Nicole has an avid interest in all things science. As an amateur astronomer, Nicole can be found looking up at the night sky appreciating the marvels of our universe.
Category: Astronomy
Found: Seven rocky Earth-sized planets in orbit around a nearby star
An artist’s impression shows the view just above the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultra-cool dwarf star 40 lightyears from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth.
‘Seven sisters’: astronomers find star system with multiple Earth-like planets
Seven planets with size and mass similar to Earth’s have been discovered orbiting the same nearby star, prompting astronomers to dub the finding our “seven sisters”. It’s been extinct for about 4500 years, but Harvard geneticists are working to bring a version of the woolly mammoth back to life.
NICER
A new X-ray telescope that’s scheduled for launch as early as April will study the crushed corpses of once-mighty stars. NICER will attach to the International Space Station, as shown in this artist’s concept.
A space travel guide for your first holiday off-planet
THERE are some journeys that, although you are aware they exist, you don’t ever expect to make. Diving to the bottom of the Mariana trench, perhaps, or circumnavigating the world.
Examining exploding stars through the atomic nucleus
Imagine being able to view microscopic aspects of a classical nova, a massive stellar explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star , in a laboratory rather than from afar via a telescope. Cosmic detonations of this scale and larger created many of the atoms in our bodies, says Michigan State University’s Christopher Wrede, who presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting.
Why It’s Time for Australia to Launch its Own Space Agency
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
In 1930, this amateur astronomer discovered this dwarf planet
In 1930, photographic evidence of Pluto, now designated a “dwarf planet,” was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. This image made available by NASA on Friday, July 24, 2015 shows Pluto made by combining several images from two cameras on the New Horizons spacecraft, the first spacecraft to visit and photograph the celestial body.
NASA Finds Life’s Building Blocks on Ceres
Scientists consider dwarf planet Ceres a better planet for aliens. Recently organic molecules are discovered by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on Ceres.
Artist Creates Cherry-Scented Vanta…
Well, a cherry-scented pigment that’s described as “the world’s mattest, flattest, blackest art material,” is the new black. In March 2016 artist Anish Kapoor secured the exclusive artistic rights to Vantablack, which was originally created by Surrey Nanosystems for use on military and astronomy equipment.
The spectacular aftermath of a supernova was just seen at its earliest stage ever
This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the tattered remains of a supernova explosion known as Cassiopeia A. Life in this universe begins and ends with supernovae. In a spectacular eruption powerful enough to outshine a galaxy, a star is killed – and new elements are forged.
Why it’s time for Australia to launch its own NASA
Any nation that hopes to have a space program needs to be able to keep an eye on its orbiting assets at all times. This means that Australia has become a key link in the global chain of ground-based tracking stations.
Brightening views
Students don eclipse glasses to look directly at the sun on Saturday at Discovery Park. The UNT campus hosted 20 sixth-graders from Sanger ISD for its first NASA learning camp.
Hubble Discovers a Comet 100,000 Times Bigger than Halley’s
The object has a chemical composition similar to Halley’s Comet. Credit: Credits: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levy In 1986, Halley’s Comet became the first comet ever to be studied in detail by astronomers.
Halley’s comet? Nope. New discovery is 100,000 times bigger
Astronomers in Germany have found a massive, comet-like object packed with the essentials of life: Water, nitrogen, upon a discovery that could hint at surviving planets debris from a massive object similar to a comet orbiting around a burnt-out sta Halley’s comet? Nope. New discovery is 100,000 times bigger Astronomers in Germany have found a massive, comet-like object packed with the essentials of life: Water, nitrogen, upon a discovery that could hint at surviving planets debris from a massive object similar to a comet orbiting around a burnt-out sta Check out this story on demingheadlight.com: http://usat.ly/2kujLin This artist’s concept shows a massive, comet-like object falling toward a white dwarf.
The Magellenic Clouds Stay Connected By A String Of Stars
Astronomers have finally observed something that was predicted but never seen: a stream of stars connecting the two Magellanic Clouds. In doing so, they began to unravel the mystery surrounding the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud .
Black Hole’s Decade-Long Feeding Frenzy Sucks Down Star
A black hole’s decade-long feeding frenzy on a star almost billion light years from Earth has been going on 10 times longer than any other known episode, according to researchers who keep track of space phenomena. The location of the hungry black hole, known by its abbreviated name of XJ1500+0154, is in a small galaxy, a new University of New Hampshire study .
Binge Eater: Black hole taking over decade to devour star
This artist rendering provided by NASA shows a star being swallowed by a black hole, and emitting an X-ray flare, shown in red, in the process. A new study published Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, in the journal Nature Astronomy details a black hole that’s taken a record-breaking decade to devour a star 1.8 billion light-years from Earth.
Gravitational wave detector prepares to peer into bizarre stars
Prepare for a big wave – a wave of gravitational waves. A mass of predictions from the latest meeting of the American Physical Society in Washington DC is shedding light on what’s next for the massive LIGO collaboration.
A Black Hole’s Record Breaking Lunch
A trio of X-ray observatories has captured a decade-long eating binge by a black hole almost two billion light years away. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UNH/D.Lin et al, Optical: CFHT, Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss.
