Evanston, IL-(ENEWSPF)- In order to search for life in outer space, astronomers first need to know where to look. A new Northwestern University study will help astronomers narrow down the search. Which exoplanets are truly habitable? The research team is the first to combine 3D climate modeling with atmospheric chemistry[Read More…]
Space
New Hubble Constant Measurement Adds to Mystery of Universe’s Expansion Rate
Red Giant Stars Used as Milepost Markers Baltimore, MD-(ENEWSPF)- Astronomers have made a new measurement of how fast the universe is expanding, the Hubble Constant, using an entirely different kind of star than previous endeavors. The revised measurement, which comes from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, falls in the center of[Read More…]
First Ever Solar Eclipse Film Brough Back to Life
London, UK-(ENEWSPF)- The BFI and the Royal Astronomical Society have announced the rediscovery of the earliest moving picture of a total solar eclipse from 1900, the first ever solar eclipse film. The original film fragment held in The Royal Astronomical Society’s archive has been painstakingly scanned and restored in 4K by conservation[Read More…]
Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole
An international collaboration presents paradigm-shifting observations of the gargantuan black hole at the heart of distant galaxy Messier 87 Cambridge, MA-(ENEWSPF)- The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. Today,[Read More…]
SpaceX Crew Dragon Splashdown Marks Success of First NASA Commercial Crew Flight Test
Kennedy Space Center, FL-(ENEWSPF)- NASA passed a major milestone Friday in its goal to restore America’s human spaceflight capability when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon returned to Earth after a five-day mission docked to the International Space Station. About 6 hours after departing the space station, Crew Dragon splashed down at 8:45 a.m.[Read More…]
Lunar Water Molecules Hop as Surface Temperature Increases
Tucson, AZ-(ENEWSPF)- Small amounts of water are attached to lunar grains on the dayside of the Moon and migrate around depending on surface temperature, as reported in a new paper by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Amanda Hendrix. Data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) shows that lunar water molecules[Read More…]
New Study Suggests Possibility of Recent Underground Volcanism on Mars
Washington, D.C.-(ENEWSPF)- A study published last year in the journal Science suggested liquid water is present beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars. Now, a new study in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters argues there needs to be an underground source of heat for liquid water to exist underneath the polar ice cap. This[Read More…]
Asteroid from ‘Rare Species’ Sighted in the Cosmic Wild
Palomar Mountain, CA -(ENEWSPF)- Astronomers have discovered a ‘rare species’ asteroid looping through the inner solar system on an exotic orbit. The unusual object is among the first asteroids ever found whose orbit is confined almost entirely within the orbit of Venus. The asteroid’s existence hints at potentially significant numbers[Read More…]
ESA: Gaia Clocks New Speeds for Milky Way-Andromeda Collision
European Space Agency-(ENEWSPF)- ESA’s Gaia satellite has looked beyond our Galaxy and explored two nearby galaxies to reveal the stellar motions within them and how they will one day interact and collide with the Milky Way – with surprising results. Our Milky Way belongs to a large gathering of galaxies[Read More…]
The Milky Way Is Warped
The first accurate 3D map of our galaxy reveals its true shape: warped and twisted. Victoria, Australia-(ENEWSPF)- Astronomers from Macquarie University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have used 1339 ‘standard’ stars to map the real shape of our home galaxy in a paper published in Nature Astronomy today. They found the[Read More…]