Common Tools Used to Gather Data in Space
As a species, we’re working on expanding our horizons — literally — by making our first forays into outer space. In the next decade, we’re hoping to have people living permanently on the Moon and may even be making the first attempt to land human beings on Mars. Despite this push toward interstellar exploration, there is still a lot about the universe around us that we don’t know, and a lot that we don’t even know to ask about yet. On top of that, much of the data that we could be collecting from outer space is invisible to the human eye. What tools are scientists using to gather data…
83 Black Holes Found at the Edge of the Universe
International astronomers have made an incredible discovery recently that many may not see the significance of right away. Astronomers discovered 83 supermassive black holes on the edge of the universe. There’s a lot to unpack from that simple statement, but the discovery remains the same. After all, astronomers were pretty confident we wouldn’t find black holes in these far-reaching places, but now we have 83. So, let’s jump into an explanation and try to figure out the basics. What Does This Mean? Let’s start by taking apart the black holes. A supermassive black hole is often found in the center of a galaxy, like the Milky Way, and are extremely…
TESS Space Telescope Discovers First Exoplanet
The TESS space telescope was launched on April 18, 2018, sitting atop a Space X Falcon 9 rocket. This telescope, which is short for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, is designed to scan the night sky in search of one thing — exoplanets, or potentially habitable planets outside of our solar system. This satellite has finally discovered its first exoplanet — LHS3844 b, otherwise known as Pi Mensae c. A “Super Earth” This new exoplanet orbits a sun that is is only slightly larger than our home star. Astronomers have already spotted a massive gas giant orbiting that star — one that is nearly 10 times the mass of Jupiter.…
The ESA Just Released the Most Comprehensive Image of the Milky Way
On a clear night, we can look up at the night sky and see our galaxy – The Milky Way – spinning away in the blackness. Even with the naked eye, it’s a magnificent sight to behold, but we can’t hope to pick out individual stars and planets at that distance. The European Space Agency, and the Gaia Spacecraft team have just released the largest and most comprehensive image of our home galaxy ever. Let’s take a look at the sheer amount of information contained in this image, the different ways that you can enjoy it, and what astrometry are hoping to find in this massive stellar picture. Gaia Imagery…
Stargazers App is About to Revolutionize the Universe of Astronomy
Stargazers app is the first mobile app which allows everyone to control Stargazers.Space telescopes from its own tablet, then take and share live pictures of space in just a few touches on a screen. “Imagine being able to contemplate the observable universe from the comfort of your living room. Go from the heart of the Milky Way, to the clouds of Magellan, sailing by the sun and the planets of our Solar System.” An innovative project Stargazers app is an app connected to an IoT device. This solution allows users to control a telescope from a tablet and broadcast live video streams providing images of the Sky. Any user can…
How Will the Internet of Things Change Space Exploration?
The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to change our world immensely. It will present new opportunities, as well as new challenges. IoT refers to the idea of connecting virtually any electronic device to the Internet and connecting them through the Internet to each other. This includes cell phones, watches, toasters, washing machines, ovens, lamps and an endless list of other things. It also includes parts of machinery, such as the engine in your car or a conveyor belt in a factory. Benefits and Drawbacks for the Internet of Things IoT allows our devices to talk to each other, making them more efficient and useful. For example, your fridge…
How Beginners Can Safely Observe Solar Prominences, Filaments & Flares
Two things set the Sun apart from all other stars in the Universe: it does not belong to any constellation, and it is close enough to Earth to be observed and studied in exquisite detail with nothing more than modest amateur equipment, which equipment includes smart phones. Consider the image below; it was made from a video taken with a web cam attached to a small, dedicated solar telescope as opposed to a smart phone, and it shows almost everything that can occur on the Sun simultaneously- in a single image. The white plumes on the solar limb are solar flares silhouetted against the dark background, the black spots are…
Top Mistakes Beginning Astronomers Make
Amateur astronomy is not for everybody, just like golf or football is not for everybody, but if you are sure that you want to take up the hobby of gazing at the Universe (or at least some of it) in your free time, you need to get the basics right. Getting it wrong, like so many other beginner amateurs have done, means that your expensive new equipment will almost certainly end up gathering dust in your garage – never to see starlight again. So how does a beginning amateur astronomer get the basics right? Quite easily in fact, and the best part is that you don’t have to spend money…
Preparing For Launch: An Update on JWST
Move over, Hubble! NASA's currently in the middle of building Hubble's successor as we speak. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWTS) will help astronomers understand the history of the universe using infrared technology and a mirror coated in 24-karat gold! To discover how these function, read on, and prepare to launch!
Light Pollution – What Is It and Why It’s Bad
We often hear about air, water and land pollution, but we rarely hear about light pollution. So, what’s light pollution? All the artificial light that humanity creates comes under light pollution. The artificial might be of any source like burning fuels at refineries, street lights, head lights etc… As we now know what light pollution actually is, let’s talk about the harmful effects that they cause. Light pollution creates a great problem to the astronomers and causes a great harm to the ecological balance. In a place called Bries Canyon if there are no lights at all, we will be able to see 75000 starts, but if we put up one…