This black hole is taking a decade to devour a star — and ita s still chewing away
NASA Goddard astronomer Erin Kara discusses the discovery of X-ray echoes from Swift J1644+57, a black hole that shattered a passing star. X-rays produced by flares near this million-solar-mass black hole bounced off the nascent accretion disk and revealed its structure.
Ancient Annular: Dating Joshua’s Eclipse
Astronomy turns up in fascinating junctures in history. Besides just the romantic angle, we can actually pin down contextual events in ancient history if we can tie them in with a spectacle witnessed in the heavens.
This Friday, get ready to join the dark side a ” of a penumbral lunar eclipse
Prod the kids outside, give them hot chocolate and gaze toward the moon in the east. Enjoy the evening penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday.
Stargazing: All eyes are on the sun this month
February feels like the dead of winter with its dreary, cold days and long, colder nights. Most everyone yearns for more sunlight and warmth during this part of winter, when the sun’s altitude in the sky is still relatively low after December’s winter solstice.
Lunar eclipse
Prod the kids outside, give them hot chocolate and gaze toward the moon in the east. Enjoy the evening penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday.
Hubble Captures Brilliant Star Death in “Rotten Egg” Nebula
The Calabash Nebula, pictured here – which has the technical name OH 231.8+04.2 – is a spectacular example of the death of a low-mass star like the sun. This image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula, during which it blows its outer layers of gas and dust out into the surrounding space.
Hubble Space Telescope captures brilliant star death
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a rare event-a star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula.It sheds its outer layers of gas and dust out into the surrounding space. It sheds its outer layers of gas and dust out into the surrounding space.
Earth narrowly dodges three large asteroids
A car-sized asteroid narrowly missed the Earth on Monday, January 30, six days after another asteroid the size of a house had a similar near-miss, and 10 days after a third passed by that was about the size of a killer whale. This artist’s rendition released 20 April, 2005 by NASA shows a massive asteroid belt in orbit around a star the same age and size as our Sun Asteroid 2017 BH30 zipped past the Earth just 32,200 miles away at its closest approach.
What is a Planet?
Humanity’s understanding of what constitutes a planet has changed over time. Whereas our most notable magi and scholars once believed that the world was a flat disc , they gradually learned that it was in fact spherical.
NASA’s fermi discovers the most extreme blazars yet
VIDEO: NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered the five most distant gamma-ray blazars yet known. The light detected by Fermi left these galaxies by the time the universe was two… view more NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has identified the farthest gamma-ray blazars, a type of galaxy whose intense emissions are powered by supersized black holes.
A Proposal For Juno To Observe The Volcanoes Of Io
To accomplish its science objectives, NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbits over Jupiter’s poles and passes repeatedly through repeatedly hazardous radiation belts. Two Boston University researchers propose using Juno to probe the ever-changing flux of volcanic gases-turned-ions spewed by Io’s volcanoes.
Astronomers have filmed 4 planets orbiting an alien solar system
Located about 129 light years from Earth in the direction of the Pegasus constellation is the relatively young star system of HR 8799 . Beginning in 2008, four orbiting exoplanets were discovered in this system which – alongside the exoplanet Formalhaut b – were the very first to be confirmed using the direct imaging technique.
February meteor showers feature quantity not quality
Photo courtesy of NASA/ESA – This stunning image shows part of the sky in the constellation of Sagittarius . The region is rendered in exquisite detail – deep red and bright blue stars are scattered across the frame, set against a background of thousands of more distant stars and galaxies.
Four Planet System Directly Imaged In Motion
Located about 129 light years from Earth in the direction of the Pegasus constellation is the relatively young star system of HR 8799 . Beginning in 2008, four orbiting exoplanets were discovered in this system which – alongside the exoplanet Formalhaut b – were the very first to be confirmed using the direct imaging technique.
Voxel Virtual Reality Parlour in St. Paul offers an eye-opening night out
Voxel Virtual Reality Parlour, one of the first VR lounges in the U.S., opened in St. Paul last fall. It has three rooms that people can rent out by the hour.
Space station moon
The International Space Station flying in front of the moon on January 14 as seen from the European Space Agency’s space science center near Madrid, Spain. Michel Breitfellner, Manuel Castillo, Abel de Burgos and Miguel Perez Ayucar work at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre and are members its astronomy club.
What’s That Bright Star in the Sky?
Every few months a bright star appears in the sky. Sometimes it’s off to the East, bright in the morning before the Sun rises.
Touch Bar MacBooks, stay clear of these bar exams video – CNET
Some states worry that the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar could aid in cheating, so they’re taking a stand. The new feature, which reduces screen distractions at the movie theater, rolled out for the Apple Watch with the developer’s… Starbucks is adding a new Alexa skill for re-ordering your favorite coffee order from devices like Amazon’s Echo, and launching… The sleek, blue suit is lighter and more flexible, with touch screen friendly gloves, and a helmet attached like a hoodie.
Another Earth just 14 light years away? Maybe not, says new study
A rocky world orbiting Wolf 1061 falls within the potentially-habitable ‘Goldilocks zone.’ But a new study shows that it might be too close for comfort.
STO2 Landed and Data Secured
The STO2 telescope with Dutch detectors on board that circled around the South Pole in December 2016 to investigate gas clouds between the stars landed safely on 30 December. At an altitude of 39 kilometers the NASA telescope circled along with the polar vortex for a period of three weeks.