fraser

fraser, 4 days ago to random

One hazard of spaceflight is meteoroids, small chunks of rock that impact spacecraft at high velocity, causing damage. Since NASA has sent spacecraft across the Solar System, they know what the environment is like. To reduce the risk, NASA has developed a new library of meteoroids across the Solar System, allowing mission planners to predict the size, speed, and density of meteoroids a spacecraft might encounter, from low-Earth orbit to various Lagrange Points.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.08685

fraser, 4 days ago to random

Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized world in orbit around an ultracool red dwarf star not much bigger than Jupiter. Designated SPECULOOS-3 b, the planet is about 55 light-years from Earth and takes about 17 hours to orbit once around its star. The star is dramatically cooler than the Sun but blasts out intense radiation that has likely scoured the planet's surface. Because the star is so dim, this planet is a perfect target for JWST.

https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/discovery-alert-an-earth-sized-world-and-its-ultra-cool-star/

fraser, 4 days ago to random

Current satellites use chemical propellants or ion engines to maintain their altitude, which requires onboard fuel. When the fuel runs out, the satellite slowly degrades its orbit, eventually re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. But a new type of electric propulsion could remain in orbit indefinitely without the need for onboard propellant. Instead, it siphons air particles out of the atmosphere and accelerates them using solar electricity, both freely accessible.

https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/new-air-breathing-spacecraft-provide-better-earth-observation-and-quicker-communications

fraser, 4 days ago to random

Although the leading theory explaining dark matter is some kind of massive particle, theories suggest that primordial black holes could also explain the missing mass. In a new paper, researchers suggest that some of these primordial black holes would merge, releasing gravitational waves detectable by LIGO and other observatories. Since those detections haven't been made, they estimate that black holes explain a fraction of a percent of dark matter.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.05732

fraser, 4 days ago to random

The first stars in the Universe formed from the primordial hydrogen and helium left over from the Big Bang. They were extremely massive and lived short lives, detonating as supernovae. Unfortunately, they were shrouded in vast gas clouds, hidden from our current telescopes. Researchers have developed a new strategy to search for these first stars, looking for when they strayed too close to black holes and were torn apart by the extreme tidal forces.

https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/27298.html

fraser, 5 days ago to random

In 2026, two seismometers will arrive at the Moon's Schrödinger basin, an impact crater 500 km from the Moon's South Pole. These instruments will be dozens of times more sensitive than the Apollo-era seismometers and will record the background seismic activity on the lunar surface. The Moon is constantly pelted by micrometeorites that create background seismic vibration on top of the moonquakes caused by the Moon shrinking as it cools.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-to-measure-moonquakes-with-help-from-insight-mars-mission

fraser, 5 days ago to random

Astronomers have found stellar and supermassive black holes, but where are all the intermediate-mass versions with tens of thousands of times the mass of the Sun? They should be inside globular clusters, dense and ancient collections of millions of stars. Researchers have simulated the interactions between individual stars in globular clusters and anticipate that stellar collisions should produce a star with 10,000 stellar masses, which would become a black hole.

https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2024/20240531-cfca.html

fraser, 5 days ago to random

Although we're at least a decade away from NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory, the agency announced that it has begun developing the key underlying technologies for the space telescope. Three aerospace companies were awarded contracts to research next-generation optical systems, mission designs, and telescope features. The total cost of the contracts is $17.5 million, and work should begin by late summer 2024.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-advance-technologies-for-future-habitable-worlds-mission/

fraser, 5 days ago to random

Although printers have made plastic objects aboard the ISS, a new 3D printer has completed its first printing using liquified stainless steel. The first print wasn't much, just an s-curve deposited atop a metal plate. However, it demonstrates that a laser can liquify stainless steel and then be deposited precisely into a 3D object in weightlessness. Next, four objects will be printed and returned to Earth for analysis.

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/06/First_metal_3D_printing_on_Space_Station

S-curve 3D printing on the ISS

fraser, 5 days ago to random

Astronomers predict that the binary star system T Corona Borealis (T CrB) will brighten significantly due to a nova eruption. The star is 100 times fainter than you can see with the unaided eye. But when the nova occurs, the star should brighten to the point that it's comparable to Polaris (the North Star). It's happening because a white dwarf is stealing material from a companion star, which builds up and explodes on the surface every 80 years.

https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/?newsItem=8a1785d78f95a715018fdd5c68e7320c

fraser, 5 days ago to random

NASA put the Hubble Space Telescope back into safe mode on May 24th due to an ongoing gyroscope issue. The telescope detected a problem with the telemetry readings from one of its three gyros, putting it into safe mode. These gyros measure the telescope's turning rate and are required to keep it locked on a target for long exposures. Astronauts replaced six gyros during its last servicing mission; three have already failed, leaving three left.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-temporarily-pauses-science/

fraser, 9 days ago to random

Researchers have developed a new technique to make highly accurate lunar surface maps from existing satellite observations. They used a mapping technique called shape-from-shading, where they analyzed how light hits different surfaces of the Moon. This allows them to estimate the 3D shape of an object or surface out of 2D images. This highlights various surface hazards and will help future missions plan safe landing sites and surface operations.

https://www.brown.edu/news/2024-05-29/lunar-topography

fraser, 9 days ago to random

This week, South Korea opened up its new space agency, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA). The new chief, Yoon Young-bin, a former aerospace engineering professor, highlighted the agency's priorities in a speech. Although they haven't provided detailed plans for technologies or missions, Young-bin said they hope to land a mission on the lunar surface by 2032, and a mission to Mars by 2045.

