Page 20 - Interstellar Space News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

But even then it didn't act like a comet. No carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, or dust was seen, which are very common in comets. On top of all that, it was brightening and dimming with a regular period, indicating it wasn't spherical (and as it tumbled we saw a different geometry reflecting sunlight back to us). That's common enough, but it must have been a really weird shape to explain the extreme change in brightness seen, either shaped like a pancake or a cigar! Lots of attempts were made to explain it. It's a hydrogen iceberg (unlikely). It's a fractal snowflake (cool, but also unlikely)....

Astronomers have detected how many interstellar objects may be visiting our solar system, in a recent study. The research conducted by Cornell University shows interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system can be directly observed by Earth-based telescopes and potentially explored at close range by spacecraft. The aim of the study was to find additional ISOs and planning missions to intercept or rendezvous with these bodies will greatly benefit from the knowledge of their likely orbits and arrival rates.

Artist impression of Kelt-9 b, the orange blob orbiting a blue star. | Léa Changeat, Author provided Until the early 2000s, the only known planets were located in our own neighbourhood, the Solar System. They broadly form two categories: the small rocky planets in the inner Solar System and the cold gaseous planets located in the outer part. With the discovery of exoplanets, planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, additional classes of planets were discovered and a new picture started to emerge. Our Solar System is by no means typical. For example, data from the Kepler...

‘Exotic Molecules, Ions and Vacuum of Interstellar Space’ to be FORNL topic Special to The Oak Ridger Robert N. Compton Sr., Oak Ridge National Laboratory corporate fellow emeritus and University of Tennessee professor emeritus, will speak to Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory about “Exotic Molecules, Ions and Vacuum of Interstellar Space” virtually on Zoom at noon Tuesday, Feb. 9. The interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter and radiation that exists in the vacuum between the stars in our Milky Way galaxy.   The ISM consists mainly of hydrogen (90%), helium (9%), and a small c...

Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity profoundly changed our thinking about fundamental concepts in physics, such as space and time. But it also left us with some deep mysteries. One was black holes, which were only unequivocally detected over the past few years. Another was “wormholes” – bridges connecting different points in spacetime, in theory providing shortcuts for space travellers. Wormholes are still in the realm of the imagination. But some scientists think we will soon be able to find them, too. Over the past few months, several new studies have suggested intriguin...