Curiosity’s skycrane maneuver
CURIOSITY'S SKYCRANE MANEUVER In this artist's concept, Curiosity is in the final moments of its descent toward Mars, and is being lowered from the descent stage to the surface on three…
The Milky Way’s Double Bubble
The Milky Way’s Double Bubble When it comes to blowing bubbles, never go toe-to-toe with a galaxy. Ten years ago, astronomers were astonished to discover large bubble-like structures emerging from the heart…
The new light-based quantum computer Jiuzhang has achieved quantum supremacy
The new light-based quantum computer Jiuzhang has achieved quantum supremacy A second type of quantum computer has now performed a calculation impossible for a traditional computer. Source: www.sciencenews.org/article/new-light-based-quantum-computer-jiuzhang-supremacy
The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding
The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding Physicists are checking whether dark matter tickles different types of detectors, nudges starlight, warms…
‘WTF?’: newly discovered ghostly circles in the sky can’t be explained by current theories, and astronomers are excited
'WTF?': newly discovered ghostly circles in the sky can't be explained by current theories, and astronomers are excited In September 2019, my colleague Anna Kapinska gave a presentation showing interesting…
Solid phosphorus and fluorine in the dust from the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
New research indicates comets carry all the elements required for life. ABSTRACT Here, we report the detection of phosphorus and fluorine in solid particles collected from the inner coma…
Amino acid found in the atmosphere of Venus
Amino acids are considered to be prime ingredients in chemistry, leading to life. Glycine is the simplest amino acid and most commonly found in animal proteins. It is a glucogenic…
This image shows a comparison of the new image (top) of the western wall of the Carina Nebula taken by the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, and an image of the same region without Adaptive Optics (bottom). The top image was taken with the Gemini South telescope with the GSAOI instrument using the GeMS adaptive optics system, and the bottom image was taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory with the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope using the NEWFIRM instrument.
Comparison of images with and without Adaptive Optics
Adaptive optics control the surfaces of a telescope's optic - often the main mirror - to take into account the turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere. By doing this, the distortion…
SwRI instruments aboard Rosetta help detect unexpected ultraviolet aurora at a comet
SwRI instruments aboard Rosetta help detect unexpected ultraviolet aurora at a comet Data from Southwest Research Institute-led instruments aboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft have helped reveal auroral emissions in…
Mars’ Twin Peaks – Super-Resolution Image From Mars Pathfinder
NASA’s Mars Pathfinder mission landed on the Red Planet on July 4, 1997. It’s tiny rover, named Sojourner after abolitionist Sojourner Truth, spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the…
Lucy: The First Mission to the Trojan Asteroids
Lucy: The First Mission to the Trojan Asteroids Time capsules from the birth of our Solar System more than 4 billion years ago, the swarms of Trojan asteroids associated with…
The Moon Is Rusting, and Researchers Want to Know Why
The Moon Is Rusting, and Researchers Want to Know Why While our Moon is airless, research indicates the presence of hematite, a form of rust that normally requires oxygen and…
ALMA and SPHERE view of GW Orionis (superimposed)
Peculiar planetary system architecture around three Orion stars explained
Peculiar planetary system architecture around three Orion stars explained Not only has the discovery of eoxplanets throughout our galaxy provided a host of new worlds for astronomers to catalogue and…
This Is The Most Exciting Crisis in Cosmology
For as long as there has been a Universe, space has been expanding. It winked into existence roughly 13.8 billion years ago, and has been puffing up ever since, like…