https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240527050597

fraser, 9 days ago to random

Jupiter's moon, Io, is the most volcanically active place in the Solar System, with geysers of lava dotting its surface. But is this level of volcanism recent? A new paper analyzed the isotopes of sulfur in Io's eruptions and found that chemicals like sulfur and chlorine are highly enriched compared to average levels across the Solar System. From these measurements, the researchers calculate that Io has been volcanically active for most or all of its history.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.18595

fraser, 9 days ago to random

An intriguing explanation for dark matter is primordial black holes formed shortly after the Big Bang. Unlike modern black holes, which can only form from stellar deaths, the primordial variety could be any mass. To fully explain dark matter, however, there would need to be a lot of them, and so far, searches have failed to turn up evidence. A new model for the early Universe hopes to explain the discrepancy, showing that they'd be rarer than previously believed.

https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/press/z0508_00350.html

fraser, 9 days ago to random

Here's a record that will be broken soon: JWST has found the most distant galaxy ever seen. The discovery was made as part of a survey into Cosmic Dawn when the first galaxies were born in the Universe. Designated JADES-GS-z14-0, the galaxy has a redshift of 14.32, corresponding to when the Universe was only 290 million years old. The galaxy was analyzed with JWST's NIRCam instrument, which provided spectroscopic data, allowing an extremely accurate measurement.

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/05/Webb_finds_most_distant_known_galaxy

fraser, 10 days ago to random

New images from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory show a vent of hot gas blowing away from the center of the Milky Way. The region is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, starts at the center of the galaxy, and is perpendicular to the Milky Way's spiral disk, extending for hundreds of light-years. Astronomers think the vent formed as hot gas forced away from the center of the galaxy collided with cooler gas lying in its path, creating shockwaves.

https://chandra.si.edu/press/24_releases/press_050924.html

fraser, 10 days ago to random

The world's most powerful telescopes could observe Earth-sized worlds orbiting other stars. The problem is that the star's glare is so bright it overwhelms the fainter planet. When the next generation Habitable Worlds Observatory is built, it will need to be able to dim the starlight by 10 billion, revealing the planets around it. A new paper discusses the various strategies developed to achieve this starlight suppression, from coronographs to starshades.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.18036

fraser, 10 days ago to random

Astrobiologists continue to examine different exoplanet atmospheres, searching for a mix of chemicals that would provide a strong signal for life in another world. Here on Earth, ozone forms through the photolysis of molecular oxygen and indicates life. But there are abiotic processes that can create ozone as well. JWST is searching for planets in the habitable zones of red dwarf stars, and the presence of ozone should impact their climates.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.17972

fraser, 12 days ago to random

Astronomers have discovered a fascinating new exoplanet, unlike anything in the Solar System. The planet was found in the binary star system TOI 4633, orbiting one of the stars within the habitable zone. Designated TOI 4633 c, the planet is a mini-neptune, taking 272 days to orbit around its star. Although the planet itself isn't habitable, it could have one or more large moons that could have life—like Endor or Pandora from science fiction.

https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/discovery-alert-mini-neptune-in-double-star-system-is-a-planetary-puzzle/

fraser, 12 days ago to random

When NASA's New Horizons mission flew past Pluto, it discovered a dramatically more active world than astronomers expected. It had mountains of ice, glaciers of nitrogen, and evidence of cryovolcanoes. Researchers have been studying the archival data from New Horizons and built mathematical models that explain the cracks and bulges in the ice covering Pluto's Sputnik Platina Basin. Their calculations suggest a liquid ocean is 40-80 km beneath the ice.

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-peering-pluto-ocean-mathematical-images.html

fraser, 12 days ago to random

A new telescope has come online to observe satellites and stars around the clock, even in full daylight. The Huntsman Telescope comprises ten consumer-level 400 mm Canon lenses working together. It was originally designed for night sky observations, but researchers have found that broadband filters can block most daylight while allowing specific wavelengths from space to pass through. This could allow continuous observations of stars close to the Sun.

https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/may-2024/stargazing-in-broad-daylight-how-a-multi-lens-telescope-is-changing-astronomy

fraser, 12 days ago to random

Although astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, none are truly like our home planet: an Earth-sized world orbiting a Sun-like star in the habitable zone. A new paper suggests that the radial velocity method for discovering exoplanets should be able to find Earth-mass worlds around relatively close Sun-like stars using a deep learning algorithm. They injected the signal of an exo-earth into an existing observation and teased out the subtle signal.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.13247

fraser, 12 days ago to random

Astronomers recently reported the discovery of seven stars as potential candidate Dyson spheres. These stars give off most of their radiation in the infrared, potentially the waste heat from a sphere or swarm of spacecraft around a star. A new paper has another explanation: dust-obscured galaxies. These are a rare type of quasar billions of light-years away that emit enormous amounts of radiation, but it's obscured by dust, so it's largely infrared.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14921

fraser, 12 days ago to random

While text and images are all the rage for generative AI, there are some interesting science applications. Astronomical surveys generate millions and even billions of observations that can be fed into a data-hungry transformer model and used to make fascinating discoveries. Researchers have developed a new transformer model called AstroPT that was trained on 2.1 billion images from the DESI Legacy Survey. This model can then predict the structures of missing data.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14930