Using the supersharp radio "vision" of the National Science Foundation's continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), astronomers have discovered a Saturn-sized planet closely orbiting a small, cool star 35 light-years from Earth. This is the first discovery of an extrasolar planet with a radio telescope using a technique that requires extremely precise measurements of a star's position in the sky, and only the second planet discovery for that technique and for radio telescopes.
In case you are keeping track:
Lasers in daylight can better detect space debris orbiting Earth, new study suggests
In director Alfonso Cuaron’s 2013 space thriller “Gravity,” Sandra Bullock’s astronaut character dons a suit for a spacewalk in orbit around Earth, upgrading hardware on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Nightmare scenarios like that one might keep astronauts and space mission planners up at night. These scenarios could also become a lot less likely, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
A more precise and versatile technique for detecting space debris was outlined by researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, so that devastating space collisions will firmly remain in the province of science fiction.
Virgin Orbit to fly 11 satellites for NASA on second orbital launch demo later this year –
After the first attempt was cut short prior to the planned conclusion of the rocket, which was aiming to accomplish a more sustained flight of the empty LauncherOne rocket, potentially even to orbital altitude, the Virgin Orbit team conducted a comprehensive investigation of the cause of the issue encountered.
Virgin notes that it still has some work to do before the investigation is technically complete, but the small satellite space launch company says it’s confident it knows what technical fixes are needed to prevent the same thing from happening in the future, and it’s already in the process of implementing those.
The first detection of the Schwarzschild precession in the orbit of the star S2 | astrobites
This guest post was written by Sai Zhai, a first-year graduate student at Nanjing University, where she studies the formation and evolution of galaxies. In her spare time, she enjoys running and traveling with friends.
Title: Detection of the Schwarzschild precession in the orbit of the star S2 near the Galactic centre massive black hole
Authors: GRAVITY Collaboration
Status: Accepted to A&A, open access on arXiv
While you're here, how about this:
First-Ever Images Of Planets Orbiting A Sun-Like Star Captured By Scientists
The two planets are visible as two bright dots in the centre (TYC 8998-760-1b) and bottom right (TYC ... [+] 8998-760-1c) of the frame, noted by arrows. Other bright dots, which are background stars, are visible in the image as well. By taking different images at different times, the team were able to distinguish the planets from the background stars.
Until now astronomers had not directly observed or photographed more than one planet orbiting a Sun-like star.
Amazon Is Going To Add 3,000 More Satellites Into Earth's Orbit – And People Are Not Happy
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved an application by Seattle-based Amazon to launch more than 3,000 satellites into orbit, despite ongoing concerns about launching so-called mega constellations.
Yesterday, Thursday, July 30, five FCC commissioners voted unaminaously to approve Amazon's Project Kuiper – a mega constellation of 3,236 satellites that will orbit Earth, designed to beam internet to the ground.
"We conclude that grant of Kuiper's application would advance the public interest by authorizing a system designed to increase the availability of high-speed broadband service to consumers, government, and businesses," the FCC wrote in its authorization for the satellites.
NASA Astronauts Safely Return to Earth: 'Thank You for Flying SpaceX' - The New York Times
"We're now just about 20 meters off the ocean." "Splashdown." [cheering in background] "As you can see on your screen, we have visual confirmation for a splashdown." "SpaceX copies and concurs. We see splashdown and mains cut." "Dragon Endeavor has returned home." "NASA astronauts Bob and Doug —" [crosstalk] "On behalf of the SpaceX and NASA teams, welcome back to planet Earth, and thanks for flying SpaceX!"
* * *
The first astronaut trip to orbit by a private company parachuted to a safe conclusion in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday.
See Two Giant Exoplanets Orbit a Distant Star in This Rare Image | Smart News |
Exoplanets—planets outside our solar system that orbit distant stars—are notoriously difficult to capture in images. Scientists have identified thousands of them, but usually through indirect techniques, such as measuring the change in starlight as a planet moves in front of its star. As Joseph Stromberg reported for Smithsonian magazine in 2014, astronomers almost never get the chance to see an exoplanet through a telescope.
That makes this newly released image from the European Southern Observatory all the more exciting, researchers say in a statement . Scientists at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile’s Atacama desert captured this image of TYC 8998-760-1, a star 300 light years away that resembles our own sun.
Happening on Twitter
It's been almost eight years since @MarsCuriosity landed on Mars, and found the planet could once have supported li… https://t.co/Nm0fNAOmqb NASAJPL (from Pasadena, Calif.) Mon Aug 03 20:09:36 +0000 2020
#OTD in 2004, the MESSENGER spacecraft was launched from @NASAKennedy. This spacecraft made history by becoming the… https://t.co/h13yLJ6Z7H NASAhistory (from Washington, DC) Mon Aug 03 16:30:00 +0000 2020
The oldest texts we've ever found give tantalizing clues about the very beginnings of the written word. https://t.co/nP6n4FYn0g DiscoverMag (from Between gluons and galaxies) Mon Aug 03 21:30:10 +0000 2020
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