TIL Earth is the only known place in our solar system where fire occurs, and no known exoplanets have enough oxygen to allow fire to exist. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_124rggw on March 28, 2023 at 3:00 PM in todayilearned No comments 1
Researchers develop a "space salad" perfected suited for astronauts on long-durations spaceflights. The salad has seven ingredients (soybeans, poppy seeds, barley, kale, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and sweet potatoes) that can be grown on spacecraft and fulfill all the nutritional needs of astronauts. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_11ttq7j on March 17, 2023 at 3:06 PM in space No comments 3
NASA’s oldest Mars orbiter just got a new lease on life. Revised calculations show Mars Odyssey orbiter, which launched in 2001, actually has enough propellant to last through at least 2025. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_11t5pwe on March 16, 2023 at 8:44 PM in space No comments 5
Milky Way stars found nearly halfway to Andromeda Galaxy. “I won’t be surprised if there are a few dozens of stars which are being contested by the two galaxies,” said study author Yuting Feng. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_11r9rye on March 14, 2023 at 3:49 PM in space No comments 1
Astronomers find a star that survived going supernova after colliding with another star. “I’ve worked on supernova remnants for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Robert Fesen, lead author of the study. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_11f7fa0 on March 1, 2023 at 3:59 PM in space No comments 4
Path forward begins to emerge for Thirty Meter Telescope, which would be larger than any other current optical telescope and would sit atop the dormant volcano Mauna Kea in Hawaii. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_127pb9m on March 31, 2023 at 3:37 PM in space 11 comments 164
Alphabet shares are tanking after Google's AI chatbot botched a question about the James Webb Space Telescope in an ad. It turns out that ChatGPT struggled with astronomy-related questions too. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10xaj8u on February 8, 2023 at 8:57 PM in space No comments 1
Chemists have discovered a new form of ice that more closely resembles liquid water than any other known ices, and they think it might be present on solar system moons likes Europa and Ganymede. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_114uwzp on February 17, 2023 at 7:12 PM in space 16 comments 143
TIL Most archaeologists now agree the Orion Correlation Theory — the idea that the pyramids specifically aligned with the three stars of Orion's Belt some 10,000 years ago — is a fringe idea. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10qbamk on January 31, 2023 at 9:37 PM in todayilearned 24 comments 752
Fires in a microgravity environment (like the space station) are fed by random oxygen molecules stumbling into them in a process called molecular diffusion. This produces spherical flames that burn more slowly and consume less oxygen, giving off a fraction of the heat emitted by terrestrial flames. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10jh73i on January 23, 2023 at 4:55 PM in space No comments 4
James Webb spots Milky Way look-alikes in the early universe, two of which date back some 11 billion years. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10a75ma on January 12, 2023 at 6:45 PM in space No comments 3
Earth's inner core may be slowing down, but “Nothing cataclysmic is happening,” says Hrvoje Tkalcic, a geophysicist at Australian National University. “The inner core is now more in sync with the rest of the planet than a decade ago when it was spinning a bit faster.” astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10lx2s9 on January 26, 2023 at 5:19 PM in space 82 comments 622
NASA's Annual Day of Remembrance today, Jan. 26, honors the astronauts who died during the Apollo 1 fire and the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10m450d on January 26, 2023 at 10:12 PM in space 108 comments 12,645
Ancient humans and their early depictions of the universe: “It is no exaggeration to say that astronomy has existed as an exact science for more than five millennia,” writes the late science historian John North. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10g7eh5 on January 19, 2023 at 5:21 PM in space 168 comments 5,366
Mycotecture — the use of mushrooms and other fungal substances for architectural purposes — could be key to building affordable, fire-resistant, insulated habitats on the Moon and Mars. NASA aims to experiment with the technique on the Moon in 2025. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10l79o4 on January 25, 2023 at 7:28 PM in space 100 comments 1,912
Mycotecture — the use of mushrooms and other fungal substances for architectural purposes — could be key to building affordable, fire-resistant, insulated habitats on the Moon and Mars. NASA aims to experiment with the technique on the Moon in 2025. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_10l7avw on January 25, 2023 at 7:29 PM in science 11 comments 122
Earth is the only known place in our solar system where fire occurs, and no known exoplanets have enough oxygen to allow fire to exist. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_zxd2aq on December 28, 2022 at 3:55 PM in space No comments 4
DNA-based bacteria could survive in stasis on Mars for up to 280 million years, suggests new research. According to the study's author, if martian life existed in the past, it could potentially still persist to this day. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_z86a1m on November 29, 2022 at 9:10 PM in space No comments 2
Climate change is extending the lifetime of space debris. A new study found that the density of the thermosphere will decrease by 30-35% at an altitude of 250 miles over the next few decades. That loss of drag would increase the lifetime of space debris in LEO by 30% compared to 2000. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_ysmpdu on November 11, 2022 at 8:50 PM in space 32 comments 203
Vera Rubin and Nancy Grace Roman transformed our understanding of the universe — and their namesake telescopes (the Rubin Observatory and the Roman Space Telescope) will soon reflect their accomplishments. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_z8x9z3 on November 30, 2022 at 5:24 PM in space 3 comments 707
Pristine meteorite found and analyzed within hours of hitting Earth, helping shed light on the birth of the solar system. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_yxw2kd on November 17, 2022 at 5:27 PM in science No comments 3
Meteorite analyzed by Amir Siraj (age 22) officially shown to be first interstellar object ever detected in our solar system, predating 'Oumuamua. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_ym1b02 on November 4, 2022 at 3:01 PM in science No comments 4
Climate change is extending the lifetime of space debris. A new study found that the density of the thermosphere will decrease by 30-35% at an altitude of 250 miles over the next few decades. That loss of drag would increase the lifetime of space debris in LEO by 30% compared to 2000. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_ysmp12 on November 11, 2022 at 8:50 PM in science 18 comments 170
Space junk is a growing problem. New research suggests there is a 10% chance someone will be killed by falling space debris within the next 10 years. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_y9vhac on October 21, 2022 at 2:41 PM in space No comments 2
Astronomers have a new theory for why Uranus spins on its side: The ice giant once had a large moon that migrated outward, which slowly flipped Uranus sideways. astronomy.com Submitted by clayt6 t3_y6ep1r on October 17, 2022 at 3:54 PM in space No comments 0