New York NY (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
Cutting-edge computer simulations combined with theoretical calculations are helping astronomers better understand the origin of some of the universe's most energetic and mysterious light shows - gamma-ray bursts, or GRBs. The new unified model confirms that some long-lasting GRBs are created in the aftermath of cosmic mergers that spawn an infant black hole surrounded by a giant disk of natal m

Baltimore MD (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency's Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode Nov. 23 due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue. Hubble's instruments are stable, and the telescope is in good health. The telescope automatically entered safe mode when one of its three gyroscopes gave faulty readings. The gyros measure the telescope's turn rates and are part of

Boston MA (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
The way Morgane Konig sees it, questioning how we came to be in the universe is one of the most fundamental parts of being human. When she was 12 years old, Konig decided the place to find answers was in physics. A family friend was a physicist, and she attributed her interest in the field to him. But it wasn't until a trip back to her mother's home country of Cote d'Ivoire that Konig lear

Durham UK (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
An international team of astronomers led by Durham University and including astronomers at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre has reported the first detection of a rotating disc structure around a forming high-mass star outside of our Milky Way in another galaxy. The disc surrounds a young massive star located in a stellar nursery called N180, residing in a neighbouring dwarf galaxy called

New Haven CT (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
Scientists have long puzzled over why all of the planets in Earth's solar system have slightly slanted orbits around the sun. But a new, Yale-led study suggests this phenomenon may not be so unusual after all. Even in "pristine" solar systems, planets exhibit a bit of a tilt. Astronomers had long assumed that planets with pitchy, angled orbits - orbits that don't align with the spin axis o

West Lafayette IN (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, orbits in the outer solar system, about two billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) from Earth. It is an enormous world - quadruple the diameter of Earth, with 15 times the mass and 63 times the volume. Unvisited by spacecraft for more than 35 years, Uranus inhabits one of the least explored regions of our solar system. Although scientists have learn

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 30, 2023
Earth planning date: Wednesday, November 29, 2023: Mars has just emerged from its solar conjunction period, when sending commands to all Mars spacecraft was not safe for three weeks since the Red Planet was behind the Sun as seen from Earth. During that time, Curiosity followed a long plan of instructions covering Sols 4004-4022 which were uploaded to the rover during the week of October 3

Beijing (XNA) Nov 30, 2023
Lunar samples retrieved by China's Chang'e 5 robotic mission went on display in Macao on Tuesday, marking the first time any lunar samples have been brought to the city for public exhibition. The samples, contained in a specially built glass case and closely guarded, can be viewed by members of the public at the Macao Science Center until next Saturday. The appearance of the lunar ma

Tucson, AZ (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
Observations during a stellar occultation detected the presence of evolving material orbiting around Centaur (2060) Chiron, rather than a two- ring system interpretation, according to a paper by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Amanda Sickafoose. "We observed a star passing behind the Centaur Chiron from the 1.9-m telescope in Sutherland. We detected dips in the starlight as it

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 30, 2023
Two small businesses are benefitting from NASA's expertise as they develop heat shield technologies, cargo delivery systems, and new protective materials for spacecraft and space stations in the growing commercial industry of low Earth orbit operations. The two American companies - Canopy Aerospace Inc. of Littleton, Colorado and Outpost Technologies Corp. of Santa Monica, California - rec