Meteor Shower
Welcome to the Carnival of Space #589!
Podcast #38: Dr Pieter Kotzé at ScopeX 2018
Allen Versfeld | Urban Astronomer
Episode 38 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast features a recording of a public lecture on space weather, by Dr Pieter Kotze of the South African National Space Agency
A 2018 Outburst From the December Andromedids?
David Dickinson | Universe Today
A relatively obscure meteor shower may put on a surprise performance in early December 2018. Chances are, you’ve never heard of the Andromedids, though it’s worth keeping an eye out for these swift-moving meteors over the next week.
The shower was actually the source of some of the great meteor storm outbursts of the late 19th century, with zenithal hourly rates topping 15,000 (!) in 1885 and 6,000 in 1892. The source of the shower is thought to be the defunct Comet 3D/Biela, and you sometimes see the Andromedids listed as the ‘Bielids’ in older astronomical texts. In 2018, the radiant of the shower has…
There Could be Hundreds of Interstellar Asteroids and Comets in the Solar System Right Now That we Could Study
Matt Williams | Universe Today
On October 19th, 2017, the first interstellar object – named 1I/2017 U1 (aka. ‘Oumuamua) – to be observed in our Solar System was detected. In the months that followed, multiple follow-up observations were conducted to gather more data on its composition, shape, and possible origins. Rather than dispel the mystery surrounding the true nature of ‘Oumuamua – is a comet or an asteroid? – these efforts have only managed to deepen it.
In a recent study, Harvard Professor Abraham Loeb and Shmuel Bialy – a postdoctoral researcher from the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) – addressed this mystery by suggesting that…
Now that TESS is Operational, Astronomers Estimate it’ll Find 14,000 Planets. 10 Could Be Earthlike Worlds in a Sunlike Star’s Habitable Zone
Evan Gough | Universe Today
How many exoplanets are there? Not that long ago, we didn’t know if there were any. Then we detected a few around pulsars. Then the Kepler spacecraft was launched and it discovered a couple thousand more. Now NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) is operational, and a new study predicts its findings.
The Kepler findings gave us a better idea of the types and numbers of planets in other solar systems. But Kepler had its limitations and its own sampling bias due to its measurement methods. Kepler also only focused on one small area of the sky, comprising about 0.25% of the sky. It’s possible, but not necessarily likely, that…
We May Soon Be Able To See the First, Supergiant Stars in the Universe
Paul M. Sutter | Universe Today
We need to talk about the dark ages. No, not those dark ages after the fall of the western Roman Empire. The cosmological dark ages. The time in our universe, billions of years ago, before the formation of the first stars. And we need to talk about the cosmic dawn: the birth of those first stars, a tumultuous epoch that completely reshaped the face the cosmos into its modern form.
Those first stars may have been completely unlike…
We Have the Technology. Airplanes Could Spray Particles into the Atmosphere to Battle Climate Change. But Should We?
Evan Gough | Universe Today
If climate change models are correct, humanity is working itself—and dragging the rest of life on Earth with it—into a corner. Scientific pleas to control emissions and battle climate change are starting to have some effect, but not enough. So now we have some tough decisions looming.
If you haven’t heard the terms “solar geoengineering” and “stratospheric aerosol injection”, you should probably get used to them. They represent a scientifically and technologically realistic plan for…
One of the Most Exciting Parts of InSight is Actually the Tiny Cubesats Tagging Along for the Ride and Their Role in the Mission
Matt Williams | Universe Today
Yesterday, NASA’s Mars InSight lander successfully touched down on the Martian surface after spending seven long months in space. Over the course of the next few hours, the lander began the surface operations phase of its mission, which involved deploying its solar arrays. The lander also managed to take some pictures of the surface, which showed the region where it will be studying Mars’ interior for the next two years.
In the midst of all that, another major accomplishment received only passing attention. This was the…
Equipment for Moon Mining Operations are Being Developed
Brian Wang | Next Big Future
The technology needed for mining water ice on the moon and converting it into fuel is pretty straight forward. Various groups are already making the actual needed hardware. Paragon Space Development and Giner are already making key pieces of what is needed. If we are making large amounts of fuel on the moon then we are massively lowering the cost of…
Insane Waste of the Lunar Gateway
Brian Wang | Next Big Future
The Lunar Gateway that NASA plans to build will end up costing about $40+ billion. It is being built to justify $60+ billion for the Space Launch System and the Orion capsule. The two together will be well over $100 billion. We have already spent about…
Moon Direct SpaceX Falcon Heavy Plan is 6 Years Faster and 50 times Cheaper than NASA
Brian Wang | Next Big Future
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says the U.S. is within 10 years of having a continuous manned presence on the moon, which will lay the groundwork for expanding space exploration to Mars. A Moon Direct plan (created by Robert Zubrin) could get continuously manned moon bases in four years.
This is all better than nothing, but the NASA approach is a waste of money. However, this is part of promoting the wasteful Lunar Gateway program. Lunar Gateway is going to cost $100+ billion. It is using the International Space Station (ISS) style technology to build a space station orbiting…
Renewed Confusion But Still No EMDrive
Brian Wang | Next Big Future
Daily Galaxy and Physics-Astronomy are talking again about a September 2017 video that has an english title that says China is testing the controversial EMDrive in space. The video talks about China putting up a communication satellite. The English language title talks about EMdrive being tested and propellentless propulsion. EMdrive is a claimed propellentless propulsion system. One of the researchers in the video is…
SpaceX Super Heavy Starship has Breakthrough Design Improvements
Brian Wang | Next Big Future
Elon Musk has Tweeted some of the details of the breakthrough changes to the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship.
The overall shape of the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship are about the same. However, there are fundamental materials change to…
InSight’s first images from Mars!
Paul Scott Anderson | Planetaria
NASA’s InSight spacecraft has sent back its first images after successfully landing on Mars on November 26.
The first one shows a view of the landscape while the lens cover was still on the camera (which will be removed soon). The dark specks are dust particles on the lens cover which were kicked up during the landing. The second image is much clearer, even though the lens cover was still on.
There will be more and better images in the days ahead, after the lens cover is removed. The landscape her in Elysium Planitia is very flat, but InSight needed to land in that kind of terrain order to use its instruments look…
(Space) Economics 101
shubber | Space Enthusiast
It’s a basic rule of economics that the intersection of the supply and demand curves for a product or service will give you the “market clearing” price.
Market Clearing Price
It’s therefore no surprise that if the cost of an item goes down, then the demand for it should increase, assuming normal economic curve profiles.
(quick lesson on demand elasticity – items with elastic demand get purchased more as the price goes down, up to a point of course. Items where demand is partially or completely inelastic behave differently, though. For instance, a medicine that you need to take once/day as an individual may be a certain price, but if the price were cut 99% you would still take the same amount, because, you know, it’s prescribed for a reason… However, more people who did not take that medicine may now be able to afford it, but again each person will still only take the amount prescribed, regardless of further decrease in…
Stay tuned for the incredible Carnival of Space coming to a blog near you! Okay, OK, It’s scheduled for Universe Today next week folks. Enjoy!
