Skip to content Universe Today Space and astronomy news Menu Videos Newsletter Podcast Contact Us Support Us Log in Posted on December 31, 2023 December 31, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti How Many Planets Could Be in the Kuiper Belt A recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters investigates the potential existence of Mars-sized free-floating planets FFPs âalso known as rogue planets , starless planets , and wandering planetsâthat could have been captured by our Sunâ s gravity long ago and orbit in the outer solar system approximately 1,400 astronomical units AU from the Sun . For context , the farthest known planetary body in the solar system is Pluto , which orbits approximately 39 AU from the Sun , and is also part of the Kuiper Belt , which scientists estimate extends as
. Skip to content Universe Today Space and astronomy news Menu Videos Newsletter Podcast Contact Us Support Us Log in Posted on December 31, 2023 December 31, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti TRAPPIST-1c Isn’t the Exo-Venus We Were Hoping For . But Don’t Blame the Star A recent study accepted to The Astrophysical Journal uses computer models to investigate why the exoplanet , TRAPPIST-1c could not possess a thick carbon dioxide CO2 atmosphere despite it receiving the same amount of solar radiation from its parent star as the planet Venus receives from our Sun , with the latter having a very thick carbon dioxide atmosphere . This study comes after a June 2023 study published in Nature used data from NASAâ s James Webb Space Telescope JWST to ascertain that TRAPPIST-1c does not possess a carbon
Skip to content Universe Today Space and astronomy news Menu Videos Newsletter Podcast Contact Us Support Us Log in Engineers at NASAâ s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville , Alabama , conduct a successful , 251-second hot fire test of a full-scale Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine combustor in fall 2023, achieving more than 5,800 pounds of thrust . Credit : NASA Posted on December 29, 2023 December 29, 2023 by Matt Williams NASA Tests Out 3D-printed Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine Looking to the future , NASA is investigating several technologies that will allow it to accomplish some bold objectives . This includes returning to the Moon , creating the infrastructure that will let us stay there , sending the first crewed mission to Mars , exploring the outer Solar System , and
The Milky Way is a mature, grand spiral galaxy, and so are many galaxies around us. Astronomers have assumed that spiral galaxies are the result of many mergers between dwarf galaxies and shouldn't show up until later on in the Universe's evolution. New research using JWST has shown that's not true, with a surprising number of spiral galaxies in the first few billions years of the Universe's history. Spiral arms showed up much earlier than anyone expected.
The post The Early Universe Was Surprisingly Filled With Spiral Galaxies appeared first on Universe Today.
, Skip to content Universe Today Space and astronomy news Menu Videos Newsletter Podcast Contact Us Support Us Log in Galaxy M33 Triangulum Galaxy as seen by Hubble Space Telescope . JWST was used recently to observe sites in its southern arm where newly forming stars YSOs appear to lie . Posted on December 27, 2023 December 27, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen JWST Sets a New Record , Sees Newly Forming Stars in the Triangulum Galaxy Our Milky Way bristles with giant molecular clouds birthing stars . Based on what we see here , astronomers assume that the process of star creation also goes on similarly in other galaxies . It makes sense since their stars have to form somehow . Now , thanks to JWST , astronomers have spotted baby stellar objects in a galaxy 2.7 million light-years away .
Skip to content Universe Today Space and astronomy news Menu Videos Newsletter Podcast Contact Us Support Us Log in Image of NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Doug âWheelsâ Wheelock conducting recent training on a mock-up of the SpaceX human landing system HLS elevator system with the help of a technician . Credit : SpaceX Posted on December 27, 2023 December 27, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti NASA Astronauts are Trying Out the Starship Lunar Elevator As NASA continues to ramp up efforts for its Artemis program which has the goal of landing the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface , two NASA astronauts recently conducted training with a replica of SpaceXâ s Starship human landing system HLS albeit on a much smaller scale . Given that Starship is 50 meters 160 feet tall , and