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Science Space

All articles tagged with #science space

science-space6 hours ago•203 min saved

Rescue attempt for NASA's Swift observatory ends in failure

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, in orbit for nearly 22 years, is steadily losing altitude and is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere later this year. A companion LINK satellite launched to boost Swift could not complete the rescue due to ongoing attitude-control issues, delaying rendezvous and preventing a higher orbit, with NASA and its partner reframing the mission as a demonstration for future in-space servicing while other observatories fill the observational gap.

via CNN|

#link-satellite #nasa #reentry

science-space11 days ago•11 min saved

Huygens’ Titan touchdown reveals snow-like ground and a data-driven reconstruction

After a billion-kilometre journey aboard Cassini, the Huygens probe touched down on Titan in 2005 with a gentle contact, denting the surface about 12 cm, then bouncing, sliding roughly 30–40 cm, and wobbling five times over about 10 seconds. No outside camera captured the moment, so researchers rebuilt the sequence from the probe’s instruments, computer simulations, and a ground drop test. The result suggests Titan’s surface acts like snow frozen on top: firm under light pressure but yielding under heavier pressure, with a small plume of dry organic dust hinting at a long dry interval with no recent methane/ethane rain.

via Space Daily|

#cassini #huygens #planetary-science

science-space15 days ago•210 min saved

Mapping the Path of Totality: Solar Eclipse Maps Point the Way

A CNN Science/Space article explains how eclipse cartographers map the path of totality for the August 12, 2026 solar eclipse. EclipseAtlas founder Michael Zeiler uses centuries of observations and high-precision modeling—including the saros cycle and Delta T corrections—to predict where the Moon’s shadow will fall, helping observers choose optimal viewing spots, sometimes at the edge of totality to catch phenomena like Baily’s Beads. Totality will be visible from Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain and northeastern Portugal, with partial views across Europe, Africa and North America; timings vary (Reykjavík ~1:48, León ~2:28). Maps and resources like Time and Date aid planning, and the piece notes that continued refinements in measurements keep eclipse predictions advancing toward kilometer-scale accuracy, with next total eclipses in 2027 and 2044 anticipated for observers.

via CNN|

#astronomy #eclipse-maps #nasa

science-space15 days ago•17 min saved

Seven-Billion-Year-Old Stardust Grain Sheds Light on Galactic History

A silicon carbide grain embedded in the 1969 Murchison meteorite fell in Victoria and has been dated to about seven billion years old, indicating it condensed in the outflow of a dying star before the Sun formed. The age is an exposure-based neon-21 clock, not the meteorite’s age, and represents one of the oldest solid materials on Earth, pointing to a burst of star formation in the Milky Way around seven billion years ago. Recent Bennu samples also contain presolar grains, confirming interstellar stardust survives to become part of solar system bodies. The method carries uncertainties and is not yet a galaxy‑wide consensus.

via Space Daily|

#astronomy #meteoritics #neon-21-dating

science-space18 days ago•11 min saved

Asteroid Apophis to skim by Earth in 2029 as NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX trails to study gravity’s effect

In April 2029, asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass about 32,000 km above Earth — closer than geostationary satellites — and NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX will watch from afar and then trail the asteroid to map how Earth’s gravity changes its orbit, rotation and surface. The mission will use cameras, spectrometers and a laser altimeter to characterize Apophis’s shape and composition, with a close ground-proximity pass later used to study surface changes, while Earth provides a well-understood gravitational test for a potentially hazardous, rubble-pile body.

via Space Daily|

#2029-flyby #apophis #asteroid-science

science-space19 days ago•203 min saved

Sun’s surface whirlpools revealed by ultra-high-resolution telescope

Using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope near Maui, scientists captured the Sun’s visible surface in unprecedented detail, revealing Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities—tiny swirling vortices along magnetic boundaries—that could explain why the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) is hotter than its surface and how magnetic energy is built, released and transported to drive solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The observations align with advanced simulations and may improve space-weather forecasting that affects satellites and power grids.

via CNN|

#coronal-heating #inouye-solar-telescope #kelvin-helmholtz-instability

science-space21 days ago•198 min saved

SpaceX upper stage set for Moon impact, NASA observers plan to watch

A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage carrying two lunar landers is on a collision course with the Moon, expected to strike near Einstein Crater around 2:35 a.m. ET. NASA and independent astronomers confirm the trajectory; there is no danger to Earth. The impact should create a crater about 65–90 feet (20–30 meters) in diameter and may be visible only through telescopes, with the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter aiming to image the site afterward. Scientists hope to gain insights into the lunar surface and debris behavior, informing future Artemis-era missions and lunar-debris mitigation strategies.

