If one were to argue that space is made of food, one such moon of Saturn would make a great case for it, as this ravioli-shaped object orbits the ringed planet while exhibiting a ring of its own, only it’s a lot more solid than Saturn’s massive hula hoops and is often referred to as its equatorial bulge. This is Saturn’s moon, Pan, which was discovered by M.R. Showalter in 1990 after examining Voyager 2 images from 1981.
According to a new study the X-ray light emitted by a certain magnetar – a highly magnetized dead star – appears to indicate that the star has a solid surface and no atmosphere.
A study published in the journal Science has used data from NASA
Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is “To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.” Its core values are “safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion.”
In the grand scheme of the cosmic story, a single year isn’t all that significant. But over time, the annual changes really add up!
Water on the Moon has been a hot topic in the research world lately. Since its first unambiguous discovery back in 2008. Since then, findings of it have ramped up, with relatively high concentration levels being discovered, especially near the polar regions, particularly in areas constantly shrouded in shadow. Chang’e 5, China’s recent sample return mission, didn’t land in one of those permanently shadowed areas. Still, it did return soil samples that were at a much higher latitude than any that had been previously collected. Now, a new study shows that those soil samples contain water and that the Sun’s solar wind directly impacted that water.
The amount of water on the lunar surface varies widely both based on the time of the lunar day and the latitude it is located at. There is so much variability that the water content of the lunar soil can be 200 ppm higher or lower at different times of the day. With that much variability, it seems clear that the Sun plays a significant role in the hydrological cycle there is on the Moon.
Part of that role is controlling the type of hydrogen embedded into the lunar soil. Since the Moon has almost no atmosphere to speak of, the charged hydrogen particles that make up the solar wind can directly interact with the top regolith layer on the lunar surface. When they do so, they leave behind a distinct sign that they do – a large amount of hydrogen atoms with very little deuterium.
Year 2022 face_with_colon_three
From the rise of ‘synthetic creativity’ to a study of doppelgängers and a road trip to the edge of the universe, these were the stories we loved in 2022.
Extended special relativity describes how the universe would look if you broke the speed of light.
Scientists from the University of Warsaw in Poland and the National University of Singapore are pushing the limits of relativity with a new theory called the “extension of special relativity,” a report from Science Alert reveals.
The scientists’ new study suggests that objects may be able to go faster than the speed of light without completely shattering our current laws of physics.
Gremlin/iStock.
The new theory combines three time dimensions with a single space dimension (“1+3 space-time”), providing an alternative, mind-bending scenario to the three spatial dimensions and one time dimension we all know.
What causes meteor Showers?
Meteor showers are a cool reminder that we live on a giant ball of rock flying through space. As it circles the Sun, Earth sometimes runs into dusty debris trailing in the wake of comets — or, in the case of the Quadrantids, the wake of a small asteroid. Dust grains fall into our atmosphere, and they’re moving so fast that the friction of the air rushing past is enough to disintegrate them, creating the tiny streaks of light we see during meteor showers.
Most of our planet’s encounters with these dusty debris trails happen at about the same point in its orbit, so you can think of annual meteor showers like the Quadrantids as Earth passing a familiar landmark in space.
It’s called the C/2022 E3 (ZTF) comet.
A comet that last appeared in the night sky during the Ice Age will soon make a reappearance in February 2023, according to a NASA statement published last week. Called the C/2022 E3 (ZTF) comet, it orbits the sun every 50,000 years. It will now pass within 26 million miles of Earth on February 1st, 2023.
It could also be visible to the naked eye in mid-to-late January. The comet can be seen using binoculars and low-level telescopes when the skies are clear.
NASA/Dan Bartlett.
Called the C/2022 E3 (ZTF) comet, it orbits the sun every 50,000 years. It will now pass within 26 million miles of Earth on February 1st, 2023.
Now picture a random object, or a scene from your childhood, and ask yourself the same questions. How vividly can you ‘see’ it in your mind?
Some people cannot see anything. Nothing. Their mind’s eye is blank. They experience a neural phenomenon called aphantasia.
Aphantasia is a condition in which a person cannot visualize mental images. In other words, when they attempt to imagine or think about something they cannot create an internal mental image or picture. Because of this, individuals who experience aphantasia can have a hard time recalling things like past experiences and the visual details associated with those memories. They also tend to have difficulty with tasks that require visualizing or imagining physical objects and how they move and rotate in space. This can have an impact on their spatial reasoning.
Nothing can go faster than light. It’s a rule of physics woven into the very fabric of Einstein’s special theory of relativity. The faster something goes, the closer it gets to its perspective of time freezing to a standstill.
Go faster still, and you run into issues of time reversing, messing with notions of causality.
But researchers from the University of Warsaw in Poland and the National University of Singapore have now pushed the limits of relativity to come up with a system that doesn’t run afoul of existing physics, and might even point the way to new theories.