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Swirling gas helps scientists nail down Milky Way’s supermassive black hole mass
At the center of our galaxy sits a dark enigma, a supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A*. Astronomers have known about the existence of Sgr. A* for some time, and even snagged a spectacular image of it in 2022, but getting exact measurements of its size and activity have proven elusive. But now, in new…
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Finland’s Kuva Space Raises $17.6 Million for Hyperspectral Satellite Constellation
Illustration of Earth imaging satellite. Image credit: Kuva Space. Kuva Space, an Earth observation startup based in Finland, announced today (November 2) that it has raised 16.6 million euros ($17.6 million) from existing and new investors to develop its hyperspectral cameras for a planned microsatellite network in low-Earth orbit (LEO) capable of analyzing the molecular…
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The James Webb Space Telescope’s tech breakthroughs are already impacting science. Here’s how
NASA’s mighty James Webb Space Telescope, (JWST)has no shortage of accomplishments to its credit. From its vantage point in space, roughly 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from Earth, the JWST has been snapping breathtaking images and generating insights about stars, planets and galaxies that were simply not possible by its predecessors. And back…
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NASA’s robot prospectors blaze a trail that humans may follow
A computer-generated image of the metal-rich Psyche asteroid. Credit: NASA. The cars, cellphones, computers and televisions that people in the U.S. use every day require metals like copper, cobalt and platinum to build. Demand from the electronics industry for these metals is only rising, and companies are constantly searching for new places on Earth to…
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SwRI’s Dr. Alan Stern conducts space research during suborbital spaceflight aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity
image: Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and associate vice president of Southwest Research Institute’s Space Sector, flew aboard the Virgin Galactic commercial spaceship Unity on a suborbital space mission. During the flight, Stern tested equipment monitoring his vital signs in preparation for a NASA-funded experiment he will perform in space aboard…
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How long is a year on other planets?
The planets in our solar system. Credit: WikiMedia Commons. The planets within our solar system are in constant motion in their orbits and as they spin on their axis. All planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun. But the time they complete their revolution around the central star or complete one year differs.…
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Virgin Galactic launches researchers to suborbital space on 5th commercial flight
SPACEPORT AMERICA, New Mexico — Virgin Galactic’s reusable space plane VSS Unity lifted off again today (Nov. 2) , continuing the one-mission-per-month tempo the company began this spring. Today’s flight, called Galactic 05, carried two research scientists and one other private passenger, along with VSS Unity’s crew, to suborbital space. It marked the fifth commercial spaceflight…
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Nobel Prize nominee coming to Boise to discuss his work in astronomy
Boise State University is hosting Dr. Alex Filippenko for a discussion at 7:30 p.m. Friday. There is also an opportunity for stargazing, weather permitting. BOISE, Idaho — If you’ve ever looked up at the night sky and thought “there’s got to be more out there,” it turns out there’s some truth to that. Dr. Alex…
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Beyond UFOs: the Future of Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena
How would someone report a sighting? It’s a great question. The panel spent a lot of time investigating how things were reported, and the truth is, there isn’t really a functioning reporting mechanism within U.S. government agencies. One of our leading recommendations was to fix this and to have better inter-agency communication. The difficult thing…
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Filaments explaining blazar jet radio variability
High-resolution observations using a network of ground-based radio dishes and one telescope in space have revealed filamentary structures in the source 3C279. These filaments may explain the origin of radio variability in blazar jets. With the excellent resolving power and sensitivity of their observations, Fuentes et al. could resolve a complex fine structure along and…
