Category: Astronomy

To Keep NASA’s Golden Age Alive, We Need More Telescopes–but Far Less Expensive Ones Starting around 50 years ago, astronomy began a winning streak of amazing discoveries. We found the cosmic microwave radiation left over from the big bang back in the 1960s, for instance, and in recent years we have identified thousands of planets…

5 Reasons Why Astronomy Is Better From The Ground Than In Space When you think about what’s out there in the abyss of deep space, whether you’re looking out at the planets in our Solar System or the most distant galaxies perceptible in the Universe, the instrument most people think about using for the best…

Cool idea, but a lot of money for an 80mm refractor.  This Smart Telescope for Newbies Looks Like a Sci-Fi Space Robot A new app-enabled telescope makes stargazing and astrophotography easier than ever. Source: www.space.com/40151-stellina-smart-telescope.html

ESA Science & Technology: Explore the cosmos with ESASky Meet ESASky, a discovery portal that provides full access to the entire sky. This open-science application allows computer, tablet and mobile users to visualise cosmic objects near and far across the electromagnetic spectrum. Source: sci.esa.int/astrophysics/60099-explore-the-cosmos-with-esasky/

5 Reasons Why Astronomy Is Better From The Ground Than In Space When you think about what’s out there in the abyss of deep space, whether you’re looking out at the planets in our Solar System or the most distant galaxies perceptible in the Universe, the instrument most people think about using for the best…

Via a radio telescope in Western Australia! Astronomers detect light from the Universe’s first stars   Surprises in signal from cosmic dawn also hint at presence of dark matter. Astronomers have for the first time spotted long-sought signals of light from the earliest stars ever to form in the Universe — around 180 million years…

So what caused the formation of the Solar System? One possibility is the shock from a low mass Supernova explosion. Researchers Propose Low-Mass Supernova Triggered Formation of Solar System A research team led by University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy Professor Yong-Zhong Qian uses new models and evidence from meteorites to show that…

Further evidence about the Earth being struck by a large, Mercury size object in the early life of the Solar System Research by Rice University Earth scientists suggests that virtually all of Earth’s life-giving carbon could have come from a collision about 4.4 billion years ago between Earth and an embryonic planet similar to Mercury.…

The MAVEN mission has identified the process that appears to have played a key role in the transition of the Martian climate from an early, warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life to the cold, arid planet Mars is today. MAVEN » MAVEN Reveals Speed of Solar Wind Stripping Martian Atmosphere  …

More irregular dimming. Another Tabbi’s Star?  New research conducted by a team of astronomers, led by Simone Scaringi of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, examines peculiar dimming of a newly found young stellar object designated EPIC 204278916. The study tries to explain the nature of these dipping events observed in the…