Tag: The Universe

Once-in-a-lifetime star explosion, visible from Earth, could happen any day now

NeRD

If you’ve always wanted to witness a stellar explosion, your time is about to come.  T Coronae Borealis, also known as T CrB (pronounced tee-core-bore) or the “Blaze Star,” is on the precipice of a massive explosion — one that should be visible from Earth. According to calculations by Brad Schaefer, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Louisiana State University, along with data from amateur astronomers affiliated with the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), the nova should occur within a few months of May 2024. T CrB is a binary…

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See the sun rage behind the ISS in epic time-lapse photo

NeRD

Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical “Skyscapes” that connect both Earth and the night sky.  This image shows the silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) as it crosses in front of the sun’s disk at a distance of 274 miles (441.5 km) from us and at a speed of about 4.5 miles…

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Mars Odyssey celebrates 100,000 orbits, captures epic view of solar system’s largest volcano

NeRD

NASA’s Odyssey spacecraft, the longest-running mission at Mars, circled the Red Planet for the 100,000th time today, the mission team announced in a statement. To celebrate the milestone, the space agency released an intricate panorama of Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system;  Odyssey captured the view in March. The volcano’s base sprawls 373 miles (600 kilometers) near the Martian equator while it soars 17 miles (27 kilometers) into the planet’s thin air. Earlier this month, astronomers discovered ephemeral morning frost coating the volcano’s top for a few…

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It’s International Asteroid Day, and astronomers have much to celebrate

NeRD

Today, astronomers and space lovers around the world are collectively marveling at our mercurial presence in the universe, particularly as we drift the cosmos amid large asteroids like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. June 30 marks Asteroid Day, a holiday observed annually to reflect on the prospect of a planet-destroying space rock striking Earth and what scientists are doing to mitigate that risk. The day is observed on the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska event in Russia, when a space rock about half the…

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What are rogue planets?

NeRD

A rogue planet is a world that has been ejected from the planetary system in which it originally formed.  Because rogue planets do not orbit a parent star, they are cast adrift into interstellar space. On their meanderings, rogue planets are pulled toward whatever large, gravitationally attractive body they happen to pass by. Most rogue planets are ejected during the early stages of planetary formation when planetary systems are more chaotic and there is more interaction among planets, David Bennett, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center,…

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Why do some planets have moons? A physics expert explains why Earth has only one moon while other planets have hundreds

NeRD

On Earth, you can look up at night and see the moon shining bright from hundreds of thousands of miles away. But if you went to Venus, that wouldn’t be the case. Not every planet has a moon – so why do some planets have several moons, while others have none? I’m a physics instructor who has followed the current theories that describe why some planets have moons and some don’t. First, a moon is called a natural satellite. Astronomers refer to satellites as objects in space that orbit larger bodies. Since a…

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Hubble Examines an Active Galaxy Near the Lion’s Heart

NeRD

2 min read Hubble Examines an Active Galaxy Near the Lion’s Heart This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the elliptical galaxy Messier 105. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Sarazin et al. It might appear featureless and unexciting at first glance, but NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations of this elliptical galaxy — known as Messier 105 — show that the stars near the galaxy’s center are moving very rapidly. Astronomers have concluded that these stars are zooming around a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 200 million Suns! This black…

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Pillars of Creation Star in New Visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes

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6 Min Read Pillars of Creation Star in New Visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes A mosaic of visible-light (Hubble) and infrared-light (Webb) views from the same Pillars of Creation visualization frame.  Credits: Greg Bacon, Ralf Crawford, Joseph DePasquale, Leah Hustak, Christian Nieves, Joseph Olmsted, Alyssa Pagan, and Frank Summers (STScI), NASA’s Universe of Learning Made famous in 1995 by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation in the heart of the Eagle Nebula have captured imaginations worldwide with their arresting, ethereal beauty. Now, NASA has released a…

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NASA Releases Hubble Image Taken in New Pointing Mode

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2 min read NASA Releases Hubble Image Taken in New Pointing Mode This NASA Hubble Space Telescope features the galaxy NGC 1546. NASA, ESA, STScI, David Thilker (JHU) NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken its first new images since changing to an alternate operating mode that uses one gyro. The spacecraft returned to science operations June 14 after being offline for several weeks due to an issue with one of its gyroscopes (gyros), which help control and orient the telescope. This new image features NGC 1546, a nearby galaxy in…

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The universe’s biggest explosions made some of the elements we are composed of. But there’s another mystery source out there

NeRD

After its “birth” in the Big Bang, the universe consisted mainly of hydrogen and a few helium atoms. These are the lightest elements in the periodic table. More-or-less all elements heavier than helium were produced in the 13.8 billion years between the Big Bang and the present day. Stars have produced many of these heavier elements through the process of nuclear fusion. However, this only makes elements as heavy as iron. The creation of any heavier elements would consume energy instead of releasing it. In order to explain the presence…

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