Category Astronomy/Space

This graphic illustrates the Cassini spacecraft’s trajectory, or flight path, during the final two phases of its mission. The view is toward Saturn as seen from Earth. The 20 ring-grazing orbits are shown in gray; the 22 grand finale orbits are shown in blue. The final partial orbit is colored orange. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

A thrilling ride is about to begin for NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Engineers have been pumping up the spacecraft’s orbit around Saturn this year to increase its tilt with respect to the planet’s equator and rings. And on Nov. 30, following a gravitational nudge from Saturn’s moon Titan, Cassini will enter the first phase of the mission’s dramatic endgame...

This vertically exaggerated view shows scalloped depressions in a part of Mars where such textures prompted researchers to check for buried ice, using ground-penetrating radar aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Frozen beneath a region of cracked and pitted plains on Mars lies about as much water as what’s in Lake Superior, largest of the Great Lakes, researchers using NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have determined. Scientists examined part of Mars’ Utopia Planitia region, in the mid-northern latitudes, with the orbiter’s ground-penetrating Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument. Analyses of data from >600 overhead passes with the onboard radar instrument reveal a deposit more extensive in area than the state of New Mexico...

Massive cluster of galaxies Abell 1689 creates a strong gravitational effect on background and older galaxies, seen as arcs of light. Astronomers found the large population of distant dwarf galaxies from when the universe was between two to six billion years old. This cosmic time is critical as it is the most productive time for star formation in the universe. Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Siana, and A. Alavi

Using the gravitational lensing, astronomers have discovered a large number of dwarf galaxies in the early universe. This could reveal important details about a productive period of star formation in the universe billions of years ago. The findings build on a growing body of knowledge about dwarf galaxies, the smallest and dimmest galaxies in the universe.

It is believed that dwarf galaxies p...

The position of Virgo I in the constellation of Virgo (left). The right panel shows a density map of Virgo I’s member stars in a 0.1 deg x 0.1 deg area, based on the stars located inside the green zone in the color-magnitude diagram of Virgo I shown in Figure 4. The color range from blue -> white -> yellow -> red indicates increasing density. (Credit: Tohoku University/National Astronomical Observation of Japan)

An international team has found an extremely faint dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The team’s discovery is part of the ongoing Subaru Strategic Survey using Hyper Suprime-Cam. The satellite, named Virgo I, lies in the direction of the constellation Virgo. At the absolute magnitude of -0.8 in the optical waveband, it may well be the faintest satellite galaxy yet found...