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The most expensive materials used in science
Dark-colored regolith from the asteroid Bennu lies scattered around the outside of OSIRIS-REx’s sample collector. Credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold After a journey of seven years and nearly 4 billion miles, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed gently in the Utah desert on the morning of Sept. 24, 2023, with a precious payload. The spacecraft brought…
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Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide one of the deepest-ever views into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The mission will monitor hundreds of millions of stars in search of tell-tale flickers that betray the presence of planets, distant stars, small icy objects that haunt the outskirts of our solar system, isolated…
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OUR SPACE: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
#inform-video-player-1 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; } #inform-video-player-2 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; } Space telescopes are big business and big news these days. A quick internet search shows that there have been almost 130 space telescopes out there, many of which are still working and returning lots of science data. Most of…
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See the moon and Saturn take a night swim in Aquarius tonight
The moon and Saturn are set to meet up for a night swim tonight when the two celestial bodies make a close approach to each other in the constellation of Aquarius, the Water Bearer. During the close approach on Tuesday (Oct. 24), the moon will come to within 2 degrees of the south of Saturn.…
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Victoria Grinberg: the astrophysicist sharing her love for science
Victoria Grinberg, who is the first “liaison scientist” at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands, talks to Hamish Johnston about her interest in binary stars, why she wants to make astronomy more sustainable and her love of scientific illustrations Bold vision Victoria Grinberg, who trained as a physicist, is currently an X-ray astronomer at…
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Statue honours space scientist at former North Lincolnshire school
Winterton 2022 By Ivan Morris Poxton Local Democracy Reporting Service A famous space scientist has been honoured by a statue outside his former school in North Lincolnshire. Wallace Sargent’s work helped advance knowledge of black holes and the formation of galaxies. The son of a steelworker and a cleaner he was born in 1935 and…
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A deep dive into space exploration
Deep space exploration at Lockheed Martin Space Division is the subject of this month’s Estes Valley Astronomical Society (EVAS) meeting. EVAS, in conjunction with The Estes Park Memorial Observatory is offering a free public open house and lecture on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. The goal of EVAS is to promote amateur astronomy and education in the Estes valley. Lockheed…
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Star party: Keystone Ancient Forest welcomes astronomers
Sharon Bishop-Baldwin It’s a wonder no one was dizzy during Friday night’s Astronomy Night event at the Keystone Ancient Forest. After all, the Earth was spinning on its axis at about 800 mph. But the only obvious revolutions were the heads of the visitors spinning in amazement at what they were seeing through the lenses…
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Shortest ‘fast radio bursts’ ever discovered last only 1 millionth of a second
Since 2007, astronomers have been monitoring the sky for quick pulses of radio waves known as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). Their best guess for where these bursts come from? A type of super magnetic dead stars: Magnetars. Usually, an FRB lasts for a brief thousandth of a second, releasing as much energy in that short…
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A star is born! How cosmic winds are a key step in stellar formation
Astronomers have discovered an important step in star formation, hitherto unknown, that could save infant stars from ripping themselves apart. The rescue mechanism is associated with “cosmic winds” that blow around clouds of gas and dust — and it’s these clouds that eventually collapse to form hot and dense stellar bodies. Plus, the clouds manage…