via CNN|

#einstein-crater #falcon-9 #moon

science-space22 days ago•12 min saved

Seeing Earth Whole: The Astronaut Mindshift Behind the Overview Effect

Earthrise (1968) and the later Blue Marble helped people see Earth as a finite, borderless world; astronauts report a persistent 'overview effect'—a mindshift toward seeing Earth as a fragile, connected system and feeling protective toward it. The evidence is largely anecdotal; researchers are only beginning to measure it, with VR and awe studies offering early hints, and whether it will spread to the public remains an open question.

via Space Daily|

#apollo-8 #astronaut-experience #earthrise

science-space28 days ago•194 min saved

Buck Moon Lights Up July Skies With Wednesday Peak

July’s buck moon rises in the east and peaks at 10:36 a.m. ET on Wednesday, offering skywatchers a chance to view a bright full Moon from dark, clear skies; the Moon may appear reddish due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, Indigenous groups have different traditional names for it, and the event echoes the ongoing connection to space exploration and NASA’s Artemis II mission.

via CNN|

#astronomy #buck-moon #full-moon

science-space29 days ago•12 min saved

Ocean Worlds Grow: Subsurface Seas Likely Beneath More Outer Solar System Moons

A growing body of evidence suggests several outer‑solar‑system moons—Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Enceladus and Titan among the strongest cases—may harbor global oceans beneath ice, inferred from magnetic, gravitational and geological signals. Mimas, Triton and some Uranian moons remain plausible additions. Archived mission data continue to yield insights, and future missions like Europa Clipper and ESA’s Juice will further test these ocean models, even as not every frozen moon is expected to host liquid water.

via Space Daily|

#enceladus #europa #ocean-worlds

science-space1 month ago•10 min saved

Titan Wider Than Mercury, Second‑Largest Moon After Ganymede

Saturn’s moon Titan, about 5,150 km across, is wider than Mercury and is the Solar System’s second-biggest moon after Jupiter’s Ganymede, though its mass is only about 40% of Mercury’s due to its icy composition. Titan also boasts a thick nitrogen atmosphere and stable surface liquids (methane/ethane) with Earth-like features such as rivers and lakes, highlighting how size and nature can diverge: a world that looks planet-like but remains a moon. The distinction is orbital, not dimensional, and missions like Cassini–Huygens and the future Dragonfly continue to study Titan’s unique geology and weather.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #ganymede #mercury

science-space1 month ago•11 min saved

Time Slows to a Standstill at Black Hole Edges, Then Crosses the Horizon

Black holes warp time as well as space: near the event horizon, a distant observer sees infalling matter slow and freeze at the edge due to gravitational time dilation, while the object itself experiences finite proper time to cross the horizon. This freezing is a coordinate effect, not a literal halt in the falling object’s reality. Gravitational time dilation has been measured on Earth and in GPS systems, confirming relativity beyond black holes. Observations like the Event Horizon Telescope and LIGO support horizon physics but do not show a literal frozen image, and quantum-gravity effects (e.g., Hawking radiation) remain unobserved and unresolved.

via Space Daily|

#black-hole #event-horizon #general-relativity

science-space1 month ago•5 min saved

Helium escapes hint at atmosphere on rocky world in habitable zone

Astronomers observing LHS 1140b, a rocky planet in its star’s habitable zone, detected helium escaping from its outer atmosphere, suggesting it has a helium-rich atmosphere and may host conditions suitable for life; the inner atmospheric composition and actual presence of water aren’t confirmed, and findings require replication with future observations.

via Nature|

#atmosphere #exoplanets #habitable-zone

science-space1 month ago•198 min saved

Fragile Hillsborough meteorite uncovers amino acids and salts from the early solar system

Scientists analyzing the Hillsborough meteorite fragments recovered from a New Jersey home found a rare CM½ carbonaceous chondrite rich in salts and a diverse suite of extraterrestrial amino acids, offering a pristine snapshot of the early solar system and supporting the idea that meteorites helped deliver organic matter to Earth; the sample’s fragility and rapid containment preserved its original composition for study, with researchers comparing it to Bennu and Ryugu samples to understand water–organic interactions in the early solar system.

via CNN|

#amino-acids #brine-salts #carbonaceous-chondrite

science-space1 month ago•13 min saved

Four Billion Tonnes in a Teaspoon: The Dense Secret of Neutron Stars

A teaspoon of neutron-star matter weighs about four billion tonnes because gravity compresses more mass than the Sun into a city-sized sphere. The article explains how neutron stars form from collapsed stellar cores, the role of neutron degeneracy pressure in stopping collapse, their extreme surface gravity and magnetic fields, and how mergers like GW170817 forge heavy elements such as gold. It also touches on interior models and how neutron stars might help probe dark matter, while noting how the “teaspoon” analogy distills the star’s extreme density into a tangible image.

via Space Daily|

#gravitational-waves #neutron-degeneracy-pressure #neutron-star