Corey S Powell

Writer, editor, magazine maker, podcaster, procrastinator.

Former editor of Discover and American Scientist magazines. Co-host of #ScienceRules podcast. Invisible Universe on Substack: https://invisibleuniverse.substack.com/

Co-founder of OpenMind magazine.

#science #nature #space #scicomm

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Last Notes

2024-08-16 16:46:55

There's a hole in the Moon.
And sometime soon we may begin to explore it, study it, and even live in it.
https://eos.org/articles/lunar-lava-tube-revealed-beneath-collapsed-pit #science #nasa #space #astronomy #moon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/972/239/180/646/675/original/ac34a8f5af71f863.mp4

2024-08-14 21:33:27

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Then two days ago, Gong Yurui and Liao Guihe watched as a Perseid meteor aimed a little too low.
The Andromeda Galaxy's secret weapon is distance. It is about 100 quadrillion times as far away as the Perseid meteors, which tends to keep it out of harm's way.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/041/952/241/144/original/3b427b935a980e92.jpg

2024-08-10 19:13:43

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For reference, here are the numbered sunspot groups currently visible on the Sun, via NASA.
The smallest spots visible in the photo are nearly as big as the entire Earth.
https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/sunspots/ #space #astronomy #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/938/843/500/267/146/original/eaa57b019209a977.jpg

2024-08-09 08:13:52

Whenever you read one of those breathless stories about some asteroid passing close to Earth, keep in mind that small space stuff hits us. All. The. Time.
This map shows the orbits of things that hit Earth just *yesterday* -- and just over the southern & eastern United States!
https://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/ #space #science #risk #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/930/583/642/925/497/original/6cb3a20ea4313d29.png

2024-08-08 06:31:08

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@npub1nw5…fdwp
The wait has been agonizing, no question. I wrote an eager article previewing this observatory...in 2011.

2024-08-07 06:47:09

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What will life look like on Earth 2 weeks from now?
The past 2 weeks have been a whirl...

2024-08-04 08:57:33

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For comparison, here is the same pair of colliding galaxies (known as NGC 2207 and IC 1263) seen by the Hubble Space Telescope.
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2004/news-2004-45.html #science #nature #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/902/446/716/704/131/original/6ecc65b3ca9852e1.jpg

2024-07-29 06:24:11

Scattered across the Moon are peculiar, snaking bright swirls. Nobody knows what created them. Comet impacts, maybe?
A new paper suggests a different answer: Lunar swirls might trace underground rivers of frozen, magnetic lava.
https://source.wustl.edu/2024/06/moon-swirls-could-be-magnetized-by-unseen-magmas/ #space #science #astronomy #Moon #NASA
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/867/869/966/900/899/original/52c7d5c27d978b13.jpg

2024-07-26 00:09:33

Within the flash of a brilliant gamma-ray burst, astronomers found a remarkable signal:
Matter and antimatter destroying each other.
While fleeing a newborn black hole.
Moving at 99.9% the speed of light.
https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/astrophysics/gamma-ray-bursts/nasas-fermi-finds-new-feature-in-brightest-gamma-ray-burst-yet-seen/ #science #space #astronomy #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/849/409/726/328/378/original/567efb19b10a8b8b.mp4

2024-07-22 19:15:35

Rogue planets are so novel & strange that we don't even have a term for them. They don't fit any current definition of "planet." They don't fit any other scientific category either.
And what would you call an Earth-size "moon" of a super-Jupiter "free floating planet"? <shrug>
#astronomy #space #science #mystery
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/831/263/065/125/496/original/fa6dab19044ccd2e.jpg

2024-07-22 19:10:11

Hidden in deep darkness, there may be a trillion sunless planets wandering our galaxy -- including vast numbers of Earth-size worlds exiled from their homes.
The discovery of these "rogue planets" is one of most fun stories I've covered. Read it here:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/rogue-planet #space #science #astronomy #tech #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/831/243/396/964/844/original/e460105e76ae8576.jpg

2024-07-16 19:58:56

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@npub1f5c…hqzn
The Martians covered them all in 1963 when they realized we were coming.

