space

The Andromeda galaxy’s halo is already colliding with the Milky Way’s 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- September 1, 2020
Weirdly, the biggest part of a galaxy is the hardest thing to see in it.

By David Aragorn
Submarine could explore seas of huge Saturn moon Titan 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology, Space
- August 29, 2020
The sub could be ready to launch in the 2030s, researchers said.

By David Aragorn
Hubble maps giant halo around Andromeda Galaxy 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- August 29, 2020
In a landmark study, scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have mapped the immense envelope of gas, called a halo, surrounding the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest large galactic neighbor. Scientists were surprised to find that this tenuous, nearly invisible halo of diffuse plasma extends 1.3 million light-years from the galaxy — about halfway to our Milky Way — and as far as 2 million light-years in some directions. This means that Andromeda’s halo is already bumping into the halo of our own galaxy.

By David Aragorn
Astronomers Observe Young, Radio-Emitting Jets in Distant Active Galaxy 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- August 28, 2020
Around five years ago, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected high-energy gamma rays coming from TXS 0128+554, an elliptical galaxy located some 500 million light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. Purdue University’ Professor Matthew Lister and colleagues have since taken a closer look using NSF’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

By David Aragorn
NASA spots active galaxy that totally looks like a Star Wars TIE fighter 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- August 28, 2020
Now we just need to find a galaxy shaped like an X-wing fighter.

By David Aragorn
Astronomers discover the fastest-spinning white dwarf yet — and it’s a vampire 0
- Earth Mysteries
- August 27, 2020
White dwarfs are some of the strangest objects in the universe.

By David Aragorn
If bacteria band together, they can survive for years in space 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology, Space
- August 27, 2020
Dead outer microbes protect inner ones in clumps attached to the International Space Station

By David Aragorn
Rainbow meteorite discovered in Costa Rica may hold building blocks of life 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web, Space
- August 27, 2020
It’s a good time to be a Costa Rican meteorite-hunter.

By David Aragorn
Free-Floating Exoplanets May Outnumber Stars in Milky Way 0
- From Around the Web, Space
- August 26, 2020
Free-floating, or rogue, exoplanets — free-floating planetary-mass objects that do not orbit a star and instead travel through space — could be surprisingly common in our Milky Way Galaxy; and NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) will detect at least 250 such free-floating planets with masses down to that of Mars, according to a new paper published in the Astronomical Journal.

By David Aragorn
Ancient star explosions revealed in deep-sea sediments 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web, Space
- August 26, 2020
A mystery surrounding the space around our solar system is unfolding thanks to evidence of supernovae found in deep-sea sediments.

By David Aragorn