Astro Wonders

2022-05-04 10:11:09 Oldest evidence of tectonic plates unearthed, sealed in ancient crystals

Tiny crystals unearthed in South Africa contain evidence of a sudden transition on the planet's surface 3.8 billion years ago.

These crystals, each no bigger than a grain of sand, show that around that time, Earth's crust broke up and began moving — a precursor to the process known as plate tectonics.

The findings offer clues about Earth's evolution as a planet, and could help answer questions about potential links between plate tectonics and the evolution of life, said study lead author Nadja Drabon, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University.

"Earth is the only planet that has life; Earth is the only planet that has plate tectonics," Drabon told Live Science.
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2022-05-04 10:06:54 New Russian rocket launches military satellite on 1st mission

A lightweight member of Russia's Angara rocket family launched its first orbital mission last week, sending a military payload aloft, according to reports.

The Angara 1.2 rocket launched on April 29 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, which is roughly 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com, which is run by Russian independent journalist Anatoly Zak.

Launch success was confirmed by Russian state media, but with few details. The state-run outlet TASS said the rocket was launched "in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry." The spacecraft has been designated Kosmos-2555 and is sending telemetry correctly, the ministry added in the report.

"The elegant, light Angara came through for us and successfully passed the test. I congratulate everyone involved with the successful launch," Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, wrote on Telegram, per a second TASS report April 29.
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2022-05-04 09:59:39 The universe could stop expanding 'remarkably soon', study suggests

After nearly 13.8 billion years of nonstop expansion, the universe could soon grind to a standstill, then slowly start to contract, new research suggests.

In the new paper, three scientists attempt to model the nature of dark energy based on past observations of cosmic expansion. In the team's model, dark energy is not a constant force of nature, but an entity called quintessence, which can decay over time.

The researchers found that, even though the expansion of the universe has been accelerating for billions of years, the repellent force of dark energy may be weakening. According to their model, the acceleration of the universe could rapidly end within the next 65 million years — then, within 100 million years, the universe could stop expanding altogether, and instead it could enter an era of slow contraction that ends billions of years from now with the death — or perhaps the rebirth — of time and space.
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2022-05-04 05:37:49 What if the Moon was replaced with Mars?

If Mars were to become our only natural satellite, things in this part of the Solar System would change. For Mars, taking the place of the Moon would mean temperatures on the red planet would rise from their current average of -60°C (-80°F)

While the Moon reflects its bright white and blue sheen onto the Earth, Mars would be even more vibrant to look at. And because of its larger surface area, it would reflect more sunlight at night, making our evening hours about four times brighter, and casting an orange hue across our planet.

Mars, being so much bigger, would have a stronger gravitational pull on us. With Mars standing in for the Moon, we’d see an increase in volcanic activity and the shifting of the tectonic plates.

Tsunamis may occur more often and be stronger than ever before. Temperatures on Earth would jump, causing some of the polar ice to melt — leading to higher tides and bigger tsunamis.

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2022-05-03 17:06:36 Citizen Scientists Help Map Ridge Networks on Mars That May Hold Records of Ancient Groundwater

Scientists have uncovered strange ridge networks on Mars using images from spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet.Aditya Khuller and Laura Kerber led a team of scientists that set out to discover more about these Martian ridges by surveying a broad region of Mars with the participation of citizen scientists.Their findings show that the ridges on Mars may hold fossilized records of ancient groundwater flowing through them.The team combined data from the NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter’s THEMIS camera and the Mars Reconnaissance orbiter’s CTX and HiRISE instruments.Nearly 14,000 citizen scientists from around the world joined in the search for the ridge networks on Mars, focusing on an area around Jezero Crater. With the help of the citizen scientists, the team was able to map the distribution of 952 polygonal ridge networks in an area that measures about a fifth of Mars’ total surface area.
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2022-05-03 10:19:35 Meet Elliott Tanner, the 13-year-old who just got his college degree in physics

A child science prodigy has wowed his professors and classmates by becoming a college graduate at the age of 13. Elliott Tanner recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in physics, with a minor in mathematics.Though incredible, this achievement does not make Elliott the youngest college graduate in U.S. history. That title belongs to Michael Kearney, who graduated from the University of South Alabama with a bachelor's degree in anthropology in 1992 at the age of 10.

Elliott's parents are proud of the hard work and dedication he displayed to get his degree at such a young age and are pleased that he has become an inspiration to lots of people.In the future, Elliott aims to be a professor at the University of Minnesota and become an expert in high-energy theoretical physics, the study of the most elementary building blocks of matter and the fundamental forces between them.
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2022-05-02 16:50:24 Hubble Sees Double in M99 – A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy

M99 which is located about 42 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices is a grand design spiral galaxy because of the well-defined spiral arms visible in this image.M99 was captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 on two separate occasions helping astronomers study two different astronomical phenomena.The first set of observations aimed to explore a gap between two different varieties of cosmic explosions novae and supernovae.The second set of observations was part of a large Hubble project which aims to chart the connections between young stars and the clouds of cold gas from which they form.These galaxies were also observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) a colossal radio telescope.The combination of Hubble’s observations of young stars and ALMA’s insight into clouds of cold gas will allow astronomers to delve into the details of star formation and pave the way for future science.
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2022-05-02 10:37:37 Saturn's weird moon Titan looks like Earth and scientists might know why

Saturn's moon Titan features some Earth-like landscapes: lakes and rivers, Sand dunes.However these geological formations on Titan are made of different materials.Instead of water it's liquid methane that flows through rivers and instead of sand it's hydrocarbons that blow into dunes.Because Titan's sediments are theorized to be made from solid organic compounds they should be more fragile than the silicate-based sediments found on Earth.Thus nitrogen wind and liquid methane should wear Titan's sediments down to fine dust which wouldn't be able to support such structures.To solve the mystery the researchers studied a type of sediments called ooids which can be found on Earth and have a similar composition to Titan.Ooids can be found in tropical waters where they form very fine grains.These grains simultaneously accrete material via chemical precipitation and erode in the sea.As a result they maintain a consistent size.
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2022-05-01 18:54:49 Atmosphere* instead of surface Open / Comment

2022-05-01 18:54:29 Open / Comment