Space

Space X aiming for man on Mars in 2024

Elon Musks Space X is developing a interplanetary rocket and capsule with the ultimate goal of colonising Mars. The project has estimated development costs of $10bn (£7.7bn), but is aiming to be able to carry 100 passengers with cargo and fly every 26 months to Mars. Another of Musks aims is to bring costs down to an affordable level to attract volunteers, as he is hoping Space X tickets to Mars will eventually cost $100,000 (£77,000). Sep 28, 2016

Hubble UV images of possible water plumes on Europa could tell us more about its oceans

NASAs Hubble Space Telescope took direct ultraviolet images of the icy moon Europa transiting across the disk of Jupiter. Out of ten observations, Hubble saw what may be water vapor plumes on three of the images. This adds another piece of supporting evidence to the existence of water vapour plumes on Europa. Hubble also detected spectroscopic signatures of water vapor in 2012. The existence of water vapor plumes could provide a future Europa flyby mission the opportunity to study the conditions and habitability of Europas subsurface ocean. Sep 27, 2016

Astronomers discover hundreds of black holes hiding in the star system

Astronomers at University of Surrey found evidence of black holes in the globular cluster NGC 6101. Using computer simulation they showed that the clusters strange appearance can be explained if stellar mass black holes are still present in the cluster. Until now it was assumed that black holes in globular clusters usually are ejected after their creation. Sep 8, 2016

Astronomers make rare discovery that could help explain Milky Way formation

The Terzan 5 cluster could shed light on how the Milky Way was formed after an Italian-led team of astronomers found it contained two very different types of stars; some very young and some very old. The 7 billion year age gap between the two different types of stars suggests that star formation in Terzan 5 was not continuous but happened in two very distinct bursts. Sep 7, 2016

New research shows dwarf planet has evidence of geological processes

A huge ice volcano has been discovered on Ceres, the dwarf planet that sits between Mars and Jupiter. Using imaging data from Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft, a team of scientists say they have found a 4km high cryovolcano formation, which has been dubbed Ahuna Mons. Sep 1, 2016

Extraterrestrial radio signals investigated

A curious radio signal picked up by a Russian telescope is probably not a transmission from an extraterrestrial civilisation, but astronomers in California are taking a second look anyway, the SETI Institute said. A group of Russian astronomers last year detected what appeared to be a non-naturally occurring radio signal in the general location of a star system 94 light-years from Earth. SETI astronomers have spent the last two nights using an array of radio telescopes in California to study the suspect star, HD 164595, which has one known planet in orbit. Aug 31, 2016
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