space

Buckyballs mysteriously show up in cold space and warp starlight 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 27, 2017
Astrophile is Joshua Sokol’s monthly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse

By David Aragorn
Astronomers discover bubble-like structure associated with the pulsar PSR J1015−5719 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 26, 2017
Astronomers have recently identified a peculiar bubble-like structure associated with an energetic pulsar known as PSR J1015−5719. The newly found feature, designated G283.1−0.59, is most likely a polar wind nebula. The findings were presented June 9 in a paper published on the arXiv pre-print server.

By David Aragorn
Mars-to-Earth-Mass Planet May Lurk in Outer Solar System: Planet 10 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 24, 2017
An unknown Mars-to-Earth-mass planet may lurk in the outer reaches of the Solar System.

By David Aragorn
On the dynamical nature of Saturn’s North Polar hexagon 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 23, 2017
An explanation of long-lived Saturn’s North Polar hexagonal circumpolar jet in terms of instability of the coupled system polar vortex – circumpolar jet is proposed in the framework of the rotating shallow water model, where scarcely known vertical structure of the Saturn’s atmosphere is averaged out.

By David Aragorn
General relativity passes test at Milky Way’s central black hole 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 23, 2017
Einstein’s greatest theory has aced another test. Two stars are speeding around the big black hole at the Milky Way’s core in just the way his general theory of relativity predicted.

By David Aragorn
Jupiter Now Has 69 Moons 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 22, 2017
Our local gas giant has two more natural satellites added to its roster

By David Aragorn
Hubble Captures Massive Dead Disk Galaxy that Challenges Theories of Galaxy Evolution 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 22, 2017
By combining the power of a “natural lens” in space with the capability of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers made a surprising discovery—the first example of a compact yet massive, fast-spinning, disk-shaped galaxy that stopped making stars only a few billion years after the big bang.

By David Aragorn
Op-ed | Mars mania is completely rational 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 21, 2017
In April, NASA’s robotic probe Cassini attracted widespread media coverage as it neared the end of its expedition of Saturn and its moons. While NASA celebrates the remarkable success of Cassini, it is hard not to look towards the future and ask, ‘what’s next?’

By David Aragorn
The largest virtual universe ever simulated 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 21, 2017
Researchers from the University of Zurich have simulated the formation of our entire universe with a large supercomputer.

By David Aragorn
SETI scientists argue “Wow! Signal” still unidentified despite new report 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- June 21, 2017
In 1977, scientists working on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) recorded an unusually strong radio signal, the origin of which many scientists believe has not been explained. While the most exotic theory is that the signal is a call from ET, a paper published in the Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences claims the origins of the signal is much more mundane. They think a comet or two caused it. SETI scientists, including the senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, Seth Shostak, and the man who discovered the signal, disagree.

By David Aragorn