Astronomers have reconstructed the history of star formation at the center of the Milky Way for the first time, finding that starbirth radiated outwards from the galaxy’s heart.
The results also revealed that most young stars in the densely packed galactic center formed with only loose associations and drifted further apart over the course of millions of years.
Orbiting around 420 kilometers (261 miles) above our heads, the astronauts of the Internation Space Station (ISS) get a view of Earth like no other. Sometimes, it’s spectacular auroras, other times it’s something more… curious.
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti – no stranger to having a bit of fun in space – took to Twitter yesterday to share what she called an “intriguing sight”, a bright dot apparently shining in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Related StoriesAfter 175 Years, Two False Conjectures, And The Birth Of Computing, This Theorem Finally Has A ProofExperiment To Find Elusive “Chameleon” Fifth Force Suggests It Doesn’t Actually ExistPerseverance Samples Hold Key To Understanding Water-Rich Martian Past.
When asked to write the numbers from one to ten in a sequence, how do you order them? Horizontally? Vertically? Left to right? Top to bottom? Would you place them randomly?
It has been often been assumed, and taught in schools in Western countries, that the “correct” ordering of numbers is from left to right (1, 2, 3, 4…) rather than right to left (10, 9, 8, 7…). The ordering of numbers along a horizontal dimension is known as a “mental number line” and describes an important way we represent number and quantity in space.
Studies show humans prefer to position larger numbers to the right and smaller numbers to the left. People are usually faster and more accurate at comparing numbers when larger ones are to the right and smaller ones are to the left, and people with brain damage that disrupts their spatial processing also show similar disruptions in number processing.
Scientists have discovered a beautiful ocean world that looks like it was ripped out of the Star Wars prequels. The exoplanet TOI-1452 b was discovered just 100 light-years from Earth. A new paper on the discovery says that the entire planet is covered by a thick layer of water and that it’s located far enough from its star to possibly support life.
The ocean world was discovered by a team of researchers at the Université de Montréal. Charles Cadieux, the team leader, announced the discovery this week. Cadieux is also a member of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx).
Continue reading “Scientists discovered a beautiful ocean world 100 light-years from Earth” »
The future of architecture is here!
Dubai is known for its extravagant architecture that causes envy around the world. Just when you thought its buildings could not get more futuristic, along comes ZNera space, an architecture firm with some very ambitious plans for the city.
Continue reading “Top 8 Engineering and Architectural Wonders of Dubai” »
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The planet is 1.27 times the diameter of Jupiter but has only 28% of its mass. It orbits just 0.0486 AU (7.3 million km) from its star, taking only 4.1 days to complete one “year” and resulting in a temperature of 900°C (1,600°F).
The parent star WASP-39 is of spectral class G – the same type as our own Sun – and just slightly smaller than the Sun. The system is 698 light years from Earth in the Virgo constellation.
Previous observations from telescopes including Hubble and Spitzer revealed the presence of water vapour, sodium, and potassium in the planet’s atmosphere. Last month, it became the first exoplanet to be studied by the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and this week NASA released the data from those observations. Webb’s unmatched infrared sensitivity has now confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide on this planet as well.
Researchers plan to use the James Webb Space Telescope for further observations.
An international team of researchers led by the University of Montreal discovered an exoplanet that could be covered entirely in water. The planet TOI-1452b is about 100 light years away from Earth, located in Draco Constellation. It’s larger in size and mass compared to Earth and is located in the “habitable zone,” which means the temperature is just right for the liquid water to exist. The team believes that it could be an “ocean planet,” a planet covered by a thick layer of water.
What’s so special about this ocean planet?
Two much-loved characters and some LEGO minifigures have been assigned to NASA’s Artemis I mission to the Moon. Shaun The Sheep and Snoopy are scheduled to lift-off during a two-hour window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT on Monday, August 29. If all goes to plan they’ll flyby the Moon and eventually return to Earth in the Orion spacecraft 42 days later.
This won’t be Snoopy’s first trip to space, having orbited Earth in a Space Shuttle in 1990. Snoopy will go to space this time as a visual indicator when a spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity. Interior cameras will capture the moment when Snoopy floats.
In the abscence of humans on NASA’s Artemis-1 mission around the Moon a cute selection of pop dolls, characters and “moonikins” will go to space.
