Category Astronomy/Space

VLT image of Saturn’s giant vortex at mid-infrared wavelengths. Credit: European Space Agency

Cassini mission study into immense northern storms on Saturn. Immense northern storms on Saturn can disturb atmospheric patterns at the planet’s equator, finds the international Cassini mission in a study led by Dr Leigh Fletcher from the University of Leicester. This effect is also seen in Earth’s atmosphere, suggesting the two planets are more alike than previously thought.

Despite their considerable differences, the atmospheres of Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn all display a remarkably similar phenomenon in their equatorial regions: vertical, cyclical, downwards-moving patterns of alternating temperatures and wind systems that repeat over a period of multiple years...

The CubeSat just before it was brought into the launch facility. Credit: University of Colorado Boulder

Charged particles in Earth’s inner radiation belt created by cosmic rays born from supernova explosions. CubeSats, named for the roughly 4-inch-cubed dimensions of their basic building elements, are stacked with smartphone-like electronics and tiny scientific instruments. Built mainly by students and hitching rides into orbit on NASA and U.S. Department of Defense launch vehicles, the small, low-cost satellites have been making history.

Now, results from a new study using CubeSats indicate that energetic electrons in Earth’s inner radiation belt – primarily near its inner edge – are created by cosmic rays born from supernova explosions, said scientist Xinlin Li of the University of Color...

An artist’s rendition depicts a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the upper atmosphere.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

At the fall meeti...

NGC 5256 is a pair of galaxies in its final stage of merging. It was previously observed by Hubble as part of a collection of 59 images of merging galaxies, released on Hubble’s 18th anniversary on April 24, 2008. The new data make the gas and dust being whirled around inside and outside the galaxy more visible than ever before. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

A riot of colour and light dances through this peculiarly shaped galaxy, NGC 5256. Its smoke-like plumes are flung out in all directions and the bright core illuminates the chaotic regions of gas and dust swirling through the galaxy’s centre. Its odd structure is due to the fact that this is not one galaxy, but two – in the process of a galactic collision...