Category Astronomy/Space

This artist’s conception shows the rocky exoplanet GJ 1132b, located 39 light-years from Earth. New research shows that it might possess a thin, oxygen atmosphere – but no life due to its extreme heat. Credit: CfA/Dana Berry/Skyworks Digital

The distant planet GJ 1132b intrigued astronomers when it was discovered last year. Located just 39 light-years from Earth, it might have an atmosphere despite being around 450F. But would that atmosphere be thick and soupy or thin and wispy? New research suggests the latter is much more likely. Harvard astronomer Laura Schaefer, CfA, and her colleagues examined the question of what would happen to GJ 1132b over time if it began with a steamy, water-rich atmosphere.

Orbiting so close to its star, at a distance of just 1...

OSIRIS-REx will travel to near-Earth asteroid Benn on a sample return mission. Credit: NASA

NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a sample back to Earth for intensive study. Launch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 8 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The 4,650-pound fully-fueled spacecraft will launch aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket during a 34-day launch period that begins Sept...

In her research published in The Royal Society Dr Vaccaro says T violation, or a violation of time reversal (T) symmetry, is forcing the universe and us in it, into the future. (Stock image) Credit: © Stillfx / Fotolia

A/Prof Dr Joan Vaccaro, of Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, has solved an anomaly of conventional physics and shown that a mysterious effect called ‘T violation’ could be the origin of time evolution and conservation laws. “I begin by breaking the rules of physics, which is rather bold I have to admit, but I wanted to understand time better and conventional physics can’t do that,” Dr Vaccaro says.

“I do get conventional physics in the end though. This means that the rules I break are not fundamental. It also means that I can see why the universe has those rules...

The Preface of the Venus Table of the Dresden Codex, first panel on left, and the first three pages of the Table. Credit: Image courtesy of University of California – Santa Barbara

Ancient hieroglyphic texts reveal Mayans made major discovery in math, astronomy. For >120 years the Venus Table of the Dresden Codex – an ancient Mayan book containing astronomical data – has been of great interest to scholars around the world. The accuracy of its observations, especially the calculation of a kind of ‘leap year’ in the Mayan Calendar, was deemed an impressive curiosity used primarily for astrology.

But UC Santa Prof Barbara’s Gerardo Aldana believes the Venus Table has been misunderstood and vastly underappreciated...