Manoa HI (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
Everything in our universe moves, but the timescales needed to see motion are often vastly greater than human lifetimes. In a major new study, a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), University of Maryland and University of Paris-Saclay has traced the movement of 10,000 galaxies and clusters of galaxies, the dominant congregations of matter, within 350

Warwick UK (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
A new study from the University of Warwick demonstrates the impact of passing stars, misaligned binary stars and passing gas clouds on the formation of planets in early star systems. Scientists have modelled how cosmic events like these can warp protoplanetary discs, the birthplaces of planets, in the early evolution of solar systems. Their results are published today in the Astrophysical Journa

Mountain View CA (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
Frontier Development Lab (FDL) is kicking off its 7th year with a call for applications and the search for an expanded faculty. This year will be the program's biggest and most ambitious to date, with more teams tackling challenges in space, Earth science and energy domains. FDL is a public-private partnership between NASA, DOE, the SETI Institute, Trillium Technologies, the European Space

Cologne, Germany (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
Astronomers have found a new and original method for measuring the cosmic microwave background's temperature when the Universe was still in its infancy. Writing in 'Nature', they confirm in their new study the early cooling of our Universe shortly after the Big Bang and open up new perspectives on the elusive dark energy. An international group of astrophysicists has discovered a new metho

Heidelberg (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
With the IRAM NOEMA telescope array in the French Alps, astronomers have for the first time observed a distant object casting a shadow on the early, hot Big Bang phase of our universe, blocking out some of the light of the so-called cosmic background radiation. The object is a water cloud so distant that we see it as it was a mere 880 million years after the Big Bang. The shadow appears because

Leicester UK (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
New Leicester space research has revealed, for the first time, a complex 'tug-of-war' lights up aurorae in Jupiter's upper atmosphere, using a combination of data from NASA's Juno probe and the Hubble Space Telescope. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, describes the delicate current cycle driven by Jupiter's rapid rotation and the release of sulphur

Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Feb 07, 2022
An international team of astronomers has discovered a pair of asteroids that split off from their parent body a mere 300 years ago. The duo is exceptional because it is the youngest known "asteroid pair" by at least a factor of ten, it passes close to Earth's orbit, and it has properties that are hard to explain given its young age. The majority of asteroids in our solar system reside in t

Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 07, 2022
America's favorite red monster may not be interested in rocks, but Perseverance can't wait to keep exploring the rocks on Mars! How does the rover study rocks up-close? The Mars2020 Perseverance rover is equipped with several instruments that help it investigate the surface of Mars. The PIXL and SHERLOC spectrometers both sit on the Robotic Arm. In addition to measuring spectra and t

Orlando FL (UPI) Feb 05, 2022
The planned launch of an Astra Space rocket from Florida was scrubbed Saturday after the failure of ground equipment needed to launch. "Unfortunately, due to a range asset that has gone out of service today, we are going to stand down from today's launch attempt of the ELaNa 41 Mission," said Carolina Grossman, director of product management at the company, during the live broadcast.

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 4, 2021
SpaceX and NASA officials are investigating a lag in parachute openings during the return of the company's Dragon capsules from the International Space Station with cargo and astronauts, the organizations said during a teleconference Friday. The return of such capsules was never in jeopardy, and the landing systems performed well during 24 cargo missions and three crewed splashdowns, Sp