Astronomy & Physics – smiling pockets

Category Archives:Astronomy & Physics

May. 18.

Bright Explosion on the Moon Visible to the Naked Eye (If You Were Looking)

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

NASA researchers monitoring the moon for meteoroid impacts have detected the brightest explosion in the history of their program. A meteorite crashed on the moon’s surface last March 17 and if you were gazing at the moon that time (looking for the man on the moon, perhaps), you would have witnessed it because the explosion was so bright it was visible to the naked eye. The meteorite slammed into the moon’s surface at the speed of 56,000 mph creating an explosion as powerful as 5 tons of TNT. Meteors were also observed to rain on Earth at the same time, except that our planet has an atmosphere that shields it from serious impacts, while the moon has none.

ScienceCasts: Bright Explosion on the Moon (via SPACE.com)

Tagged: Bright explosion on the moon, Meteorite explosion on the moon visible to the naked eye, New crater on the moon

May. 07.

Dark Matter: The Matter We Can’t See

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

The Greeks had a simple and elegant formula for the universe: just earth, fire, wind, and water. Turns out there’s more to it than that — a lot more. Visible matter (and that goes beyond the four Greek elements) comprises only 4% of the universe. CERN scientist James Gillies tells us what accounts for the remaining 96% (dark matter and dark energy) and how we might go about detecting it.

Dark matter: The matter we can’t see – James Gillies

Tagged: Dark matter, TED-Ed video on dark matter by James Gillies

Apr. 30.

Like a Rose: Saturn’s North Polar Storm

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

The spinning vortex of Saturn’s north polar storm resembles a deep red rose of giant proportions surrounded by green foliage in this false-color image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Measurements have sized the eye at a staggering 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) across with cloud speeds as fast as 330 miles per hour (150 meters per second).

This image is among the first sunlit views of Saturn’s north pole captured by Cassini’s imaging cameras. When the spacecraft arrived in the Saturnian system in 2004, it was northern winter and the north pole was in darkness. Saturn’s north pole was last imaged under sunlight by NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1981; however, the observation geometry did not allow for detailed views of the poles. Consequently, it is not known how long this newly discovered north-polar hurricane has been active.

The Rose, NASA

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

Tagged: Saturn's hurricane, Saturn's north pole storm, The Rose in Saturn

Apr. 20.

NASA’s Kepler discovers new exoplanets that might be suitable for life

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the “habitable zone,” the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water.

NASA’s Kepler Discovers Its Smallest ‘Habitable Zone’ Planets to Date, NASA

Tagged: Exoplanets that might be suitable for life, Habitable zone planets, Kepler mission

Apr. 14.

NASA Plans to Capture an Asteroid

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

NASA’s 2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically grab a near-Earth asteroid and tow it to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it.

Performing these elements for the proposed asteroid initiative integrates the best of NASA’s science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America’s brightest scientists and engineers. It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered solar electric propulsion and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

NASA’s Asteroid Initiative Benefits From Rich History, NASA

Tagged: NASA asteroid initiative, NASA plans to capture an asteroid

Apr. 08.

The Different Models of Parallel Universes

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

… have no experimental support, as explained by MinutePhysics

The true science of parallel universes (via Geeks are Sexy)

Tagged: Different models of parallel universes, Different theories on Parallel Universes, Parallel Universes explained

Apr. 07.

Brushing your teeth in space

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics, Life tips |

— can be challenging, not just because of zero-gravity, but more so because of the thing you have to do after brushing, as ISS commander Chris Hadfield demonstrates. Warning: This can shatter your dream of becoming an astronaut.

Chris Hadfield Brushes his Teeth in Space (via Geekosystem)

Tagged: Chris Hadfield demonstrates how to brush teeth in space, How to brush your teeth in space

Apr. 04.

What if the sun vanished?

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

Vsauce explores how Earth would get along if the sun just vanished.

What If The Sun Disappeared? (via ViralViralVideos)

Tagged: What if the sun disappeared

Mar. 23.

Universe is 100 million years older than previously estimated

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

The Planck space mission (a European Space Agency mission) has released the most precise and detailed map ever of the oldest light in the universe, shedding new data about its age and origins.

The map suggests that the universe is expanding more slowly and is 100 million years older than previously estimated (so it’s 13.8 billion years old). The map also shows that there is more matter, both normal and dark, and less dark energy. Dark matter is invisible and can only be seen through its gravity’s effects, while dark energy pulls our universe apart. Both have a mysterious nature.

The map […] reveals tiny temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background, ancient light that has traveled for billions of years from the very early universe to reach us. The patterns of light represent the seeds of galaxies and clusters of galaxies we see around us today.

The top map shows Planck’s all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background, whereas the bottom map shows the largest-scale features of the map.

One of the anomalies observed by Planck, and hinted at before by previous missions, is an asymmetry in the temperature fluctuations of the ancient light across two halves of our sky. Temperature variations are represented by the different colors, with red being warmer and blue, cooler. The extent of these variations is greater on the hemisphere shown at right than the one at left. This goes against the accepted simple model of our universe, which holds that the sky is the same in all directions. Scientists are in the process of incorporating these and other anomalies into their picture of the universe.

Read the rest at NASA: Planck mission brings universe into sharp focus

Image credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Tagged: Planck mission map of the universe, Universe is 100 million years older than previously estimated

Mar. 15.

NASA’s spacecraft sees Comet Pan-STARRS along with Earth and Mercury

By rebecca | Posted in Astronomy & Physics |

Comet Pan-STARRS (discovered in 2011, named for the Panoramic Survey & Rapid Response System in Hawaii) became visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere with the same brightness as a star but with a tail. NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) captured a better view of the comet last March 9-12 moving through space.

The stationary planet on the right is Earth, and the moving planet on the left is Mercury. The material moving in from the left is solar wind streaming off the sun, which is out of view on the left. Comet scientists say the tail looks quite complex and it will take computer models to help understand exactly what’s happening in STEREO’s observations. The comet should remain visible to the naked eye through the end of March.

STEREO Sees Comet Pan-STARRS, NASA