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12/01/2023 03:17 AM
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Should We Send Humans to Europa?
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Universe Today recently examined the potential for sending humans to the planet Venus despite its extremely harsh surface conditions. But while a human mission to the clouds of Venus could be feasible given the environmental conditions are much more Earth-like, a human mission to the second planet from the Sun could be (at minimum) decades …
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The post Should We Send Humans to Europa? appeared first on Universe Today.
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12/01/2023 02:58 AM
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Europe is Working on a Multi-Purpose Habitat for the Moon
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With NASA gearing up to send humans back to the Moon in the next few years with the Artemis missions with the goal of establishing a permanent outpost at the lunar south pole, nations are making efforts to contribute to Artemis and a permanent presence on our nearest celestial neighbor. Recently, the Italian Space Agency, …
Continue reading "Europe is Working on a Multi-Purpose Habitat for the Moon"
The post Europe is Working on a Multi-Purpose Habitat for the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.
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12/01/2023 12:43 AM
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Hubble is Offline Because of a Problem with one of its Gyros
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The rich flow of scientific data—and stunning images—that comes from the Hubble Space Telescope is being interrupted by gyro problems. One of the telescope’s three remaining gyros gave faulty readings, and the Hubble automatically entered safe mode. In safe mode, science operations are suspended. Without gyros, the Hubble can’t orient itself properly. Gyros measure the …
Continue reading "Hubble is Offline Because of a Problem with one of its Gyros"
The post Hubble is Offline Because of a Problem with one of its Gyros appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 11:24 PM
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Spider Pulsars are Tearing Apart Stars in the Omega Cluster
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Pulsars are extreme objects. They’re what’s left over when a massive star collapses on itself and explodes as a supernova. This creates a neutron star. Neutron stars spin, and some of them emit radiation. When they emit radiation from their poles that we can see, we call them pulsars. In the last decade or so, …
Continue reading "Spider Pulsars are Tearing Apart Stars in the Omega Cluster"
The post Spider Pulsars are Tearing Apart Stars in the Omega Cluster appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 10:39 PM
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Fermi has Found More than 300 Gamma-Ray Pulsars
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In June 2008, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope began surveying the cosmos to study some of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Shortly after that, NASA renamed the observatory in the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in honor of Professor Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), a pioneer in high-energy physics. During its mission, Fermi has addressed questions regarding …
Continue reading "Fermi has Found More than 300 Gamma-Ray Pulsars"
The post Fermi has Found More than 300 Gamma-Ray Pulsars appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 09:53 PM
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Vera Rubin Will Generate a Mind-Boggling Amount of Data
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When the Vera C. Rubin Observatory comes online in 2025, it will be one of the most powerful tools available to astronomers, capturing huge portions of the sky every night with its 8.4-meter mirror and 3.2-gigapixel camera. Each image will be analyzed within 60 seconds, alerting astronomers to transient events like supernovae. An incredible five …
Continue reading "Vera Rubin Will Generate a Mind-Boggling Amount of Data"
The post Vera Rubin Will Generate a Mind-Boggling Amount of Data appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 07:58 PM
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Could Life Exist in Molecular Clouds?
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Our search for life beyond Earth is still in its infancy. We’re focused on Mars and, to a lesser extent, ocean moons like Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus. Should we extend our search to cover more unlikely places like molecular clouds? The idea that life could survive on other worlds like Mars or Europa gained …
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The post Could Life Exist in Molecular Clouds? appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 07:20 PM
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The New Asteroid Moon Discovered by Lucy Just Got its Own Name
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When NASA’s Lucy mission flew past asteroid Dinkinesh on November 1, 2023, it made the surprising discovery the asteroid had a tiny moon. Then came another surprise. This wasn’t just any moon, but a contact binary moon, where two space rocks are gently resting against each other. Of course, this new and unique moon needed …
Continue reading "The New Asteroid Moon Discovered by Lucy Just Got its Own Name"
The post The New Asteroid Moon Discovered by Lucy Just Got its Own Name appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 05:05 PM
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Not Getting Enough Data From Mars? Set Up A Solar System Pony Express
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Getting data in from deep space can be difficult. Almost all of our missions that have flown into deep space use the Deep Space Network, a system of transmitters and receivers that already imposes constraints on the amount of data we can transfer from the far reaches of space. So a team led by Joshua …
Continue reading "Not Getting Enough Data From Mars? Set Up A Solar System Pony Express"
The post Not Getting Enough Data From Mars? Set Up A Solar System Pony Express appeared first on Universe Today.
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11/30/2023 02:50 AM
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A Gamma-ray Burst Disturbed the Earth’s Ionosphere
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You’d think that something happening billions of light-years away wouldn’t affect Earth, right? Well, in 2002, a burst of gamma rays lasting 800 seconds actually impacted our planet. They came from a powerful and very distant supernova explosion. Its gamma-ray bombardment disturbed our planet’s ionosphere and activated lightning detectors in India. This particular gamma-ray burst …
Continue reading "A Gamma-ray Burst Disturbed the Earth’s Ionosphere"
The post A Gamma-ray Burst Disturbed the Earth’s Ionosphere appeared first on Universe Today.
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