@coreyspowell@mastodon.social
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

coreyspowell

@coreyspowell@mastodon.social

Writer, editor, magazine maker, podcaster, procrastinator.

Former editor of Discover and American Scientist magazines. Co-host of #ScienceRules podcast. Invisible Universe on Substack: https://invisibleuniverse.substack.com/

Co-founder of OpenMind magazine.

#science #nature #space #scicomm

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

coreyspowell, to space
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

The first published photo of Earth from space was released 77 years ago today (7 March 1947).

It was taken from a captured German V-2 rocket, used by the US Army as part of Operation Paperclip, at an altitude of 101 miles (162km).

https://historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=4722

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Interesting bit of history trivia. The very first photo of Earth from space was taken on October 24, 1946, by another US Army V-2 rocket flight.

But this photo was not publicly revealed until 1950, perhaps because of its lack of recognizable detail.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-first-photo-from-space-13721411/

coreyspowell, to Astronomy
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Halley's Comet won't reappear until 2061, but Pons-Brooks is a similar big, long-period comet putting -- and it's putting on a show right now.

You'll need good binoculars, but oh is it pretty. Photo taken on Monday by Michael Jäger.

https://theskylive.com/12p-info

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Comet Pons-Brooks is currently low in the west after sunset for Northern Hemisphere viewers, not far from the Andromeda galaxy in the sky.

Here's another lovely view of the comet, taken on March 2 by Michael Jäger.

https://earthsky.org/tonight/12-p-comet-pons-brooks-outburst-millennium-falcon-bright-2024-eclipse/

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks 2024 march 2 18.28-19.28 UT 11" RASA QHY600 filter blue. Photography: Michael Jäger

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Stars are born in elaborate dances of gas and dust. Every dance is different -- creating different types of stars, different types of planets, unique environments.

These breathtaking new images capture the diversity of nature's art. They were taken using ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2405/ # nature

coreyspowell, to space
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

All across the galaxy, new planets are forming full of water and, perhaps, covered with new oceans.

Now astronomers can map water (colored blue) in the exact places where planets are being born -- in this case, around an infant star called HL Tauri. Maybe someday a new living world will emerge there?

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2404/

Astronomers have found water vapour in a disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. In this image, the new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner, show the water vapour in shades of blue. Near the centre of the disc, where the young star lives, the environment is hotter and the gas brighter. The red-hued rings are previous ALMA observations showing the distribution of dust around the star. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Facchini et al.

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Keep your eyes to the sky! There's a good chance that a bright new star will appear in the constellation Corona Borealis over the next six months.

This is a rare event: a recurring nova that last erupted 80 years ago. (I've simulated the view so you can see what to expect.)


https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2024/02/27/view-nova-explosion-new-star-in-northern-crown/

A star system, located 3,000 light-years away from Earth, is predicted to become visible to the unaided eye soon. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity as the nova ouburst only occurs about every 80 years. T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, last exploded in 1946 and astronomers believe it will do so again between February and September 2024.

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Huh, the gif wasn't supposed to look like that. Here are the before & after views of nova T Coronae Borealis.

"After" view of nova T Coronae Borealis.

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

T Coronae Borealis is a recurring nova: a thermonuclear bomb that goes off every 80 years.

A dense white dwarf star slowly pulls gas from its companion. The gas piles up until it goes critical and -- boom! -- a huge flash.

More info:
https://www.aavso.org/news/t-crb-pre-eruption-dip
https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2024/02/27/view-nova-explosion-new-star-in-northern-crown/

A red giant star and white dwarf orbit each other in this animation of a nova. The red giant is a large sphere in shades of red, orange, and white, with the side facing the white dwarf the lightest shades. The white dwarf is hidden in a bright glow of white and yellows, which represent an accretion disk around the star. A stream of material, shown as a diffuse cloud of red, flows from the red giant to the white dwarf. The animation opens with the red giant on the right side of the screen, co-orbiting the white dwarf. When the red giant moves behind the white dwarf, a nova explosion on the white dwarf ignites, filling the screen with white light. After the light fades, a ball of ejected nova material is shown in pale orange. A small white spot remains after the fog of material clears, indicating that the white dwarf has survived the explosion. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

coreyspowell, to space
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Midday, afternoon, and evening on the surface of the Moon, seen by Japan's SLIM lander.

The deepening shadows mean that SLIM is going to sleep again now, probably for the last time.

https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/slim/SLIM/index.html

After 3 a.m. (Japan Standard Time) on March 1st, the sun set in Shiori Crater, and SLIM went dormant again. Although the probability of failure will increase due to repeated severe temperature cycles, SLIM plans to try operation again the next time the sun shines (in late March).

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

If you go out and look at the gibbous Moon late tonight, you can see the shadow sweeping past SLIM's landing site on the lunar surface.

SLIM is located within the marked red oval, in Mare Nectaris. The site is now in darkness.

