Rising seas and inland-surging seawater are leaving behind the debris of dying forests. Now, 35 years of satellite images capture the changes from space.
Tag: SATELLITE MISSIONS/SHUTTLES
First X-rays from Uranus discovered
Astronomers have detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. This result may help scientists learn more about this enigmatic ice giant planet in our solar system. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun…
Venus plots a comeback
In terms of space exploration, Mars is all the rage these days. This has left our closest neighbor, Venus — previously the most attractive planet to study because of its proximity and similar atmosphere to Earth — in the lurch.…
New study finds satellites contribute significant light pollution to night skies
Scientists reported new research results today suggesting that artificial objects in orbit around the Earth are brightening night skies on our planet significantly more than previously understood. The research, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society:…
Japan-Germany international joint experiment on space optical communication
NICT’s optical ground station successfully received downlink light from DLR’s small satellite-mounted optical terminal (OSIRISv1)
The case of the cloudy filters: Solving the mystery of the degrading sunlight detectors
More than 150 years ago, the Sun blasted Earth with a massive cloud of hot charged particles. This plasma blob generated a magnetic storm on Earth that caused sparks to leap out of telegraph equipment and even started a few…
The same sea level for everyone
The Earth’s gravity field as the basis for an International Height Reference System
Technion returns to space
The Adelis-SAMSON project from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology involves three autonomous nanosatellites that will fly in formation and monitor Earth from s
SwRI scientists help identify the first stratospheric winds measured on Jupiter
Jovian jet streams above the cloud tops measured using the aftermath of comet collision
Missing baryons found in far-out reaches of galactic halos
Berkeley Lab physicists play key role in studies that solve a cosmological mystery
Jupiter’s “dawn storm” auroras are surprisingly Earth-like
A new study tracks the life cycle of the spectacular ultraviolet storms in the big planet’s aurora, generated by charged particles from its volcanic moon, Io
Skoltech and MIT researchers identify optimal human landing system architectures to land on the Moon
Researchers from Skoltech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have analyzed several dozen options to pick the best one in terms of performance and costs for the ‘last mile’ of a future mission to the Moon – actually delivering astronauts…
NASA partners with companies to test satellite fixtures for robotic grappling
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has chosen three companies to participate in a new partnership to test and evaluate satellite servicing technologies. Altius Space Machines of Broomfield, Colorado, Honeybee Robotics of Brooklyn, New York, and Orbit Fab…
Ideas for future NASA missions searching for extraterrestrial civilizations
A researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is the lead author of a study with proposals for “technosignatures” -evidence for the use of technology or industrial activity in other parts of the Universe- for future NASA missions.…
The aurora’s very high altitude booster
A critical ingredient for auroras exists much higher in space than previously thought, according to new research in the journal Scientific Reports. The dazzling light displays in the polar night skies require an electric accelerator to propel charged particles down…
New study highlights first infection of human cells during spaceflight
Astronauts face many challenges to their health, due to the exceptional conditions of spaceflight. Among these are a variety of infectious microbes that can attack their suppressed immune systems. Now, in the first study of its kind, Cheryl Nickerson, lead…
Gigantic jet spied from black hole in early universe
Astronomers have discovered evidence for an extraordinarily long jet of particles coming from a supermassive black hole in the early universe, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. If confirmed, it would be the most distant supermassive black hole with a jet…
How fast is the universe expanding? Galaxies provide one answer.
New measure of Hubble constant highlights discrepancy between estimates of our cosmic fate
What is life? And will we find it on other planets? (video)
WASHINGTON, March 8, 2021 — Chemistry is helping us figure out how life got started on Earth and is giving us molecules to look for on other planets. In this episode of Reactions, we break down what “life” is and…
A super-Earth is discovered which can be used to test planetary atmosphere models
During the past 25 years astronomers have discovered a wide variety of exoplanets, made of rock, ice and gas, thanks to the construction of astronomical instruments designed specifically for planet searches. Also, using a combination of different observing techniques they…
Earth has a hot new neighbour — and it’s an astronomer’s dream
A rocky planet discovered in the Virgo constellation could change how we look for life in the universe
Planetary science intern leads study of Martian crust
Team explored the relationships between the strength of the magnetic field on planet’s surface and the composition of the crust in the Terra Sirenum-Terra Cimmeria region
NASA scientists complete 1st global survey of freshwater fluctuation
To investigate humans’ impact on freshwater resources, scientists have now conducted the first global accounting of fluctuating water levels in Earth’s lakes and reservoirs – including ones previously too small to measure from space. The research, published March 3 in…
Humans drive most of the ups and downs in freshwater storage at Earth’s surface
Water levels in the world’s ponds, lakes and human-managed reservoirs rise and fall from season to season. But until now, it has been difficult to parse out exactly how much of that variation is caused by humans as opposed to…
Source of hazardous high-energy particles located in the Sun
The source of potentially hazardous solar particles, released from the Sun at high speed during storms in its outer atmosphere, has been located for the first time by researchers at UCL and George Mason University, Virginia, USA.
