Solar activity refers to the state of the sun’s magnetic field and associated phenomena: sunspots, flares, solar wind and coronal ejections. During periods of minimal solar activity, such events are often uncommon and weak. During solar maximum, they’re at their strongest and most frequent. Magnetic field fluctuations on the sun can happen on drastically different timescales, ranging from seconds all the way to billions of years. When astronomers speak of a “slowdown” or a period of quiescence in the sun’s activity, it doesn’t mean the sun will stop shining, but…
Read MoreMonth: May 2021
SpaceX’s most-flown Falcon 9 rocket is a sooty veteran after 10 launches and landings (photos)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — When SpaceX’s most-flown rocket, a Falcon 9 booster that has flown a historic 10 times, returned home this month, it definitely looked the part of a veteran space traveler. Covered in soot from its many voyagers, the Falcon 9 rocket — designated B1051 — returned to its Port Canaveral home in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 12 after its record-setting launch on May 9, which sent 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit. It appeared on the horizon and slowly sailed into the canal Wednesday afternoon, heading…
Read MoreNASA astronauts speak out for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (video)
Four NASA astronauts recently spoke about their cultural heritage to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which runs through May. Appearing in a NASA YouTube video (released May 21) were astronauts Sunita Williams (an Indian-American), Jonny Kim (Korean-American), Kjell Lindgren (Asian-American-Chinese) and Raja Chari (Korean-American). Each astronaut spoke about the influence their family and culture had on their lives and careers, while NASA administrator Bill Nelson mentioned the role AAPI Heritage Month can play in “advancing leaders through purpose-driven service,” the theme of this year’s month. “It’s important…
Read MoreAstronomy in Pictures: Unraveling Galaxies and Clyde’s Spot
This week in astronomy pictures: Peer into our galaxy’s busy core, watch Clyde’s Spot unravel at Jupiter, and see a stunning Hubble photo of a lopsided galaxy. The post Astronomy in Pictures: Unraveling Galaxies and Clyde's Spot appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreA dozen ultra-high-energy particle accelerators discovered in the Milky Way
A century-old celestial mystery is one step closer to being solved as researchers discover a dozen ultra-powerful natural particle accelerators in our galaxy. The findings help astronomers understand the origin of cosmic rays — charged particles and atomic nuclei flying through space at near light speed that have been imbued with mind-boggling amounts of energy. Discovered in 1912, cosmic rays arrive from almost every direction in the Milky Way, though scientists have yet to determine exactly how they reach their ultra-fast speeds, according to NASA. Many researchers suspected that cosmic…
Read More4.5 billion-year-old particles from the sun lurk in Earth’s core and mantle
For the past 4.5 billion years, energized particles from the primordial sun have lurked in Earth’s core, a new study suggests. Researchers made the discovery by analyzing ancient particles within an iron meteorite, which came from a space rock that had an iron core, just like Earth does now, making the meteorite a good proxy for our planet’s innards. The meteorite had “striking excesses of solar helium and neon,” which are noble gases, or gases that are colorless, odorless, tasteless and nonflammable and occupy group 18 on the periodic table,…
Read MoreHubble telescope spies lopsided spiral galaxy deformed by gravity
The NGC 2276 galaxy, recently imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, had previously made it to the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, P. Sell) The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new image of a distant spiral galaxy deformed by gravitational tug of its neighbor. The spiral galaxy, called NGC 2276, is located in the constellation Cepheus some 120 million light-years away from Earth’s sun. In a wide-field image from Hubble, it can be seen together with its smaller neighbor NGC 2300. The gravitational pull…
Read MoreChina launches new cargo ship to Tianhe space station module
China’s new space station module is about to get its first robotic visitor. The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on China’s Hainan Island today (May 29), rising off the pad atop a Long March 7 rocket at 8:55 a.m. EDT (1255 GMT; 8:55 p.m. local time). It deployed its solar arrays as expected and is in good health, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMS). The uncrewed Tianzhou-2 is carrying 4.69 tons of pressurized cargo and 1.95 tons of propellant, CMS officials have said. If…
Read More‘Mars Horizon’ review: Design rockets, run missions and compete for glory in this addictive space adventure
I’m a sucker for skill trees in gaming, which means my favorite part of the new “Mars Horizon” game is not only its space-based skill tree but its rocket tree, where you create parts for space missions. In the space simulator game from Auroch Digital, you manage a space agency of your choice. You start in the year 1957, with five space agencies competing for glory and “milestone” missions, such as the first satellite, the first human in space and the first moon flyby. I chose NASA. The game isn’t…
Read MoreThis week on the Space.com forums: Defining nothing, spin in space and a fun quiz!
Welcome back to your weekly wrap-up of all the happenings in the Space.com forums. The community has been abuzz with theoretical discussions, trying to nail down some abstract definitions. We also test our space knowledge in one community member’s challenging quiz! What is nothing? Image of the Deep 3 ’empty’ field observed with the telescope at La Silla. The image is the combination of 714 frames for a total exposure time of 64.5 hours covering a total area larger than one square degree. (Image credit: ESO) Join the conversation Let…
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