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The Magellanic Clouds must be renamed, astronomers say
In September, astronomer Mia de los Reyes published an op-ed in the journal APS Physics, representing a coalition of astronomers calling for the renaming of two iconic, deeply studied and shining irregular galaxies near the Milky Way. One of these star-studded realms is named the Large Magellanic Cloud and the other, for reasons you’d probably…
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Space Domain Awareness project utilises radio astronomy technology and techniques to support defence goals
Background Researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR-Curtin) translated radio astronomy capability to design and develop a flexible, deployable and covert sensor system with the potential to operate as an inexpensive, highly configurable and covert passive radar. Space-based systems play a vital role in Defence operations — from providing valuable information, to…
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SpaceRake wins $1.8 million in SDA funding for optical communications terminals
SAN FRANCISCO – The Space Development Agency awarded SpaceRake, a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup, $1.8 million to develop miniature laser communications terminals. It was the first government contract for SpaceRake, a firm founded in 2021 by Kerri Cahoy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Space Telecommunications, Astronomy and Radiation Laboratory director with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering,…
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Swinburne and W. M. Keck Observatory form historic scientific partnership to unlock new era of space discovery
Swinburne University of Technology has become the first organisation outside the United States to join the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaiʻi as a scientific partner. The new scientific partnership doubles the number of observing nights for Swinburne researchers and will provide Swinburne with a vote in setting science and technology priorities for the Observatory.…
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SwRI’s Dr. Alan Stern conducts space research aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity – Research & Development World
November 2, 2023 — Dr. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and associate vice president of Southwest Research Institute’s Space Sector, today flew aboard the Virgin Galactic commercial spaceship Unity on a suborbital space mission. During the roughly 60-minute mission, first mated to its carrier aircraft VMS Eve, and then horizontally launched into space, Stern tested equipment and…
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Milton Public Library’s ‘Night Sky Program’ illuminates minds with Vermont Astronomical Society
Vermont Astronomical Society president Jack St. Louis (right) and committee chair Jim Bosek (left) presented at the Milton Public Library’s “Night Sky Program.” Photographed by Shannon Gunderson Beneath the ink-black canvas of a Milton night, the Milton Public Library became a portal to the cosmos as the Vermont Astronomical Society illuminated the mysteries of the…
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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…