Imaging space debris in high resolution
Litter is not only a problem on Earth. According to NASA , there are currently millions of pieces of space junk in the range of altitudes from 200 to 2,000 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, which is known as low…
Parker Solar Probe offers stunning view of Venus
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe captured stunning views of Venus during its close flyby of the planet in July 2020. Though Parker Solar Probe’s focus is the Sun, Venus plays a critical role in the mission: The spacecraft whips by Venus…
Tool that more efficiently analyzes ocean color data will become part of NASA program
Stevens uses machine learning-driven techniques to develop a long-awaited tool that better reveals the health of Earth’s oceans and the impacts of climate change
SwRI scientist captures evidence of dynamic seasonal activity on a Martian sand dune
Research finds that airborne dust plumes are produced by sliding blocks of dry ice each spring
Reclusive neutron star may have been found in famous supernova
Since astronomers captured the bright explosion of a star on February 24, 1987, researchers have been searching for the squashed stellar core that should have been left behind. A group of astronomers using data from NASA space missions and ground-based…
Dingo effects on ecosystem visible from space
Satellite images taken over three decades show that keeping dingoes out comes at a price.
Binary stars are all around us, new map of solar neighborhood shows
Gaia survey provides location and motion of 1.3 million binary pairs within 3,000 light years of Earth
SwRI scientists image a bright meteoroid explosion in Jupiter’s atmosphere
Juno’s UVS instrument makes relatively rare observation of common events
Sounding rocket CLASP2 elucidates solar magnetic field
Cooperative operations between a solar observation satellite and a sounding-rocket telescope have measured the magnetic field strength in the photosphere and chromosphere above an active solar plage region. This is the first time that the magnetic field in the chromosphere…
The CLASP2 space experiment achieves an unprecedented map of the Sun’s magnetic field
Every day space telescopes provide spectacular images of the solar activity. However, their instruments are blind to its main driver: the magnetic field in the outer layers of the solar atmosphere, where the explosive events that occasionally affect the Earth…
SETI Institute and NASA team up to bring NASA science into the nation’s community colleges
Innovative program to bring NASA subject matter experts, research findings, and educational resources into science classrooms of community colleges
Biotech fit for the Red Planet
New method for growing cyanobacteria under Mars-like conditions
Solution to puzzling phenomenon may open door to improved Cold Spray efficiency
An international team of researchers has solved a puzzling phenomenon whereby strangely beautiful, vortex-like structures appear between materials deposited onto engineering components used in multiple settings – from space shuttles to household items and everyday transport vehicles. The discovery may…
Corn belt farmland has lost a third of its carbon-rich soil
UMass Amherst researchers used remote sensing to quantify the previously underestimated erosion
Young planets with teenage sun give space studies a lift
New planetary system offers glimpse into how planets evolve
Origami-inspired antenna technology for use in small satellites
A multidisciplinary team engineered a small, light, and low-cost deployable antenna for nano- and micro-satellite communications
Teaching an old spacecraft new tricks to continue exploring the moon
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has far exceeded its planned mission duration, revealing that the Moon holds surprises: ice deposits that could be used to support future lunar exploration, the coldest places in the solar system in permanently shadowed…
Northwestern scholar to talk about science of teams in space at AAAS
Complex systems expert Noshir Contractor to speak at virtual AAAS press briefing at 12 p.m. ET, Feb. 10
Rare blast’s remains discovered in Milky Way’s center
Astronomers may have found our galaxy’s first example of an unusual kind of stellar explosion. This discovery, made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, adds to the understanding of how some stars shatter and seed the universe with elements critical for…
An innovative and non-destructive strategy to analyse material from Mars
The IBeA research group of the University of the Basque Country has proposed a method that can be used to characterise samples from the Mars Sample Return mission
High schoolers discover four exoplanets through Harvard and Smithsonian mentorship program
The high schoolers turned scientists published their findings this week, thanks to a research mentorship program at the Center for Astrophysics; Harvard and Smithsonian
New galaxy sheds light on how stars form
A lot is known about galaxies. We know, for instance, that the stars within them are shaped from a blend of old star dust and molecules suspended in gas.
NASA’s Roman mission will probe galaxy’s core for hot Jupiters, brown dwarfs
When it launches in the mid-2020s, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will explore an expansive range of infrared astrophysics topics. One eagerly anticipated survey will use a gravitational effect called microlensing to reveal thousands of worlds that are similar…
Record-breaking laser link could help us test whether Einstein was right
Scientists from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and The University of Western Australia (UWA) have set a world record for the most stable transmission of a laser signal through the atmosphere. In a study published today in the journal…
NASA mission to test technology for satellite swarms
Carnegie Mellon’s Zac Manchester leads three-satellite experiment