coreyspowell

coreyspowell, 19 hours ago to space

Another day, another cosmic mystery:

Recently, astronomers discovered that the sky is dotted with huge structures called ORCs (odd radio circles).

Now they can see that these circles glow in x-rays, too. But it's still not clear how ORCs form or what makes them shine so intensely.

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/xmm-newton/x-ray-satellite-xmm-newton-sees-space-clover-in-a-new-light/ #space #science #astronomy #astrodon #nasa

coreyspowell, 1 day ago to space

NASA has launched a next-generation solar sail. It will unfurl a lightweight, 80-square-meter reflective sail from a tiny cubesat body.

Then will run experiments using the pressure of sunlight to steer and maneuver through space.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2024/04/30/ahoy-nasas-solar-sail-mission-successfully-phones-home/ #space #science #NASA #travel

Engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center test deployment of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System’s solar sail. The unfurled solar sail is approximately 30 feet (about 9 meters) on a side. Since solar radiation pressure is small, the solar sail must be large to efficiently generate thrust. NASA

coreyspowell, 6 days ago to space

We're about to get our first taste of the far side of the Moon.

This morning, China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft set off to collect samples of the lunar farside & bring them back to Earth. The complex mission includes a drill, a scoop, and a mini rover.

https://spacenews.com/china-launches-change-6-mission-to-collect-first-samples-from-the-moons-far-side/ #space #science #tech #china

Chang'e-6 spacecraft ready for launch in its cleanroom. The stacked components include the lander, ascent vehicle, and rover. Credit: CNSA

coreyspowell, 8 days ago to science

Well that's cool! These are the shadows of the 2017 and 2024 North American solar eclipses, observed by the GOES weather satellites & superimposed on each other.

The images show the Moon's shadow at 10-minute intervals.

https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/archives/58552 #science #space #weather #nature

The size of the Moon’s shadow on the Earth during the total solar eclipses were very different between 2017 and 2024. These images use ABI band 3 (0.86 um), since the land background tends to be bright (due to reflection off vegetation), hence giving more contrast with the dark shadow.

coreyspowell, 10 days ago to space

NASA's JWST observatory captured an extraordinary, zoomed-in look at the iconic Horsehead Nebula.

In the new image, you can see the boundary where a dust cloud is being blasted away by radiation from newborn stars. And just above, JWST reveals an entire cosmos of distant galaxies hidden behind the top of the horse's "mane"!

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-119 #NASA #science #space #astronomy #nature

This image showcases three views of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. The first image (left), released in November 2023, features the Horsehead Nebula as seen in visible light by ESA’s Euclid telescope, which has contributions from NASA. The second image (middle) shows a view of the Horsehead Nebula in near-infrared light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which was featured as the telescope’s 23rd anniversary image in 2013. This image reveals a beautiful, delicate structure that is normally obscured by dust. The third image (right) features a new view of the Horsehead Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument.

coreyspowell, 14 days ago to space

Our galaxy seems to be full of "rogue" planets wandering alone between the stars.

A new observation from NASA's TESS space telescope hints that these dark worlds might hugely outnumber the normal (?) planets, like Earth, that bask in the warmth and light of a sun.

https://astrobiology.com/2024/04/searching-for-free-floating-planets-with-tess-i-discovery-of-a-first-terrestrial-mass-candidate.html #space #science #astronomy #astrodon

coreyspowell, 17 days ago to space

China's Tiandu-2 spacecraft captured this ethereal new infrared image of the Moon.

See that other little world floating in the background? That's Earth.

https://spacenews.com/chinas-queqiao-2-relay-satellite-ready-to-support-lunar-far-side-sample-mission/ #space #science #moon #china

coreyspowell, 20 days ago to space

Jupiter's moon Io is the most hellish spot in the solar system -- a place of nonstop, sulfur-laced volcanic eruptions.

This new NASA visualization shows a strangely calm-looking lake of magma on Io. The video is directly based on imagery from the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter.

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/juno/nasas-juno-gives-aerial-views-of-mountain-lava-lake-on-io/ #space #science #astronomy #nasa

This animation is an artist’s concept of Loki Patera, a lava lake on Jupiter’s moon Io, made using data from the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. With multiple islands in its interior, Loki is a depression filled with magma and rimmed with molten lava. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

coreyspowell, 22 days ago to science

Powerful eruption occurring now at Ruang volcano in Indonesia's North Sulawesi Province. Hundreds evacuated so far.

Photos show the lava flow, huge ash cloud, and volcanic lightning.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-evacuated-after-indonesias-ruang-volcano-erupts-2024-04-17/ #volcano #science #nature

At least 800 people in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province have been evacuated after multiple eruptions of the area's Ruang volcano, which for days has spewed lava and ash clouds into the sky, the country's volcanology agency said on Wednesday.

coreyspowell, 23 days ago to space

I'm so excited about this upcoming space mission.

NASA has just confirmed that the Dragonfly octocopter will launch in July, 2028. When it arrives, it will spend at least two years flying over the organic-rich sands of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/News-and-Resources/news/20231128.php #space #science #nasa #life #tech

The Dragonfly rotorcraft lander, shown here in an artist's rendering of the mission concept, will land on Saturn's moon Titan and then make multiple flights to explore diverse locations as it characterizes the habitability of the ocean world's environment. Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben

coreyspowell, 23 days ago to space

Can you handle one more eclipse photo? Because this one is quite amazing. It shows the April 8 solar eclipse...as seen from the Moon!

Taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, gazing back at the Moon's shadow as it swept across the Earth.

https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1368 #space #science #NASA #eclipse

coreyspowell, 24 days ago to science

Two space questions I hear a lot:

• Is Betelgeuse about to explode?
• When we see things happening "now" in deep space, didn't they really happen a long time ago?

I decided to answer them both together (and threw in a bonus discussion about false precision).

https://quanta.quora.com/Betelgeuse-is-642-5-light-years-away-the-light-we-see-from-it-is-642-5-years-old-How-do-Scientists-know-it-is-going-to-6?ch=10&oid=1477743753967765&share=6c715101&srid=u5Hxq&target_type=answer #science #space #astronomy #education

coreyspowell, 27 days ago to space

The astronauts aboard the ISS were amazed by the April 8 solar eclipse, just like the rest of us, and went crazy snapping photos from orbit.

They got some amazing views of the Moon's shadow sweeping across southern Canada & Maine, seen from 420 km (261 miles) above: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/with/53645140833 #space #eclipse #space #astronomy

The Moon's shadow, or umbra, is pictured covering portions of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the American state of Maine in this photograph from the International Space Station as it soared into the solar eclipse from 261 miles above.
The Moon's shadow, or umbra, is pictured covering portions of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the American state of Maine in this photograph from the International Space Station as it soared into the solar eclipse from 261 miles above.

coreyspowell, 28 days ago to space

We can now DIRECTLY OBSERVE planets being born!

Each of the arrow-marked blobs is a likely planet-in-the-making around the infant star FU Orionis (great name), located 1,350 light years away in the constellation Orion.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.05797 #space #science #astronomy #astrodon