coreyspowell

coreyspowell, 8 days ago to spiders

There are lots of clickbait-y stories circulating about the invasive Joro spider.

For context, Joro spiders are shy, harmless to humans, and they eat many common flying insects, including mosquitoes, lanternflies, and stinkbugs.

In the eastern US, you're likely to see their webs on power lines. You are NOT likely to see them hanging out on your hand.

https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-are-shy/ #spider #invasive #nature #science

coreyspowell, 8 days ago to space

The center of our galaxy is streaked with puzzling filaments of radio emission, some of them hundreds of light years long.

Now we have a clue to how they work. At least one of them seems to be energized by a pulsar -- a tiny, rapidly spinning stellar corpse.

https://www.spaceaustralia.com/news/millisecond-pulsar-lurking-galactic-centre #space #science #astronomy #astrodon #nature

coreyspowell, 9 days ago to space

Some planets are born alone, live alone, and die alone. The ESA's Euclid space telescope just found a nest of these loners in the constellation Orion.

At least the rogue planets have chosen a gorgeous spot to go about their business: This is where the newfound worlds are hanging out (toward the top of the image).

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.13497 #space #science #astronomy #nature #astrodon

coreyspowell, 13 days ago to science

"How it started/how it's going," space edition:

On March 17, 2013 a flash appeared on the Moon. It was bright enough to see with the naked eye.

Now we can see the result: a new 18-meter-wide crater, blasted out by a watermelon-size meteoroid.

https://www.lroc.asu.edu/featured_sites/40 #science #space #NASA #astronomy #Moon

A team of Marshall Space Flight Center scientists monitors the Moon for flashes of light caused by meteoroids impacting the surface. Their brightest recorded flash was captured on 17 March 2013, this event was so bright that an observer on the Earth could spot it without a telescope! According to the Marshall Space Flight Center team, the meteor involved in the March 17th event weighed 40 kg, was 0.3 - 0.4 meters in diameter, and was traveling at an approximate speed of 56,000 mph. A LROC NAC image acquired on 28 July 2013 revealed a new 18-meter (59 feet) diameter crater that corresponds to the location of the bright flash. We are certain it is the correct crater because it does not appear in the “before” NAC image (10 March 2012).

coreyspowell, 14 days ago to science

Simply astonishing.

Astronomers using JWST have just identified the earliest, most distant galaxy known. This image shows JADES-GS-z14-0 as it was when the universe was 2.2% its current age.

We are looking 13.5 billion years into the past!

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/early-highlights/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-finds-most-distant-known-galaxy #science #space #astronomy #NASA #nature

coreyspowell, 20 days ago to space

Exciting space-discovery alert!

Gliese 12 b is an Earth-size planet orbiting in the temperate zone around a nearby, stable red dwarf star. It's a Rosetta Stone world that will tell us a lot about how many superficially earthlike planets actually have the right conditions for life.

Are we rare? Are we common? Let's find out.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/nasas-tess-finds-a-world-sized-between-earth-and-venus #space #science #astronomy #astrodon #life #aliens

coreyspowell, 21 days ago to space

I love serendipitous art!

ESA's Euclid space telescope is designed to map dark matter and dark energy across the universe. But as it is getting started, Euclid is also sending back gorgeous cosmic snapshots.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/ESA_s_Euclid_celebrates_first_science_with_sparkling_cosmic_views #space #science #art #astronomy #astrodon

Euclid’s image of galaxy cluster Abell 2390 reveals more than 50 000 galaxies and shows a beautiful display of gravitational lensing, depicting giant curved arcs on the sky – some of which are actually multiple views of the same distant object. Euclid will use lensing (where the light travelling to us from distant galaxies is bent and distorted by gravity) as a key technique for exploring the dark Universe, indirectly measuring the amount and distribution of dark matter both in galaxy clusters and elsewhere. Euclid scientists are also studying how the masses and numbers of galaxy clusters on the sky have changed over time, revealing more about the history and evolution of the Universe.
Here, Euclid captures galaxies evolving and merging ‘in action’ in the Dorado galaxy group, with beautiful tidal tails and shells seen as a result of ongoing interactions. Scientists are using this dataset to study how galaxies evolve, to improve our models of cosmic history and understand how galaxies form within halos of dark matter. This image showcases Euclid’s versatility: a wide array of galaxies is visible here, from very bright to very faint. Thanks to Euclid’s unique combination of large field-of-view, remarkable depth, and high spatial resolution, it can capture tiny (star clusters), wider (galaxy cores) and extended (tidal tails) features all in one frame. Scientists are also seeking distant individual clusters of stars known as globular clusters to trace their galactic history and dynamics.
In this image Euclid showcases NGC 6744, an archetype of the kind of galaxy currently forming most of the stars in the local Universe. Euclid’s large field-of-view covers the entire galaxy, capturing not only spiral structure on larger scales but also exquisite detail on small spatial scales. This includes feather-like lanes of dust emerging as ‘spurs’ from the spiral arms, shown here with incredible clarity. Scientists are using this dataset to understand how dust and gas are linked to star formation; map how different star populations are distributed throughout galaxies and where stars are currently forming; and unravel the physics behind the structure of spiral galaxies, something that is still not fully understood after decades of study.

coreyspowell, 21 days ago to science

Hello out there!

More than 46 years after launch, more than 15 billion miles from home, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is restored, rebooted, and once again sending data back to Earth.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager/2024/05/22/voyager-1-resumes-sending-science-data-from-two-instruments/ #science #space #tech #nasa

coreyspowell, 23 days ago to science

The birth of a new, sunlike star is beautiful and spooky in this new image from Hubble. (34 years old and going strong!)

The ominous "mask" is a cloud of cool dust. The baby star HP Tau, top of the trio, is flickering madly due to inspiraling gas, jets, and huge starspots.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-views-the-dawn-of-a-sun-like-star/ #science #space #astronomy #astrodon #nature

coreyspowell, 27 days ago to science

A mind-blower for a Friday evening:

This deceptively simple-looking graph is a spectrum of gravitational waves ringing through the Milky Way.

The waves may be caused by a chorus of supermassive black holes colliding all across the universe. Whoa!

https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.16227 #science #space #physics #astronomy

coreyspowell, 27 days ago to science

Uh oh. The ambitious European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury has experienced a worrisome "glitch" in its thrusters.

Engineers are scrambling for a fix so the spacecraft can enter orbit around Mercury late next year, as planned.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/05/europe-is-uncertain-whether-its-ambitious-mercury-probe-can-reach-the-planet/ #science #space #astronomy #tech

coreyspowell, 28 days ago to space

After years of searching, astronomers have finally detected an atmosphere on a rocky planet around another star.

But what a strange planet it is! 55 Cancri e seems to be blanketed in carbon dioxide gas bubbling out of a global ocean of lava. Like an image out of Dante's Inferno.

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-102 #space #science #nasa #astronomy

coreyspowell, 1 month ago to space

So many beautiful aurora photos going around right now. Wonder where those amazing colors come from? Here's a helpful breakdown.

When you split up the light of a typical aurora, it looks like this.

Many colors from just nitrogen & oxygen!

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial #aurora #space #science #nature

coreyspowell, 1 month ago to science

Aurora colors come from atoms that are trying to shed some of their energy.

In very thin air, oxygen survives in a delicate, high-energy state that emits green light. In denser air, atomic collisions knock oxygen to a lower-energy state that emits red. Nitrogen is a robust emitter that glows bright in even lower, denser layers of the atmosphere.

Beautiful science.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial #aurora #science #space #nature

coreyspowell, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 2 months 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.