Refractor to reflector, Schmidt-Cassegrain to Maksutov-Cassegrain – this is everything you need to know about the different types of telescopes. Telescopes gather and focus light using precisely-shaped mirrors and lenses (or a combination of both). The larger the telescope’s main mirror or lens, the more light is gathered and theContinue Reading
SN 2023ixf is the closest supernova to Earth in more than a decade — and the perfect excuse for intelligent aliens to get our attention, new SETI research suggests. Astronomers have their eyes on a new ultrabright explosion in space: a Type II supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy (also knownContinue Reading
Water ice falling into the planet’s upper atmosphere may create an excess UV emission The rings that make Saturn such a spectacle are probably heating its atmosphere and making it glow at ultraviolet wavelengths. Researchers detected an excess of ultraviolet emission in Saturn’s northern hemisphere that comes from hydrogen atoms.Continue Reading
The findings could aid the search for icy moons orbiting planets outside the solar system THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — A young, ultrabright Jupiter may have desiccated its now hellish moon Io. The planet’s bygone brilliance could have also vaporized water on Europa and Ganymede, planetary scientist Carver Bierson reported MarchContinue Reading
Ethics should be as much of a guide as science and technology, an astrophysicist argues Astrophysicist Erika Nesvold once asked an executive of a company aiming to mine the moon how he planned to address risks that mining equipment might carry microbes from Earth and contaminate the moon (SN: 1/10/18).Continue Reading
Uracil, a component of RNA, was found in a sample collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft Uracil, a building block of life, has been found on the asteroid Ryugu. Yasuhiro Oba and colleagues discovered the precursor to life in samples collected from the asteroid and returned to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa2Continue Reading
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Vestiges of a moon-forming cataclysm could have kick-started plate tectonics on Earth. The leading explanation for the origin of the moon proposes that a Mars-sized planet, dubbed Theia, struck the nascent Earth, ejecting a cloud of debris into space that later coalesced into a satellite. NewContinue Reading
On Earth, these gases are almost always produced only by organisms SEATTLE: Attention alien hunters: If you want to find life on distant planets, try looking for signs of toxic chemical cleanup. Gases that organisms produce as they tidy up their environments could provide clear signs of life on planetsContinue Reading
Scientists want to use Webb to see the beginning of the universe. How is that possible? On July 12, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) made history by releasing its debut image: a jewel-filled photo that’s been touted as the deepest photo of the universe ever taken. Besides looking fartherContinue Reading
Nongovernment satellites are vulnerable to attack, and calling them critical infrastructure would make it easier for the U.S. to fight back For five days in 2021, gas on the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. stopped flowing. People began to panic-buy at the pumps and cancel trips. A Russian criminal groupContinue Reading