2024-07-16 18:38:17

All across our galaxy, the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope is finding stars like the Sun orbiting neutron stars, the remains of supernova explosions.
How did those suns survive the devastation? Did entire worlds get sterilized in the process?
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/sun-like-stars-found-orbiting-hidden-companions #science #space #astronomy #life #ESA
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/797/147/392/812/530/original/1c3f4979c93abe97.mp4

2024-07-09 18:14:48

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The huge Arsia Mons volcano on Mars is the location of numerous likely lava caves -- intriguing spots for exploration or possible sheltered sites for future astronauts.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/nasa-orbiter-finds-possible-cave-skylights-on-mars/ #space #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/757/419/200/959/425/original/2a526d783b974e18.jpg

2024-07-09 18:13:05

That's one hell of a scar!
The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft just got a dramatic view of a 600-kilometer long crack snaking across the base of Arsia Mons, the 2nd-largest volcano in the solar system.
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/A_snaking_scar_on_Mars #science #space #esa #astrodon #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/757/410/851/971/091/original/de4ad2a0c8013a02.jpg

2024-07-08 19:30:23

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The cave painting at Leang Karampuang predates the previous oldest-known narrative art, in Spain, by about 10,000 years. We know very little about the people who were living in Indonesia at the time.
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/worlds-oldest-known-cave-painting-found-indonesia-1234711575/
#art #history
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/752/053/403/427/333/original/5ea82471aaf2917e.webp

2024-07-08 19:28:52

An Indonesian cave drawing, showing three people interacting with a pig, is now the oldest known example of narrative art. It's been dated to at least 51,000 years ago.
I'd love to know how people thought and spoke back then.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07541-7 #science #history #art #anthropology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/752/046/020/818/313/original/aedae99d2294175a.jpg

2024-07-07 03:51:47

Earlier this year, the ROLSES experiment took a unique radio "selfie" of Earth.
It shows all the radio emissions from our planet at once -- including narrow-band, pulsed signals revealing the presence of intelligent life.
https://www.inverse.com/science/first-radio-telescope-on-moon-captures-alien-eye-view-of-earth #space #science #life #alien #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/742/698/558/298/036/original/ecbd4d2ac3298f5f.png

2024-07-06 02:08:50

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Anatomy of a beam dump. A handy way to get rid of 350 megajoules of high-energy protons when you need to shut down your particle collider. Weighs just 6 tons!
https://home.cern/news/news/accelerators/autopsy-lhc-beam-dump #science #nature #physics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/736/632/760/584/129/original/490e63f3d0d3f04b.png

2024-07-05 20:42:00

6,665 followers.
So...close.

2024-07-05 17:39:24

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In the Netflix adaptation of "Three Body Problem," the characters claim that they built the fastest-ever spacecraft at 79.7 km/sec.
Somebody forgot to hire a science consultant!
#science #scifi #space
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/734/628/071/691/780/original/f437a7facf9cd712.jpg

2024-07-05 17:13:23

NASA's Parker Solar Probe has just affirmed its status as the fastest human object ever built:
On June 29 it hit a speed of 176.46 km/sec, or 394,736 mph. That's equivalent to flying from New York to LA in 25 seconds.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2024/07/03/nasas-parker-solar-probe-completes-20th-close-approach-to-the-sun/ #space #science #nasa #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/734/521/932/049/787/original/fea3a672062e3786.mp4

2024-07-01 19:33:56

A natural gravitational lens magnified the far-off universe by up to 500x.
Then JWST zoomed in further and witnessed an amazing scene: clusters of stars forming at a furious rate in a distant baby galaxy, just 3% as old as the Milky Way.
https://esawebb.org/news/weic2418/ #space #science #astronomy #nasa #esa #jwst
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/712/431/378/428/122/original/9a4a267f6dc39c2d.jpg

2024-06-29 19:04:21

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Turns out that asteroids are quite beautiful at microscopic scale.
This "bloom" of phyllosilicate minerals was collected from the surface of Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid, by OSIRIS-REx.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.14227 #science #space #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/700/984/400/937/756/original/610bec99af1675fc.jpg

2024-06-29 19:01:21

This is what an asteroid looks like up close.
Really close.
Through an electron microscope!
First studies of the pieces of asteroid Bennu gathered by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft are out now:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.14227 #space #astronomy #nasa #science #life #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/700/977/541/860/584/original/4e5ccd38e37ab409.jpg

