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Earthsky
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Image Credit: Earthsky
Fire season gets an early start in Canada and Minnesota
- Fire season has started early in Canada and Minnesota, with hot, dry, and windy conditions leading to wildfires in the region.
- The fires have already resulted in structural loss, evacuations, and tragic deaths in Manitoba, with unusual intensity and scale for this time of year.
- Minnesota has experienced triple the average area burned by wildfires already this year, with abnormally hot weather contributing to the situation.
- Other provinces like Saskatchewan have also seen an active fire season, with concerns raised about the impact of pyrocumulonimbus clouds generated by intense fires.
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Arstechnica
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Image Credit: Arstechnica
Rocket Report: How is your payload fairing? Poland launches test rocket.
- Gilmour Space faced a payload fairing deployment trigger during pre-launch preparations for the second launch attempt of its Eris vehicle.
- Venus Aerospace conducted a short flight test of its rotating detonation rocket engine at Spaceport America, believed to be the first US-based test of this concept.
- The rotating detonation rocket engine idea has been discussed academically for decades and tested in other countries, but not with a high-thrust engine until now.
- The Rocket Report Edition 7.44 provides insights into small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, along with a preview of the next three launches on the calendar.
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Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
Hubble Captures Cotton Candy Clouds
- The Hubble Space Telescope captured cotton candy-like clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy located 160,000 light-years away from the Milky Way in the constellations Dorado and Mensa.
- The image was made possible by Hubble's cameras, such as the Wide Field Camera 3, which collected observations using five different filters, including those capturing ultraviolet and infrared light.
- The colorful gas clouds seen in the image resemble cotton candy, with each filter in the camera assigned a specific color to represent different wavelengths of light, providing a closer representation of reality while revealing invisible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
- Image-processing specialists can use various color combinations to create visually appealing or scientifically informative images using data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Earthsky
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Image Credit: Earthsky
1st discovery of frozen water in young star system
- For the first time, researchers confirmed crystalline water ice in a dusty debris disk orbiting a sun-like star using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
- Majority of the frozen water discovered is located in the coldest and farthest areas from the star, decreasing as researchers approached closer.
- The discovery marks the first detection of frozen water around a star other than our own, indicating its presence in systems beyond our solar system.
- The frozen water detected is associated with fine dust particles across the disk, resembling dirty snowballs.
- The star, HD 181327, is younger and hotter than our sun, with an active debris disk where icy bodies collide to release dusty water particles.
- NASA's James Webb Space Telescope confirmed a significant gap between the star and its debris disk, similar to our solar system's Kuiper Belt.
- Water ice distribution in the system varies, with over 20% in the outer disk, reducing towards the middle, and very little closer to the star due to UV vaporization.
- The discovery of water ice enhances the understanding of planet formation and the potential delivery of icy material to terrestrial planets in similar systems.
- Researchers will continue to investigate and study water ice in debris disks and forming planetary systems across the Milky Way to unravel more about planet formation.
- The detection was made using Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph, a highly sensitive instrument to detect faint dust particles in space.
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Sciencenewsforstudents
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Image Credit: Sciencenewsforstudents
Is the International Space Station too clean?
- Keeping the International Space Station clean is a top priority for NASA, with measures such as air filters, vacuuming, and weekly wipe-downs in place.
- A recent study suggests that the ISS may be too clean, leading to health problems for astronauts due to the lack of microbial diversity.
- Samples collected from various surfaces on the ISS showed significantly less microbial diversity compared to typical buildings on Earth, with the majority of microbes originating from humans and building materials.
- Researchers emphasize the importance of microbial diversity in maintaining health, especially in confined spaces like space stations, suggesting the need to introduce 'good germs' through methods like having animals or fermented foods aboard.
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Earthsky
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Image Credit: Earthsky
Polaris is the present-day North Star of Earth
- Polaris, also known as the North Star, remains nearly still in the sky while the northern sky rotates around it due to its proximity to the north celestial pole.
- While not the brightest star, Polaris is easily visible in the northern sky from Northern Hemisphere locations, serving as a navigational guide for travelers.
- Located close to the Big Dipper, Polaris can be found by drawing a line from the pointer stars Dubhe and Merak, which always point to the North Star.
- The Big Dipper circles Polaris counterclockwise in 23 hours and 56 minutes, acting as a celestial clock, with Polaris being the pivot point.
- Polaris is part of the Little Dipper and its position in the sky changes based on the observer's location, climbing higher as one travels north and sinking below the horizon as you move south or beyond the equator.
- Previously, Polaris has not always been the North Star, and it is part of a triple star system with Polaris A being a supergiant star and Polaris B a companion star located at a significant distance.
- Measuring 434 light-years away from Earth, Polaris is a luminous yellow supergiant star estimated to shine with the luminosity of 1,260 suns, and it is classified as a Cepheid variable star.
- Due to its minimal movement, Polaris is observable in the daytime with a telescope, and its position can be tracked with precision due to its proximity to the celestial north pole.
- Polaris played a vital role in guiding travelers and escaping slaves, serving as a lodestar and a reliable navigational aid throughout history.
