On today’s Fresh Air, how supernovas — like the one pictured above — helped scientists measure how fast the universe is expanding.
Tycho’s Supernova Remnant: Tycho’s Remnant Provides Shocking Evidence for Cosmic Rays (The hot, expanding debris of a supernova observed in 1572.) (by Smithsonian Institution)
Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Coated in Fresh powder
Scientists estimate that Enceladus’s low gravity—about one percent that of Earth—allows some of the ice emitted by the polar geysers to jet into space rather than falling back to the moon’s surface.
Enough material escapes to form an entire ring of Saturn, called the E ring.
Via kateoplis
Weird Exoplanetary System Dances To the Beat
If there’s one thing to be said for the Kepler mission, it’s certainly turning up some very strange new worlds.
Recently, the mission has spotted a Tatooine-like exoplanet; it’s found evidence for a “phantom” world; spied a tightly-packed six-pack and even found an exoplanet darker than coal.
Now, a sun-like star — called Kepler-18 — has been spotted with a super-Earth and two Neptune-like worlds orbiting it.
npr:
Dark energy is here to stay. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physicswas given to a trio of astronomers who made an extraordinary discovery in 1998: that the universe not only is expanding, but it’s doing so at an accelerated rate. Nobel Prize winner physicist Frank Wilczek called this ”the most fundamentally mysterious thing in basic science.” It’s an understatement to say that when the accelerated universe was first announced, the physics and astronomy community were completely baffled. To a large extent, we still are, 13 years later. I’d like to use the blog today to put their discovery into context, exploring why dark energy is so bizarre.
—Marcelo Gleiser in 13.7: Cosmos And Culture
Space Telescopes Reveal Secrets of Turbulent Black Hole
A fleet of spacecraft including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered unprecedented details in the surroundings of a supermassive black hole. Observations reveal huge bullets of gas being driven away from the gravitational monster and a corona of very hot gas hovering above the disk of matter that is falling into the black hole.
Reusability is key to the dramatic cost savings that will enable advancements in human exploration of space. The Dragon spacecraft is a fully reusable and SpaceX is working toward the goal of delivering the world’s first fully reusable launch vehicle. Check out the animation below for a sneak peek at SpaceX’s exciting plans for the future.
(Source: spacex.com)
The Aurora Australis (Southern lights) as seen from the International Space Station.
Magnetic activity on the sun has really been running on high gear recently and while it hasn’t caused any problems so far, skywatchers around the world are being treated to some exceptionally energetic aurorae — and the same goes for the skywatchers in orbit!