2024-06-27 20:25:16

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Fish are still active in space exploration. Four zebrafish are currently swimming aboard China's Tiangong space station.
They seem to have adapted pretty well -- just look:
https://english.news.cn/20240519/5094885d46be4d81b94ec40e9cec8337/c.html #space #science #china #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/689/983/694/013/257/original/9f47614fc8bafb00.mp4

2024-06-27 20:23:30

On July 28, 1973, two juvenile mummichog fish and 50 eggs flew to NASA's Skylab for a study on how swimming animals adapt to weightlessness.
They were the world's first aquastronauts (or should they be called pescanauts?). But they would not be the last.
https://manayunkia.wordpress.com/2016/12/28/the-mummichog-the-first-fish-in-space/ #space #science #fish #nature #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/689/977/320/572/795/original/4e15bca5ea49c156.jpg

2024-06-26 20:19:07

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@npub1typ…c8hh
That is a brilliant clickbait headline for an article about "it's not entirely impossible that viruses that evolved on a different planet could infect terrestrial organisms."

2024-06-26 20:14:23

German astronomer Heinrich Schwabe may have observed the birth of Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot in 1851, making the giant storm far younger than commonly believed.
These historical records provide fascinating clues about how weather works on other worlds.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL108993 #space #science #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/684/277/873/190/686/original/845854ebe3ab6bf5.jpg

2024-06-21 20:56:49

Just out: a gorgeous JWST image capturing a space scene that had only been imagined until now.
In this panoramic view of the Serpens Nebula, you can see newborn stars forming all in a row -- neatly aligned across trillions of miles of space.
https://esawebb.org/news/weic2415/ #science #space #astronomy #nasa #esa #jwst
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/656/132/347/673/835/original/9b381d26b53ecb35.jpg

2024-06-17 20:23:54

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One particularly cool discovery from the new Harvard-Google brain images:
Some brain cells are arranged in mirror-image pairs, for reasons not yet well understood.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4858 #science #brain #mind #neuroscience #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/633/354/233/489/386/original/f5b2e769451b3ea3.mp4

2024-06-17 20:19:30

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The new "H01" brain map shows 50,000 cells and 150 million synapses in the human brain at nanoscale resolution.
It's freely accessible online.
https://h01-release.storage.googleapis.com/gallery.html #science #brain #mind #tech #google
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/633/336/574/583/746/original/164d1789aa2fa2c2.webp

2024-06-17 20:17:41

An astonishing new brain image captures the neurons and synapses in the brain in unprecedented detail.
This image covers just 1 cubic millimeter of human brain -- but it represents a stunning 1.4 Petabytes of data.
https://blog.google/technology/research/google-ai-research-new-images-human-brain/ #science #brain #tech #mind
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/633/325/718/509/850/original/d4813678d416c246.jpg

2024-06-12 00:36:29

I'm sad to report the death of Ed Stone, the NASA scientist who was the heart & soul of the Voyager program. Spending time with him for my Discover magazine profile was a highlight of my career.
I did my best to capture the experience:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/voyager-the-man-behind-the-mission #science #space #nasa #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/600/372/000/918/725/original/294f3b7a8a68141c.jpg

2024-06-11 02:24:16

Our galaxy contains an enormous magnetic doughnut, some 50,000 light years wide. A new, multi-decade study is finally bringing the details into view.
(Very difficult not to think, "Mmmmm...magnetic doughnut.")
https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/phys/202405/t20240513_662871.shtml
#science #space #astronomy #china #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/595/136/468/253/083/original/60a92f83fbbc023a.jpg

2024-06-06 06:04:49

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@npub1g8j…ww5h Wow! Spectacular indeed.

2024-05-31 04:05:32

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@npub13hx…3qm6
It's quite possible that JADES-GS-z14-0 evolved into a galaxy much like our own. Or that someone in that galaxy, looking back at us, would see something similar to JADES-GS-z14-0.

2024-05-22 01:01:38

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Clip and save this spooky piece of space art for next Halloween?
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-views-the-dawn-of-a-sun-like-star/ #science #space #ghost #halloween
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/481/565/771/219/129/original/8ec033bbe7c3c0f8.webp

2024-05-17 23:44:13

A mind-blower for a Friday evening:
This deceptively simple-looking graph is a spectrum of *gravitational waves* ringing through the Milky Way.
The waves may be caused by a chorus of supermassive black holes colliding all across the universe. Whoa!
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.16227 #science #space #physics #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/458/611/316/773/129/original/9691e58ac8250534.jpg

2024-05-17 16:18:57

Uh oh. The ambitious European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury has experienced a worrisome "glitch" in its thrusters.
Engineers are scrambling for a fix so the spacecraft can enter orbit around Mercury late next year, as planned.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/05/europe-is-uncertain-whether-its-ambitious-mercury-probe-can-reach-the-planet/ #science #space #astronomy #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/456/860/346/131/988/original/a387625e9139ca45.png

2024-05-16 22:45:12

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One of the great frustrations in the search for life in the universe: It's much easier to study extreme, hellish planets (huge, hot, etc) than to study the moderate worlds where life could plausibly exist.

2024-05-16 22:40:59

After years of searching, astronomers have finally detected an atmosphere on a rocky planet around another star.
But what a strange planet it is! 55 Cancri e seems to be blanketed in carbon dioxide gas bubbling out of a global ocean of lava. Like an image out of Dante's Inferno.
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-102 #space #science #nasa #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/452/699/935/334/545/original/2d46cf0d268d7cd3.png

2024-05-13 00:57:04

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@npub1026…vwlh The only credit I've been able to find is the name at the bottom of the graphic. I included the full version (not the widely shared crop) for that reason.

2024-05-12 09:10:52

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Colors of an aurora depend not only on which element is emitting light, but also on *where* it is.
Oxygen at high altitudes glows red; at lower altitudes it glows green. Purple nitrogen is lower still.
Atoms are complicated creatures!
#aurora #science #nature #physics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/426/862/920/657/551/original/528f14f0e82a05e9.jpg

2024-05-12 09:08:34

So many beautiful aurora photos going around right now. Wonder where those amazing colors come from? Here's a helpful breakdown.
When you split up the light of a typical aurora, it looks like this.
Many colors from just nitrogen & oxygen!
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial #aurora #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/426/854/924/021/976/original/39aabe0d481d362d.jpg

2024-05-02 06:30:18

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@npub1w0j…tmxl I don't know, but I'm sure the CIMSS team could tell you more. Maybe start with Tim Schmit:
https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~tims/

2024-05-02 00:17:18

Well that's cool! These are the shadows of the 2017 and 2024 North American solar eclipses, observed by the GOES weather satellites & superimposed on each other.
The images show the Moon's shadow at 10-minute intervals.
https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/archives/58552 #science #space #weather #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/368/143/550/151/938/original/74a71f0b8a500082.mp4

2024-04-23 15:43:45

China's Tiandu-2 spacecraft captured this ethereal new infrared image of the Moon.
See that other little world floating in the background? That's Earth.
https://spacenews.com/chinas-queqiao-2-relay-satellite-ready-to-support-lunar-far-side-sample-mission/ #space #science #moon #china
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/320/826/575/426/200/original/4bedab0964c67161.jpg

2024-04-17 05:23:55

I'm so excited about this upcoming space mission.
NASA has just confirmed that the Dragonfly octocopter will launch in July, 2028. When it arrives, it will spend at least two years flying over the organic-rich sands of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/News-and-Resources/news/20231128.php #space #science #nasa #life #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/284/411/061/043/472/original/6f091a5ab8282654.mp4

2024-04-16 17:06:06

Can you handle one more eclipse photo? Because this one is quite amazing. It shows the April 8 solar eclipse...as seen from the Moon!
Taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, gazing back at the Moon's shadow as it swept across the Earth.
https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1368 #space #science #NASA #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/281/512/834/350/760/original/8c135d0a665206e4.png

2024-04-15 23:55:33

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@npub1svw…u0mf
Goes through my head all the time!
Solar eclipse does it. So do all the black-hole astronomy stories.

2024-04-14 22:45:29

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@npub1j7l…junh Probably from the wide-angle lens needed to take in that much of the Earth at once.

2024-04-14 22:44:05

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@npub1dd8…nvdr If you could drive a car straight up, you'd be there in 3 hours.

2024-04-11 17:59:27

We can now DIRECTLY OBSERVE planets being born!
Each of the arrow-marked blobs is a likely planet-in-the-making around the infant star FU Orionis (great name), located 1,350 light years away in the constellation Orion.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.05797 #space #science #astronomy #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/253/411/527/297/538/original/a224d6bdf0af056c.jpg

2024-04-10 23:08:08

Today's dose of beautuy: Comet Pons-Brooks, photographed from southern Spain by Fritz Helmut Hemmerich.
The eerie green glow is from diatomic carbon. The ripples show the flow of the solar wind.
https://www.facebook.com/fritzhelmut.hemmerich/ #space #science #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/248/962/735/186/939/original/f32e5d6f7485432a.jpg

2024-04-10 19:02:32

Even with all the eclipse photos circulating right now, this one made my eyes pop. Great shot of jet contrails breaking up the edge of the eclipsed Sun. Quick calculation: The Sun is about 30,000,000 times wider than the jet.
(Photo by Bobby Goddin, Bloomington, IN) #eclipse #nature #science #photography
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/247/997/910/690/724/original/8c4e9f122297ee4a.png

2024-04-08 19:24:06

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@npub1hrm…q322
Being pure of heart, Edmund Halley was able to see the true face of the Sun.

2024-04-08 18:55:26

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@npub14vj…zx2q
that got a full laugh

2024-04-08 17:47:57

Johannes de Sacrobosco ("John of Hollywood") published detailed geometric descriptions of a solar eclipse in the year 1230. People in the "dark ages" were not so dumb!
I dig through 5000 years of eclipse investigations in my latest Invisible Universe column:
https://invisibleuniverse.substack.com/p/how-we-learned-to-love-the-invisible #science #nature #history #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/236/372/269/704/275/original/79b4d013b262b0e2.jpg

2024-04-07 18:03:37

Eclipse news from 3,246 years ago:
The earliest well-established observation a solar eclipse was recorded on March 5, 1222 BCE. It was inscribed in a clay tablet from Ugarit, a city in modern-day Syria.
https://theconversation.com/archeoastronomy-uses-the-rare-times-and-places-of-previous-total-solar-eclipses-to-help-us-measure-history-222709 #space #science #astronomy #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/230/779/949/653/926/original/facb34f68335bc4e.jpg

2024-04-04 23:05:16

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@npub1e0v…h4vq
Ha! That's a good question. We're still working on our interplanetary terminology.

2024-04-04 17:53:13

The first-ever view of a solar eclipse from the surface of the Moon. That's the Earth eclipsing the Sun!
Images captured by NASA's Surveyor 3 lunar lander on April 24, 1967.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140407.html #science #astronomy #space #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/213/750/880/546/618/original/4ebfc55a79d9b0ff.mp4

2024-04-04 17:45:47

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@npub1dv7…tp9d OK, since this matters so much to you, sunsets and eclipses are the same thing. Done.

2024-04-03 16:45:25

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@npub14x5…ur8x
OK I love that answer.

2024-04-03 16:42:14

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@npub1h8j…m0fw
Seeing the complete circle of the Earth is what makes it into a very different type of event, I'd say.

2024-04-03 16:41:17

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@npub19qj…a5x6
To me, being able to see the complete outline of the Earth and sunshine streaming through the atmosphere is a completely different type of event.

2024-04-03 16:39:57

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@npub1dv7…tp9d
Hmmm...I feel like there's a reason why we have different words for sunset and eclipse, and why people throughout history have regarded them as completely different things.

2024-04-03 16:39:01

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@npub10u5…jgm6
To do it right, you need to watch Earth pass in front of the Sun from a distance of 850,000 miles. I'm putting it on my to-do list.

2024-04-03 16:35:03

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@npub1nhg…uxq8
Yes, and also there's the eclipse of the Sun by my hand that I've done on many a sunny day...

2024-04-03 16:32:58

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@npub14x5…ur8x
True, and in a sense I can see an eclipse whenever I want by holding up my fist up against the sky. But...it's not exactly the same thing!

2024-04-03 05:19:16

Only three humans have ever witnessed an eclipse of the Sun by the *Earth*. It happened while the Apollo 12 crew was returning home from the Moon, on November 21, 1969.
Fortunately, the astronauts filmed the moment so you can share in the experience.
https://archive.org/details/Apollo1216mmOnboardFilm [at the 4:50 mark] #space #science #nasa #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/205/117/193/590/250/original/31dbc332736a38a1.mp4

2024-03-29 18:43:55

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The supernova that created nebula Pa30 was seen by Chinese astronomers in the constellation Cassiopeia for 6 months in 1181 CE.
Glowing sulfur atoms trace the shape of the explosion & winds from the stellar remnant.
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2024/snr1181/ #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/180/203/425/027/515/original/745d33d680b87d21.jpg

2024-03-27 19:12:53

Before-and-after satellite views really clarify how the collapse of the Key Bridge has choked access to the Baltimore harbor.
Images via Maxar.
#baltimore #keybridge #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/169/001/521/355/027/original/7c9f4239cd2a0b90.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/169/002/054/864/957/original/3f3ef25ac82d4466.jpg

2024-03-25 00:59:15

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The Einasto Supercluster of galaxies is named in honor of Jaan Einasto, a leading Estonian astronomer, who just turned 95. Quite a birthday present!
Full paper here:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.06251 #science #space #astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/153/371/810/727/478/original/60610ff60efd3855.jpg

2024-03-25 00:54:07

How big is *big*? Here's one answer.
Meet the largest galaxy supercluster in the known universe: the Einasto Supercluster. It measures 360 million light years across and contains 26 quadrillion times the mass of the Sun. So...big!
https://ut.ee/en/content/einasto-supercluster-new-heavyweight-contender-universe #science #space #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/153/358/349/363/162/original/85b4fe927ac92e2a.jpg

2024-03-20 21:17:28

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It was very cool to see three women among the five cosmologists on stage at AMNH last night.
A couple kids in the audience remarked about it appreciatively afterward. Great ideas come from everyone, everywhere.
(Photo via Mike Boylan-Kolchin) #science #representation #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/129/851/852/718/200/original/95a6afdeece905f2.jpg

2024-03-20 21:14:12

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Decades of work by Wendy Freeman and others have transformed cosmology from hand-waving into a precision science.
Now a tiny, 7% disagreement in the cosmic expansion rate is enough to provoke "tension" and possibly point us toward fascinating new physics!
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-hubble-telescopes-affirm-universes-expansion-rate-puzzle-persists/ #NASA #JWST #space #science
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/129/837/979/539/415/original/c8ccaf9aa200dc2f.webp

2024-03-20 21:10:53

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Priya Natarajan notes that black holes are also huge puzzles.
Did supermassive black holes help form early galaxies, or did early galaxies help form supermassive black holes? Er, maybe.
How did these monsters appear so early after the Big Bang? Unclear.
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/black-hole-discovery/ #science #space #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/129/829/989/396/480/original/3606831c1cb1bf77.webp

2024-03-20 21:07:55

Last night's Asimov Debate at the American Museum of Natural History covered the latest cosmic findings from JWST. A few highlights:
Early results from JWST show a lot more bright galaxies & massive black holes than expected in the very early universe. Cosmologist Rachel Somerville admitted that her galaxy-formation models turned out to be way off. We still have a lot to learn!
https://www.vox.com/science/24040534/jwst-galaxies-big-bright-mystery-black-holes-cosmology #science #space #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/129/817/248/249/882/original/a344cc12aae679a2.webp

2024-03-17 18:39:31

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The Rubin Observatory's 8.4-meter (27.6-foot) primary mirror just arrived at its final home atop Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes.
How do you move a mirror that size? Very slowly. And very carefully.
https://rubinobservatory.org/news/mirror-moves-into-observatory #astronomy #space #science #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/112/247/542/276/436/original/94d91ba921084248.mp4

2024-03-17 18:35:26

This is how technology changes our view of reality.
The enormous LSST camera (the eye of the Rubin Observatory) will will soon start scanning the entire visible universe every 3-4 days. It will create the grandest movies ever made, watching for anything moving, flickering , appearing, or vanishing in deep space.
https://rubinobservatory.org/about #science #space #tech #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/112/218/245/337/821/original/5541313df7ed6671.jpg

2024-03-15 22:24:52

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@npub1avr…pnem
No, that was Jacint Perez (aka Landru79) who stitched the images together. He does wonderful work -- mostly shared over on the bird site, unfortunately.

2024-03-15 21:50:37

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@npub1364…c6fh
The folks at Desilu definitely could have found someone to make a Star Trek landscape like this out of styrofoam and spray paint.

2024-03-15 21:47:51

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@npub1hth…he0c
As Rachel Greenham pointed out here, the error wasn't in the description but in the interpretation. Dirty snowballs turn out to be really complex and cool looking.

2024-03-15 21:46:10

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@npub1qfw…eatg
Agreed, presentation is everything!
I recall a lot of failure of imagination -- people presenting a "snowball" as a featureless blob, not thinking about how much complexity there is in nature at every level.

2024-03-15 20:56:11

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As a kid I learned that comets are just "dirty snowballs." Look at how much richer the reality is!
The Rosetta spacecraft took this amazing close-up of Comet 67/P from a distance of 20 km.
https://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/04/01/cometwatch-28-march-14-km-flyby/ #science #nature #space #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/101/460/694/033/074/original/49a605730fe051c9.jpg

2024-03-15 20:53:35

This is the surface of a comet! Dust is swirling around the surface of Comet 67/P -- captured in 2016 by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, processing by Jacint Roger Perez.
Still one of the most remarkable scenes in space exploration.
#space #science #astronomy #ESA
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/101/447/834/451/880/original/23c552ad7089379d.mp4

2024-03-15 20:42:50

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@npub1x6n…g579
I had to dig into the research paper for the answer: The animation covers a period of 5 years.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fd

2024-03-15 20:41:55

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@npub1sej…p32v
It looks like they roughly did scale the time correctly. The full animation covers a period of 5 years.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fd

2024-03-15 20:40:36

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@npub1x2h…mgua
It's a shame they didn't include that info on the animation. It's listed in the main paper: the simulation covers a period of 5 years.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fd

2024-03-14 17:13:57

Reports of the death of the Voyager 1 spacecraft may have been premature!
NASA engineers have received a promising response from humanity's most distant explorer. The new signal could help pinpoint the problem with Voyager's aging data system.
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-voyager-1-reconnects-data-glitch-1851334565 #science #space #tech #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/094/924/591/218/427/original/36d8efe29f3b0548.png

2024-03-14 03:52:14

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@npub17cz…utc6
Even if you were just inside the photosphere, your sky would be radiating at 3000 k in all directions. You'd definitely feel that.

2024-03-14 03:49:53

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@npub1hjc…kalf @npub15ea…cxnl
Every once in a while I remember that Earth somehow remained stable enough to preserve life for billions of years...and I get chills. If not for that delicate thread of history, we wouldn't be here.

2024-03-14 03:32:50

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@npub1g77…m9c9
Betelgeuse is a total badass. Each of those bubbles is about 100 times the diameter of the entire Sun.

2024-03-14 03:30:04

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@npub16pz…zgfm Personally, I like our location 600 light years away.

2024-03-14 03:26:01

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@npub16pz…zgfm
Imagine looking up and seeing that in your sky.
(From a nice safe distance, of course.)

2024-03-14 02:09:37

To your eye, Betelgeuse is the bright "shoulder" star in Orion. A new simulation shows what it would look like if you could get up close: an enormous, boiling cauldron of gas.
If Betelgeuse were placed where the Sun is, Earth's orbit (blue circle) would be deep inside. That's how big it is!
https://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/1094283/hl202403 #science #space #astronomy #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/091/367/422/022/484/original/050445c987ca844a.mp4

2024-03-12 04:36:44

I needed a break from grim political news...so I switched to reading about the IDEFIX rover, launching in 2026, which will explore Mars's tiny moon Phobos.
Fascinating robot explorer, dealing with a tricky problem: How do you drive in a place where the gravity is 1/1000th that of Earth?
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/02/idefix-interview/ #space #science #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/080/619/638/334/709/original/b0d6fed09abf5ab9.jpeg
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2024-03-11 19:10:20

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The zone of gravitational influence around a planet is called its "Hill sphere." The farther you go from the Sun, the bigger the zone gets -- which helps explain why Neptune can hold on to a satellite that's more than 100x as distant as the Moon is from Earth.
In the outer solar system, there's not much competition for attention...
https://astroblog.cosmobc.com/hill-sphere/ #science #physics #astronomy #space
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2024-03-11 19:04:53

Astronomers have spied the most extreme moon in the solar system.
The yet-unnamed satellite takes 27 years (!) to circle Neptune & wanders more than 50 million km from the planet. It's also the smallest moon ever seen from Earth.
https://sites.google.com/carnegiescience.edu/sheppard/home/newuranusneptunemoons #science #space #astronomy #moon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/078/370/411/317/215/original/f976d0fde10fc614.jpg