sample collection site, is located within a crater in Bennu’s northern hemisphere.
OSIRIS-REx Completes Rehearsal for Collecting Sample from Asteroid Bennu
15 Apr 2020, 18:22 UTC
After the successful completion of its “Checkpoint” rehearsal, NASA’s first asteroid-sampling spacecraft is one step closer to touching down on asteroid Bennu. Yesterday, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft performed the first practice run of its sample collection sequence, reaching an approximate altitude of 246 feet (75 meters) over site Nightingale before executing a back-away burn from the asteroid. Nightingale, OSIRIS-REx’s primary sample collection site, is located within a crater in Bennu’s northern hemisphere.
Forbes articles by Brian Koberlein
14 Apr 2020, 17:43 UTC
The gravity of a black hole is so strong that light from its accretion disk can be bent back to the disk itself.
Black Holes Are Seen To Fold Light Back Onto Themselves
14 Apr 2020, 17:43 UTC
The gravity of a black hole is so strong that light from its accretion disk can be bent back to the disk itself.
New Scientist
14 Apr 2020, 15:00 UTC
Astronauts’ brains increase in volume after long space flights, causing pressure to build up inside their heads. This may explain why some astronauts experience worsened vision after prolonged periods in space.
Long space flights can increase the volume of astronauts’ brains
14 Apr 2020, 15:00 UTC
Astronauts’ brains increase in volume after long space flights, causing pressure to build up inside their heads. This may explain why some astronauts experience worsened vision after prolonged periods in space.
SpacePolicyOnline.com
14 Apr 2020, 08:43 UTC
Houston-based Intuitive Machines revealed plans today for its first lunar landing in support of NASA’s Artemis program. The company is one of three that now have contracts to deliver NASA payloads to the lunar surface.
Intuitive Machines Sets Lunar Landing Date as Moon Plans Progress
14 Apr 2020, 08:43 UTC
Houston-based Intuitive Machines revealed plans today for its first lunar landing in support of NASA’s Artemis program. The company is one of three that now have contracts to deliver NASA payloads to the lunar surface.
Universe Today
13 Apr 2020, 19:29 UTC
Comet breakups are a timely topic right now. The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov just broke into at least two pieces. And though that comet is speeding out of the Solar System, never to be seen again, most of them don’t leave the Solar System. Most of them orbit the Sun, and return to the inner Solar System again and again.
When Comets Break Up, the Fragments Can Be Devastating If They Hit the Earth
13 Apr 2020, 19:29 UTC
Comet breakups are a timely topic right now. The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov just broke into at least two pieces. And though that comet is speeding out of the Solar System, never to be seen again, most of them don’t leave the Solar System. Most of them orbit the Sun, and return to the inner Solar System again and again.
Centauri Dreams
13 Apr 2020, 15:41 UTC
The interstellar object we call ‘Oumuamua was bound to be fascinating no matter what it actually was. You discover the first incoming object from interstellar space only once. But this one had its own share of peculiarities. Here was what was assumed to be a comet, but one that showed no outgassing as it reached perihelion and in fact seemed to be unusually dry. Here was an object of an apparently elongated shape, an aspect ratio with which we had nothing to compare in our own system. A tiny but detectable acceleration on the way out of the system seemed to indicate later outgassing, but how was that consistent with earlier data?
A Formation Scenario for ‘Oumuamua
13 Apr 2020, 15:41 UTC
The interstellar object we call ‘Oumuamua was bound to be fascinating no matter what it actually was. You discover the first incoming object from interstellar space only once. But this one had its own share of peculiarities. Here was what was assumed to be a comet, but one that showed no outgassing as it reached perihelion and in fact seemed to be unusually dry. Here was an object of an apparently elongated shape, an aspect ratio with which we had nothing to compare in our own system. A tiny but detectable acceleration on the way out of the system seemed to indicate later outgassing, but how was that consistent with earlier data?
