February 28, 2020
He added that the mini-moon appears to have been orbiting our planet since it was first captured by Earth’s gravity three years ago. Early observations also suggest it is small enough to fit in just about any garage or shed, with an estimated diameter between 2 and 3.5 meters (about 6 – 11 feet).
The photo obviously doesn’t match the actual size of this “mini-moon” but you get the idea.
There was another one a few years ago, by the way. It stayed a few months and then got booted out of orbit.
February 2, 2020
“Being able to get humans on Mars and actually collecting one of these samples would be such an incredible moment, I would kind of hope it would almost bring us back to the moon days of everyone being glued to the TV.”
Um. Well. OK. TV is dead so we’ll all be watching it streamed on our smartphones, but the point is taken.
And how much did they pay for this? 💰 👽 📺
— Read on http://www.livescience.com/amp/super-bowl-space-commercials.html
January 20, 2020
“Proxima is our closest neighbor in an immense universe. How could we not be charmed by it?”
Well, the planet may or may not exist (the confirmation data won’t be publicly available for another couple years).
And it is most likely not inhabitable — despite being dubbed a “Super-Earth” (which really only refers to size and not whether it’s “Earth-like” or not).
Still, regardless of these facts, the most important part of this article in Scientific American is the science:
“We tried different tools to prove ourselves wrong, but we failed. However, we have to keep the doors open to all possible doubt and skepticism.”
Yes, the astronomers tried to prove their own discovery was a mistake. That’s how it works, folks. Challenge your assumptions, not jump to conclusions. Continue Reading
January 12, 2020
“Without this instability, Mars likely would have had a mass closer to Earth’s and would be a very different, perhaps more Earth-like, planet compared to what it is today.”
Damn you, Jupiter and Saturn! Why couldn’t you have just stayed in your orbits and left Mars alone? (Shakes fist futilely at night sky.)
January 10, 2020
The newly discovered exoplanet, called TOI 700 d, is located about 100 light-years away from us and is roughly 20% larger than Earth.
Okay, not exactly close, but looking good…
A year on TOI 700 d takes 37 days.
Um. Wait. What?
One thing astronomers have discovered though is that TOI 700 d is tidally locked to its star, which means that one half bathes in eternal sunlight, and the other half always exists in darkness.
Oy.
And even better…
One of the burning questions is whether the planet has an atmosphere or not.
Is this really the best way to phrase this? 😂
I vote we pass on this one…
PS I’ve been trying futilely to get WordPress not to screw up the formatting. To no avail.
December 27, 2019
If you find a big rock in your backyard, and you can’t break it open with normal tools, guess what?
The researchers argue that the Maryborough meteorite is much rarer than gold. It’s one of only 17 meteorites ever recorded in the Australian state of Victoria, and it’s the second largest chondritic mass, after a huge 55-kilogram specimen identified in 2003.
This next bit is more interesting to me:
“Other rare meteorites contain organic molecules such as amino acids; the building blocks of life.”
Hmmm… 🤔 Sounds like a storyline…
December 20, 2019
Ever wonder this about “Super Earths”?
Do they have atmospheres and how thick are they? What kind of clouds? Do they possess oceans on their surface? Do they have rings and moons? Cheops ought to be able to address such questions just from looking for these tiny dips in light during a transit.
ESA finally does something! Wow. Go Europe!
I love how BBC says “The Americans” when referring to NASA, as if a) American is an ethnic group and b) all NASA scientists are American.
But anyway…
Prof Didier Queloz, who won this year’s Physics Nobel for discovering the first planet orbiting a Sun-like star in 1995, was on hand to watch the launch.
You can watch/listen to his interview here.
December 6, 2019
Right now, engineers have got a dummy rover practising the business of retrieving packaged rock samples. And, yes, the stand-ins really are whiteboard markers.
Yay! Whiteboard markers. Um. OK.
But different agencies and companies are finally working together?
Great!
Wait. What’s the catch?
It is, though, going to take more than a decade to achieve.
Sigh.
October 25, 2019
Future moon settlers might benefit from oxygen extraction from lunar regolith as it can be used to create breathable air as well as a source for fuel. In addition, the newly found extraction method might also be useful for Mars colonization.
Regolith covers the Moon and Mars (and presumably many other potentially habitable rocky bodies).
Of course, the composition of regolith on the Moon differs from that of Mars.
But if the new method can extract sufficient quantities of both oxygen and hydrogen, there should be ample amounts for both human usage and rocket fuel.
(Yawn.) “Dry” science? Sure. But think of the (fictional) possibilities!
October 15, 2019
“What is the evidence against the possibility of life on Mars?” Levin wrote. “The astonishing fact is that there is none.”
Uh, no, sorry. That’s an illogical fallacy called “begging the question.”
Often phrased like this: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
Or, as a friend once joked, “Just because you haven’t found any aliens doesn’t mean there aren’t any!”
Well, yeah, but that doesn’t prove anything except that we just don’t know.
See, science doesn’t work like that. It demands skepticism, careful theorizing based on positive evidence.
And replication.
If findings can’t be independently confirmed and reproduced by an outside observer, then the evidence isn’t strong enough.
Sorry. No smoking gun. Yet.
(Believe me, if scientists knew that Mars had life, we’d hear about it ad infinitum. Carl Sagan put it best: Scientists are terrible at keeping secrets.)
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