Category Astronomy/Space

The Milky Way (stock image). Credit: © khlongwangchao / Fotolia

Analysis of Green Bank Telescope observations made public, including 11 events ranked highest for significance. Breakthrough Listen – the initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe – has released its 11 events ranked highest for significance as well as summary data analysis results. It is considered unlikely that any of these signals originate from artificial extraterrestrial sources, but the search continues. Listen has submitted the analysis of 692 stars, comprising all spectral types, observed during its first year of observations with the Green Bank Telescope.

Breakthrough Listen has so far acquired several petabytes of data using the Green Bank Radio Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, Lick Observatory’s ...

1.A diverse landscape. A false color image highlights the complex geology of the Northeast Syrtis Major region on Mars. NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
2. A detailed map shows the the various geologic units exposed at Northeast Syrtis.
Credit: Mike Bramble/Mustard Lab

Mineral deposits in a region on Mars called Northeast Syrtis Major suggest a plethora of once-habitable environments. By mapping those deposits in the region’s larger geological context, the research could help set the stage for a possible rover mission in 2020. Using the highest resolution images available from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the study maps the extent of those key mineral deposits across the surface and places them within the region’s larger geological context.

“When w...

This artist’s impression shows the exoplanet LHS 1140b, which orbits a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and may be the new holder of the title ‘best place to look for signs of life beyond the Solar System’. Using ESO’s HARPS instrument at La Silla, and other telescopes around the world, an international team of astronomers discovered this super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone around the faint star LHS 1140. This world is a little larger and much more massive than the Earth and has likely retained most of its atmosphere. Credit: ESO/spaceengine.org

Super-Earth LHS 1140b orbits in the habitable zone around a faint red dwarf star named LHS 1140, in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster)...

Clemens M. Rumpf, Hugh G. Lewis, Peter M. Atkinson. Asteroid impact effects and their immediate hazards for human populations. Geophysical Research Letters, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/2017GL073191

Violent winds, shock waves from impacts pose greatest threat to humans. If an asteroid struck Earth, which of its effects – scorching heat, flying debris, towering tsunamis – would claim the most lives? A new study has the answer: violent winds and shock waves are the most dangerous effects produced by Earth-impacting asteroids. The study explored 7 effects associated with asteroid impacts – heat, pressure shock waves, flying debris, tsunamis, wind blasts, seismic shaking and cratering – and estimated their lethality for varying sizes...