Space the Final Frontier

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"Naturally, a question mark hanging in the inky depths of space raises, well, questions. IGN reached out to scientist Dr. Christopher Britt of the Space Telescope Science Institute to find out exactly what the unexpected interloper was, and how it came to form in the first place."
https://me.ign.com/en/tech/211233/news/scientist-explains-strange-cosmic-question-mark-caught-lurking-in-deep-space-image

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Q:? A:42

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Q:? A:42

Perhaps.
He's been gone for twenty years, and no one has proved him wrong. 😁

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Massive prehistoric solar storm is warning for Earth, researchers say



The night sky lit up so bright that some people thought it was morning. Gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up at 1 a.m. to make breakfast and start their day. Birds began singing as if the sun had already risen. Telegraph systems worldwide went offline, and no one could send a message.

That event in 1859, known as the Carrington Event, has long been thought of as the benchmark for the most intense geomagnetic storm observed on Earth, sending northern lights displays as far south as Florida and Central America and knocking out communication systems. But now, new research has unveiled evidence of a much larger solar storm that could reset record books.

https://wapo.st/3Q8aqhj

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Crab nebula 



NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gazed at the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Since the recording of this energetic event in 1054 CE by 11th-century astronomers, the Crab Nebula has continued to draw attention and additional study as scientists seek to understand the conditions, behavior, and after-effects of supernovae through thorough study of the Crab, a relatively nearby example.

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A guide to the galaxy universe.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/05/magazine/james-webb-space-telescope.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-Ew.RNL6.THLZYbOw7mmm&smid=url-share

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How These Guardians Avoid Satellite Collisions At 17,000 Miles Per Hour

There are tens of thousands of manmade objects in space, many of which are moving in low earth orbit at more than 17,000 miles per hour. If any collide, they could disrupt vital communications, navigation, and scientific satellites that millions of people rely on every day. That's why the Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron (SDS) has its eyes on the sky, tracking objects overhead and identifying possible collision risks so that satellite operators can adjust orbit and avoid a run-in.

"Just like a pileup on a busy racetrack, space debris could collide into other satellites, disrupting critical communication, navigation, and weather forecasting services," Space Operations Command noted in a recent press release highlighting the squadron. "Acting as the lighthouse of space, 18th SDS is responsible for monitoring and tracking all artificial objects in Earth's orbit to ensure the safety of our satellites, astronauts, and space exploration endeavors."



U.S. Army Maj. Mitchell Daugherty, mission director for the National Space Defense Center, points to a screen in front of U.S. Space Force 1st Lt. Tia Scoggan, weapons and tactics section chief for the 18th Space Defense Squadron Det. 1, at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, Oct. 5, 2022. (U.S. Space Force photo by Tiana Williams


https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-force-orbital-debris-collision/

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A growing global footprint for China's space program worries Pentagon

As its satellites crowd the skies, China has built ground stations in more than a dozen countries, with two more underway in Antarctica



EL ALTO, Bolivia — On a plateau 13,000 feet above sea level in the Bolivian Andes, llama herders and Indigenous farmers share the sparse landscape with an unusual neighbor: a towering cluster of Chinese-built satellite dishes.

The Amachuma Ground Station exchanges data 24 hours a day with Bolivia's only state-owned satellite, Tupac Katari I, which orbits some 22,300 miles above Latin America. The remote ground station has another, largely invisible, use: It allows Beijing to surveil skies 10,000 miles from China, according to officials from the Bolivian space agency and Chinese scientists and company officials familiar with the program.

CHINA'S GLOBAL LEAP
At every point of the compass, China is quietly laying the foundations of its new international order.

The Pentagon is increasingly concerned that China's growing network of facilities in Latin America and Antarctica for its civilian space and satellite programs has defense capabilities. U.S. officials say the ground stations — which allow countries to maintain uninterrupted communication with satellites and other space vehicles — have the potential to expand Beijing's global military surveillance network in the southern hemisphere and areas close to the United States.

China already has over 700 satellites in orbit, with plans to expand that number exponentially in the coming years — a project that requires a global constellation of terrestrial facilities to track and communicate with them as they pass over different parts of the planet.

https://wapo.st/40SjkDg

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The New Space Race Is Causing New Pollution Problems
Earth's stratosphere has never seen the amounts of emissions and waste from rockets and satellites that a booming space economy will leave behind.

The high-altitude chase started over Cape Canaveral on Feb. 17, 2023, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched. Thomas Parent, a NASA research pilot, was flying a WB-57 jet when the rocket ascended past the right wing — leaving him mesmerized before he hit the throttle to accelerate.

For roughly an hour, Mr. Parent dove in and out of the plume in the rocket's wake while Tony Casey, the sensor equipment operator aboard the jet, monitored its 17 scientific instruments. Researchers hoped to use the data to prove they could catch a rocket's plume and eventually characterize the environmental effects of a space launch.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/09/science/rocket-pollution-spacex-satellites.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TU0.KB1k.PPMEffK0nbze&bgrp=c&smid=url-share

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For 57 days this fall, Earth will have a second moon

An asteroid is expected to make a "horseshoe path" around Earth over the next two months.

For the next two months, an unusual object about the size of a bus will be orbiting above our heads. Say hello to Earth's temporary new mini-moon.

From Sept. 29 to Nov. 25, a passing asteroid will be pulled in by Earth's gravity — sort of like a window shopper — before returning to its normal orbit around the sun. Objects that get captured by our gravitational force for a short time are known as mini-moons. This one, named asteroid 2024 PT5, came from the Arjuna asteroid belt near our sun, about 93 million miles away.

https://wapo.st/4gv5Xk0

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Deep space radio signal reaches Earth after 8 billion years

Recently, astronomers made an astonishing discovery — a mysterious and powerful burst of radio waves reached Earth after traveling through space for 8 billion years. Dubbed FRB 20220610A, it is one of the most distant and energetic radio signals ever observed.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs), including this particular one, are extremely intense flashes of radio waves that last only milliseconds, yet their origins remain a source of great intrigue and perplexity. We still don't know what, or who, sends these energy bursts.

The nature of these signals challenges our understanding of the universe, as they can originate from regions far beyond our Milky Way galaxy, hinting at processes and events that we are only beginning to comprehend.

https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-radio-signal-reaches-earth-after-8-billion-years-frb-20220610a/

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NASA telescope will study what put the bang in the big bang
The SPHEREx space telescope will explore the universe's origin and gather data on cosmic inflation.



How did the universe begin? A compact NASA space telescope that uses less power than a refrigerator is poised to chip away at that very large question.

Called SPHEREx, and set for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base no sooner than Tuesday night, the telescope will go into a polar orbit that will allow it to survey the entire sky in 102 different wavelengths every six months.

The primary goal of the mission is to probe the theory of "cosmic inflation." The gist of the theory is that, back in the day — well, literally at the beginning of time and space, the "big bang" — the universe went through a brief period of exponentially accelerating expansion.

https://wapo.st/3DqqB5Y




https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/03/01/nasa-sphexex-space-telescope/