- While Polaris holds the title of the North Star presently, it will not remain as such indefinitely, with its close alignment with the north celestial pole projected to last until March 24, 2100.
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Livescience
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Image Credit: Livescience
The US isn't prepared for a big solar storm, exercise finds
- A tabletop space weather exercise exposed weaknesses in America's readiness for severe solar storms.
- The exercise in May 2024 simulated multiple coronal mass ejections from the sun heading towards Earth.
- Such solar storms can disrupt power grids, satellite signals, and threaten astronauts with radiation.
- Communication protocol deficiencies and lack of space and ground measurements hinder effective response.
- Participants faced challenges in forecasting and decision-making due to measurement limitations.
- Key issue: The unpredictable impact of a coronal mass ejection's magnetic field orientation.
- The exercise highlighted the need for more satellites to enhance forecasting capabilities.
- Severe impacts of the hypothetical scenario included power blackouts and communication disruptions.
- Satellites deviated from trajectories, affecting positioning services and causing potential collision risks.
- Government agencies were urged to collaborate and develop templates for space weather event responses.
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Digitaltrends
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Image Credit: Digitaltrends
SpaceX boss hints at unprecedented milestone for Starship ‘this year’
- SpaceX has been making significant progress with the Starship vehicle, with successful test flights showing improvements in design.
- One major achievement includes catching the first-stage Super Heavy booster with a launch tower for reuse in multiple missions.
- Elon Musk hinted that SpaceX aims to attempt catching the Starship spacecraft with the tower this year, following successful tests and controlled splashdowns.
- SpaceX is preparing for the ninth test flight of the Starship and aims to achieve reliability before using it for crew and cargo transport missions to the moon and Mars.
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Hackaday
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Image Credit: Hackaday
Voyager 1’s Primary Thrusters Revived Before DSN Command Pause
- Voyager 1 spacecraft's primary thrusters revived after being deemed a loss since 2004 due to a heater failure.
- Silicon dioxide deposits from an aging rubber diaphragm in the fuel tank caused clogging issues in thruster tubes over the decades.
- Reviving the primary thrusters provides a precious Plan B for the mission if backup thrusters were to fail, as trajectory thrusters do not provide roll control.
- Engineers remotely jiggled heater controls, enabled primary thrusters, and successfully got Voyager 1's star tracker to drift off course, indicating that the fix worked.
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Digitaltrends
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Image Credit: Digitaltrends
NASA rover shares moody image of Mars moon Deimos
- NASA's Perseverance rover shared an image of Mars' moon Deimos captured in March.
- The image shows Deimos and two stars from the constellation Leo in the sky.
- Deimos, with a diameter of 7.7 miles, is much smaller than Earth's moon.
- The image provides a cosmic perspective amidst the rover's search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars.
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Spaceflightnow
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Live coverage: SpaceX plans morning launch of Starlink satellites from California
- SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of Starlink satellites from California after sunrise Friday morning.
- The launch, known as Starlink 15-5 mission, is targeted for 6:43 a.m. PDT at Vandenberg Space Force Base with a backup opportunity seven minutes later.
- The Falcon 9 first stage booster B1093 will be used for the mission, marking its second flight after launching from Vandenberg 39 days ago on the Starlink 11-11 mission.
- The booster is expected to target a touchdown on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' in the Pacific Ocean, which would be the 130th landing on that vessel and the 448th booster landing overall.
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Knowridge
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Image Credit: Knowridge
Astronomers spot rising methane clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan
- Astronomers have observed cloud convection in the northern hemisphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, for the first time using the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaiʻi.
- Titan's weather is powered by methane, creating weather patterns resembling those on Earth, with methane evaporating, forming clouds, and sometimes falling as rain on the moon's surface.
- Using the Keck Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers observed methane clouds rising and moving in Titan's atmosphere, revealing insights into cloud convection in the northern region of the moon.
- These observations could provide deeper insights into Titan's methane cycle, weather patterns, and potential to support organic chemistry, with upcoming observations anticipated after the moon's next equinox in May 2025.
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Brighter Side of News
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Image Credit: Brighter Side of News
Subatomic wormholes could be responsible for universal expansion
- Scientists have discovered that the universe's expansion is speeding up, a phenomenon unexplained by general relativity.
- Dark energy, a mysterious force, makes up about 68% of the universe's total energy, surpassing all other known components.
- The nature of dark energy, including its origin and behavior, remains highly debated and poorly understood.
- Microscopic wormholes have been proposed as a potential driver of the universe's accelerated expansion.
- Quantum field theory predicts a significant discrepancy in the value of the cosmological constant, posing a fundamental challenge.
- Research is exploring alternative explanations for dark energy, such as dynamic forces and holographic dark energy.
- A new theory suggests subatomic-size wormholes created and destroyed in the vacuum of space may be responsible for universal expansion.
- Experimental verification of the wormholes driving dark energy theory remains a challenge but could provide significant insights into quantum gravity.
- The research team is refining calculations to determine the rate of wormhole formation and hopes to publish results soon.
- Understanding dark energy and potential confirmation of wormholes as drivers of cosmic expansion could revolutionize our understanding of the universe.
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