Newly discovered comet visible in night sky this weekend
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 16:06
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A comet called Nishimura discovered just a month ago could be visible to the naked eye this weekend, offering stargazers a once-in-a-437-year chance to observe the celestial visitor.
The ball of rock and ice, whose exact size remains unknown, is named after the Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura who first spotted it on August 11.
It is rare that comets reach their moment of peak visibility so soon after being discovered, said Nicolas Biver, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory.
"Most are discovered months, even years before they pass closest to the sun," he told AFP.
The comet only swings by the sun every 437 years, he said, a long orbital period which sees it spend much of its time in the freezing outer solar system.
Space Development Agency solicits bids for 54 missile-tracking satellites
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 15:38
Have we really found the first samples from beyond the solar system? The evidence is not convincing
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 14:38 Write a comment
Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist at Harvard University in the US, has published a press release claiming that some of the 700 or so spherical metallic fragments (spherules) he recovered from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Papua New Guinea, are from beyond the solar system.
The discovery was quite interesting because, although such spherules are distributed globally, it is not easy to recover them from the depths of the ocean bed—requiring a dredging operation with a powerful magnet. But Loeb has speculated that the spherules may be related to the passage of an interstellar meteor, IM1, which burned up over the South Pacific Ocean in January, 2014. He has even hypothesized that the spherules are actually debris from an alien spacecraft. I commented at the time that I'd need firm analytical evidence to accept such interpretations.
Loeb has now provided a very detailed set of analytical data of 57 spherules in an article submitted to a journal.
Eutelsat invests in Europe-focused space technology venture fund
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 12:21
Camera ‘hack’ lets Solar Orbiter peer deeper into Sun’s atmosphere
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 11:00 Write a comment
Scientists have used Solar Orbiter’s EUI camera in a new mode of operation to record part of the Sun’s atmosphere at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths that has been almost impossible to image until now. This new mode of operation was made possible with a last-minute ‘hack’ to the camera and will almost certainly influence new solar instruments for future missions.
Ariane 6 completes short-duration engine test
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:47
Golden rules for building atomic blocks
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:40 Write a comment
National University of Singapore (NUS) physicists have developed a technique to precisely control the alignment of supermoire lattices by using a set of golden rules, paving the way for the advancement of next generation moire quantum matter.
Moire patterns are formed when two identical periodic structures are overlaid with a relative twist angle between them or two different periodic stru A simpler way to connect quantum computers
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:40 Write a comment
Researchers have a new way to connect quantum devices over long distances, a necessary step toward allowing the technology to play a role in future communications systems.
While today's classical data signals can get amplified across a city or an ocean, quantum signals cannot. They must be repeated in intervals - that is, stopped, copied and passed on by specialized machines called quantum Terran Orbital unveils seven standard satellite buses
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:35
Hot-fire test of Ariane 6 core stage on launch pad
Wednesday, 06 September 2023 06:50 Write a comment
Video:
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On 5 September 2023, teams from France’s space agency CNES and Arianegroup under the lead of ESA carried out a complete Ariane 6 launch sequence on its launch pad at Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. The test ended with a hot-fire of the launcher’s core stage and startup of the Vulcain 2.1 engine.
This is a key step in the test campaign. It follows from initial integration of the Ariane 6 launcher on its launch pad, electrical and fluid system tests and the first launch sequence test run on 18 July 2023.
This test involved a launch sequence and
