ScientistPankaj: James Webb Space Telescope will study Milky Way's monster black hole

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

James Webb Space Telescope will study Milky Way's monster black hole

Created for ceo.studentlike.spuniv@blogger.com | Web Version

June 27, 2022

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The Launchpad

James Webb Space Telescope will study Milky Way's monster black hole

The supermassive black hole dubbed Sagittarius A* (Event Horizon Telescope collaboration)

Astronomers needed a telescope the size of Earth to image the monster black hole at the center of the Milky Way - and next time they tackle the continuing observations, they'll have help from NASA's next-generation observatory in space.

The James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, launched in December 2021 and is wrapping up preparations to begin observing the universe. Among the tasks scheduled for the new observatory's first year of work is teaming up with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), the global array of observatories that published the first-ever photo of a black hole in April 2019.

Full Story: Space (6/27)

Fly over Mercury in this stunning video from BepiColombo's flyby

(ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

A new video released by the European Space Agency on June 27 shows the crater-riddled surface of the solar system's smallest planet Mercury as captured during a super close flyby of the BepiColombo spacecraft.

Check it out here!

Full Story: Space (6/27)

POLL QUESTION:

Space Quiz: The 5-planet alignment in the sky right now is super rare. When will happen again?

Learn the answer here!

The year 2077

The year 2140

It will never happen again

The year 2040

Watch NASA's CAPSTONE cubesat launch to the moon on Tuesday!

(Rocket Lab)

After months of delays, NASA's next mission to the moon is finally ready to launch. Early Tuesday (June 28), Rocket Lab will launch NASA's small CAPSTONE cubesat to the moon from New Zealand on an Electron booster and you can watch it live online. Liftoff is at 5:55 a.m. EDT (0955 GMT), with NASA's broadcast beginning in the window above at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT).

Full Story: Space (6/26)

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Skywatching

See Planet Neptune reverse direction in the predawn sky Tuesday

(Starry Night)

Early Tuesday, Neptune will enter retrograde whereby the planet's eastward movement across the night sky stops and its westward movement begins.

After Tuesday, Neptune "will commence a westward retrograde loop that will last until early December," writes geophysicist Chris Vaughan, amateur astronomer with SkySafari Software who oversees Space.com's Night Sky calendar.

Full Story: Space (6/27)

Science & Astronomy

Alien super-Earths may get a habitability boost from hydrogen

(Thibaut Roger)

Alien rocky worlds cocooned in hydrogen and helium could prove habitable to life as we know it for billions of years, with key features such as temperate conditions and liquid water, a new study finds.

On Earth, there is life virtually wherever there is water. As such, the search for extraterrestrial life has often focused on worlds whose surfaces are temperate enough to host liquid water, which astronomers dub as habitable. Aside from this prerequisite, scientists remain uncertain to what extent exoplanets have to resemble Earth in order to support life.

Full Story: Space (6/27)

Spaceflight

NASA's CAPSTONE cubesat launch to the moon delayed again for systems checks

(NASA)

NASA has called off plans to launch a small cubesat to the moon on Monday (June 27) to allow more time to check its Rocket Lab booster for flight.

The mission is now expected to launch on June 28.

Full Story: Space (6/26)

Technology

LightSail 2 celebrates 3 years of solar sailing above Earth

(Planetary Society)

A solar-sailing mission is now marking three years of spaceflight, but is unlikely to celebrate a fourth anniversary.

The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 is a crowdfunded solar sail that launched June 25, 2019. It was expected to last a year in an assessment of how well a spacecraft could perform using only the power of the sun.

Full Story: Space (6/25)

Search for Life

Did a giant radio telescope in China just discover aliens? Not so FAST

The signal was picked up by the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), located in southwest China's Guizhou Province (Jeff Dai (TWAN) / NASA)

An article reporting the signal was posted on the website of China's state-backed Science and Technology Daily newspaper, but was later removed.(opens in new tab) So have astronomers finally found evidence of intelligent found life beyond Earth? And is it being hushed up?

We should be intrigued, but not too excited (yet). An interesting signal has to go through a lot of tests to check whether it truly carries the signature of extraterrestrial technology or is just the result of an unexpected source of terrestrial interference.

Full Story: Space (6/27)

Telescopes & Binoculars

Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD telescope: Full review

(celestron-advanced-vx-8-edge-hd-telescope)

The Celestron Advanced VX 8-inch EdgeHD is a versatile telescope system for intermediate to advanced amateur astronomers, but still small and lightweight enough to transport easily for observing out in the country. The 8-inch aperture is enough to view and photograph all types of celestial objects, and the computerized equatorial mount makes it easy to find and track them.

Full Story: Space (6/25)