Location of the SLIM lander on the Moon, marked with a red oval.

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Oh wow! Look at this image of the Odysseus Moon lander at the moment of touchdown, with its engines firing like mad to avoid a fatal skid.

Just released by Intuitive Machines.

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

We finally have a proper image of Odysseus on the surface of the Moon, taken yesterday using its narrow-field-of-view camera.

The lander has an, er, quite a rakish tilt! But its last-minute maneuvers managed to safe it from destruction.

coreyspowell, to space
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

In 2022, NASA's DART spacecraft rammed an asteroid at high speed. But it probably didn't leave a mark!

Most likely, DART changed the shape of the entire asteroid -- an important thing to know before we need to deflect a dangerous space rock away from Earth.

https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/DART_impact_might_have_reshaped_Hera_s_target_asteroid

Stereoscopic movie derived from Bern SPH simulations showcasing the aftermath of the DART impact, spanning the initial 30 minutes post-collision. These stereoscopic pairs can be viewed in ”parallel’’ stereo mode simply by relaxing the eye convergence. CREDIT S. D. Raducan (UNIBE)/C. Manzoni/B.H. May

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

In 2026, ESA's Hera spacecraft will visit asteroid Dimorphos to examine the effects of the DART impact.

This is what Dimorphos looked like before. What will the "after" version of the asteroid look like?

(It's weird to think that humans have just redesigned an entire asteroid.)

coreyspowell, to space
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Oh THERE you are! The Odysseus lunar lander was just spotted at its touchdown site near the Moon's south pole.

These before & after images were taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 90 km above the lunar surface.

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/lro/nasas-lro-images-intuitive-machines-odysseus-lander/

This image pair shows LRO views of the area surrounding the Odysseus site before (frame M172936310) and after (frame M1463440322L) its landing near the Moon's south pole. NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Now we know exactly where Odysseus landed on the Moon: 80.13 degrees S, 1.44 degrees E, at an elevation of 2,579 meters, on a 12-degree slope.

Still no surface images from Odysseus. That may not be possible, given its sideways orientation. But the spacecraft's navigation camera did return some amazing shots just before touchdown.

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/lro/nasas-lro-images-intuitive-machines-odysseus-lander/

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

@clive

Ah, if only! Seeing a 1-meter-scale object on the surface of the Moon is beyond the resolving power even of the huge 10-meter telescopes like Keck and Subaru.

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Scientists have to reset their superlatives. A quasar known as J0529-4351 is the most luminous single object in the known universe, emitting as much energy as 500 trillion suns.

It's powered by a supermassive black hole that swallows 300,000 Earth masses of gas every day.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2402/

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

More crazy numbers: The quasar J0529-4351 is powered by a black hole 17 billion times as massive as the Sun. It's the fastest-growing black hole ever observed. And it's so far away that its light has taken 12 billion years to reach us.

We're seeing it as it was more than 7 billion years before the Earth even formed.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2402/

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

5/6th of the matter in the universe seems to be missing. The search "dark matter" has inspired some fascinating ideas.

One far-out but intriguing new proposal: Dark matter could consist of failed atoms in a shadow universe that coexists with ours.

https://www.livescience.com/space/cosmology/there-may-be-a-dark-mirror-universe-within-ours-where-atoms-failed-to-form-new-study-suggests

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

NASA engineers are still struggling to fix a data glitch that has left Voyager 1 unable to talk to Earth.

For most if my life, Voyager 1 has been exploring our solar system & beyond. This could be the end for humanity's most distant space probe, currently venturing into interstellar space.

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/nasa-engineers-rally-to-save-voyager-1-the-icon-of-space-exploration

coreyspowell, to science
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

In the frigid outer solar system, beyond Pluto, dwarf planets appear to be surprisingly dynamic worlds.

The JWST observatory sees chemical signs of geologic activity on distant dwarf planets Eris and Makemake.

https://www.swri.org/press-release/swri-scientists-find-evidence-of-geothermal-activity-within-icy-dwarf-planets
[note: image is an illustration]

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Change is the way of nature , it seems -- even on dwarf planets circling billions of miles from the warmth of the Sun.

https://www.swri.org/press-release/swri-scientists-find-evidence-of-geothermal-activity-within-icy-dwarf-planets

coreyspowell,
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

@ChrisCPS

Makemake is the god of creation in Rapa Nui mythology. It's pronounced MOCK-ay-MOCK-ay...has a very different mood when said that way!

https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau0806/

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • tacticalgear
  • rosin
  • Youngstown
  • mdbf
  • ngwrru68w68
  • slotface
  • khanakhh
  • ethstaker
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • thenastyranch
  • DreamBathrooms
  • magazineikmin
  • anitta
  • osvaldo12
  • InstantRegret
  • Durango
  • cisconetworking
  • modclub
  • cubers
  • GTA5RPClips
  • tester
  • normalnudes
  • Leos
  • provamag3
  • megavids
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •