Exploring the Moon poses significant risks, with its extreme environment and hazardous terrain presenting numerous challenges. In the event of a major accident, assistance might take days or even weeks to arrive. To address this, Australian researchers have created a distress alert system based upon the COSPAS-SARSAT technology used for Earth-based search and rescue operations. … Continue reading "How Could Astronauts Call for Help from the Moon?" The post How Could Astronauts Call for Help from the Moon? appeared first on Universe Today.

Volcanoes are not restricted to the land, there are many undersea versions. One such undersea volcano known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai off the coast of Tonga. On 15th January 2022, it underwent an eruption which was one of the most powerful in recent memory. A recent paper shows that seismic waves were released 15 minutes … Continue reading "There Was a 15 Minute Warning Before Tonga Volcano Exploded" The post There Was a 15 Minute Warning Before Tonga Volcano Exploded appeared first on Universe Today.

Some binary stars are unusual. They contain a main sequence star like our Sun, while the other is a “dead” white dwarf star that left fusion behind and emanates only residual heat. When the main sequence star ages into a red giant, the two stars share a common envelope. This common envelope phase is a … Continue reading "Main Sequence and White Dwarf Binaries are Hiding in Plain Sight" The post Main Sequence and White Dwarf Binaries are Hiding in Plain Sight appeared first on Universe Today.

11 million years ago, Mars was a frigid, dry, dead world, just like it is now. Something slammed into the unfortunate planet, sending debris into space. A piece of that debris made it to Earth, found its way into a drawer at Purdue University, and then was subsequently forgotten about. Until 1931, when scientists studied … Continue reading "What a Misplaced Meteorite Told Us About Mars" The post What a Misplaced Meteorite Told Us About Mars appeared first on Universe Today.

Uranus is an oddball among the Solar System’s planets. While most planets’ axis of rotation is perpendicular to their orbital plane, Uranus has an extreme tilt angle of 98 degrees. It’s flopped over on its side, likely from an ancient collision. It also has a retrograde orbit, opposite of the other planets. The ice giant … Continue reading "Uranus is Getting Colder and Now We Know Why" The post Uranus is Getting Colder and Now We Know Why appeared first on Universe Today.

A camera aboard the Mars Express orbiter finds a new lease on life. Sometimes, limitations can lead to innovation. A recent paper highlights how researchers are utilizing the VMC (Visual Monitoring Camera) aboard the European Space Agency’s (ESA) venerable Mars Express orbiter. The work is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the … Continue reading "How Scientists Repurposed a Camera on ESA’s Mars Express Mission" The post How Scientists Repurposed a Camera on ESA’s Mars Express Mission appeared first on Universe Today.

CubeSats are becoming more and more capable, and it seems like every month, another CubeSat is launched doing something new and novel. So far, technology demonstration has been one of the primary goals of those missions, though the industry is moving into playing an active role in scientific discovery. However, there are still some hurdles … Continue reading "SpIRIT CubeSat Demonstrates a Operational Gamma and X-Ray Detector" The post SpIRIT CubeSat Demonstrates a Operational Gamma and X-Ray Detector appeared first on Universe Today.

Buried in the treasure trove of the Gaia catalog were two strange black hole systems. These were black holes orbiting sun-like stars, a situation that astronomers long thought impossible. Recently a team has proposed a mechanism for creating these kinds of oddballs. The two black holes, dubbed BH1 and BH2, are each almost ten times … Continue reading "Sun-Like Stars Around Black Holes: What Gives?" The post Sun-Like Stars Around Black Holes: What Gives? appeared first on Universe Today.

SpaceX’s Starship launch system went through its sixth flight test today, and although the Super Heavy booster missed out on being caught back at its launch pad, the mission checked off a key test objective with President-elect Donald Trump in the audience. Trump attended the launch at SpaceX’s Starbase complex in the company of SpaceX … Continue reading "Starship’s Booster (and Donald Trump) Make a Splash With Sixth Flight Test" The post Starship’s Booster (and Donald Trump) Make a Splash With Sixth Flight Test appeared first on Universe Today.

Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, we all have a vivid image of the Crab Nebula emblazoned in our mind’s eyes. It’s the remnant of a supernova explosion Chinese astronomers recorded in 1056. However, the Crab Nebula is more than just a nebula; it’s also a pulsar. The Crab Pulsar pulsates in an unusual ‘zebra’ … Continue reading "The Strange Pulsar at the Center of the Crab Nebula" The post The Strange Pulsar at the Center of the Crab Nebula appeared first on Universe Today.