A Tabletop-sized Experiment Could Help in the Search for Dark Matter

Dark matter is one of the least understood aspects in physics.  The evidence for dark matter is from its gravitational influence on galactic scales which cannot be explained by the presence of conventional matter.  Despite its large gravitational interactions, it is notoriously difficult to learn about dark matter as it does not interact with electromagnetic...

4h

Electron Rocket’s 13th Launch Failed, Destroying its Satellite Payload

In what would have been the 12th successful launch of their Electron rocket, Rocket Lab The post Electron Rocket’s 13th Launch Failed, Destroying its Satellite Payload appeared first on Universe Today.

7h

The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. Normally this Looks Like a Dark Blob in the Sky. But in Infrared, it Looks Like This.

The Corona Australis is a constellation in the southern hemisphere. It’s name literally means “southern crown.” One of its features is the Corona Australis molecular cloud, home to a star-forming region containing young stars and proto-stars. It’s one of the closest star-forming regions to us, only about 430 light years away. The ESA has given … Continue...

9h

The Moon Might Be More Metal-Rich Than We Thought

A new study shows that the Moon is more metal-rich than previously thought. That has some far-reaching implications for our understanding of the Moon’s formation. If their results are solid, it means that we may need to re-think the giant impact hypothesis for the formation of the Moon. A team of scientists using the Lunar … Continue reading "The...

11h

Amateur Astronomers Find a Brand New Storm on Jupiter

Amateur astronomers have discovered a new storm near the Great Red Spot. The post Amateur Astronomers Find a Brand New Storm on Jupiter appeared first on Universe Today.

13h

Betelgeuse Probably Dimmed Because of Enormous Starspots

A few months ago we all watched as Betelgeuse dimmed. Between October 2019 and 22nd of February 2020 the star’s brightness dropped by a factor of about three. It went from magnitude 0.5, and from being the tenth-brightest star in the sky, to magnitude 1.7. Naturally, we all wondered what was happening. Would it go … Continue reading "Betelgeuse Probably...

15h

NGC 2275: An Absolute Unit of Galactic Flocculence

The Hubble Space Telescope has the knack for finding every size and shape of galaxy imaginable – from small, medium to large, all the way up to that funky size of absolute units. This unusual galaxy, named NGC 2775, is incredibly fluffy-looking, or flocculent. It’s definitely a spiral, but instead of well-defined, organized spiral arms, … Continue...

17h

China’s Mars Rover Launches in Late July

In July there’s another launch window to Mars. It looks like China is ready to take advantage of it, by launching their first rover to the planet. It’s called Tianwen-1, meaning “Heavenly Questions”, or “Questions to Heaven.” The complete mission consists of a lander, an orbiter, and a rover. The exact day has not been … Continue reading "China’s...

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There’s a Black Hole With 34 Billion Times the Mass of the Sun, Eating Roughly a Star Every Day

In the 1960s, astronomers began theorizing that there might be black holes in the Universe that are so massive – supermassive black holes (SMBHs) – they could power the nuclei of active galaxies (aka. quasars). A decade later, astronomers discovered that an SMBH existed at the center of the Milky Way (Sagitarrius A*); and by … Continue reading "There’s...

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Astronomers See Through the Milky Way’s Dust to Track Where Radiation is Coming From at the Center of the Galaxy

The center of our very own galaxy might be one of the Universe’s most mysterious places. Astronomers have to probe through thick dust to see what’s going on there. All that dust makes life difficult for astronomers who are trying to understand all the radiation in the center of the Milky Way, and what exactly … Continue reading "Astronomers See Through...

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