Orlando FL (SPX) Jan 12, 2021
Data from Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has been used to help detect the first possible hints of low-frequency disturbances in the curvature of space-time. The results were presented at the 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which was held virtually, and are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Arecibo Observatory is managed by the University of Central Flo

Riverside CA (SPX) Jan 12, 2021
Scientists aren't usually able to measure the size of gigantic planets, like Jupiter or Saturn, which are far from the stars they orbit. But a UC Riverside-led team has done it. The planet is roughly five times heavier than Jupiter, hence its nickname GOT 'EM-1b, which stands for Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass. Though it is nearly 1,300 light years away from Earth, GOT 'EM-1b, or Ke

Honolulu HI (SPX) Jan 12, 2021
A team of astronomers led by University of Hawai?i Institute for Astronomy (IfA) graduate student Travis Berger has shown that an intriguing class of Neptune-sized planets shrinks over billions of years. From centuries of studying the planets within our solar system, astronomers have wondered how planets form and evolve to become the ones we observe them today. One of the most surprising f

Honolulu HI (SPX) Jan 12, 2021
"They should have sent a poet," says Ellie Arroway in the film Contact as, suspended in outer space, she gazes upon a spiral galaxy. Almost all of the planets discovered to date (including the solar system planets) are confined to the plane of the Milky Way, unable to glimpse such a sweeping vista of our galaxy. However, astronomers at the University of Hawai?i Institute for Astronomy (IfA) usin

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 12, 2021
Years after its detection, astronomers have learned that a planet called KOI-5Ab orbits in a triple-star system with a skewed configuration. Shortly after NASA's Kepler mission began operations back in 2009, it identified what was thought to be a planet about the size of Neptune. Called KOI-5Ab, the planet, which was the second new planet candidate to be found by the mission, was ultimately for

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jan 11, 2021
Dynetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos, has submitted its proposal for Option A of the Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA's Artemis Program. The Dynetics team has also completed the HLS Continuation Review, a critical milestone during the 10-month base period, which NASA will use to assess progress on HLS hardware development and program plans. At the Continuation Review, Dynetics

Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 12, 2021
In 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope stared at a blank patch of the sky for 10 straight days. The resulting Deep Field image captured thousands of previously unseen, distant galaxies. Similar observations have followed since then, including the longest and deepest exposure, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Now, astronomers are looking ahead to the future, and the possibilities enabled by NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Jan 11, 2021
The satellite intelligence company will now become "Umbra synthetic aperture radar satellite." Umbra's rebranding marks the beginning of the company's preparation of its first commercial satellite launches throughout 2021. The company said the simplified name reflects the evolution of its business focus from "a research and development laboratory" towards a "commercial satellite constellation op

Centennial CO (SPX) Jan 11, 2021
SEAKR Engineering, Inc. (SEAKR) is pleased to announce it realized on-orbit technology demonstration of Pit Boss supercomputing processing hardware in 9 months as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Blackjack Program. Pit Boss is an autonomous, collaborative, distributed space-based enterprise designed to self-task, process, and distribute tactically relevant informatio

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 11, 2021
The U.S. Space Force was designated the 18th member of the U.S. Intelligence Community in a ceremony featuring John Ratcliffe, National Intelligence director, the branch announced on Monday. The new service branch, founded in 2019, joins a group of government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work separately and collectively to conduct intelligence activities in s