A Warped Accretion Disk, a Circumbinary Planet and Colliding Planets

A Warped Accretion Disk, a Circumbinary Planet and Colliding Planets
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Hubble Resumes Observing – In late October, a computer onboard the Hubble Space Telescope detected that communications between computers and instruments were missing critical synchronization messages. All instruments were placed in safe mode so ground controllers could troubleshoot the problem. They tested each instrument independently and found all operating correctly, meaning the fault was likely somewhere in the communications, though they’re still investigating the root cause.… Continue reading.

Astro Update – July

Astro Update – July
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All solar panels sent to the surface of Mars eventually collect enough dust to seriously degrade the power generated. Sometimes a passing windstorm or dust devil will clean some of the dust off, restoring power. Unfortunately, nature has not cleaned the solar panels on the InSight lander... Continue reading.

Astro Update – June
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Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources

Ingenuity – The Mars helicopter Ingenuity completed its planned five test flights. The final one of these included landing at a new site that it had not touched before (though it took images of the site during its previous flight), and climbing to a record altitude of 33 feet.… Continue reading.

Astro Update – April
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Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources 

Earliest Cluster of Galaxies – When the first stars formed in the early Universe, essentially all of space was filled with neutral hydrogen gas. Much of the light emitted by these first stars was in the ultraviolet, but neutral hydrogen absorbs ultraviolet, obscuring observations of them.… Continue reading.

Astro Update – March
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Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources

Perseverance Lands – NASA’s latest planetary mission, a rover named Perseverance, landed on Mars February 18. The rover weighs over a ton on Earth, and is seven feet high and ten feet long, plus an arm that extends out.… Continue reading.

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