Outer Space 🚀

2021-10-08 19:11:04 Europa is the celestial body with the smoothest surface in the solar system

Jupiter's satellite is entirely covered by an ocean with a thick crust of ice on its surface. Underneath that ice lies roughly 2-3 times as much water as on our planet.

Some scientists believe the ocean waters of Europa may be hot enough for complex life to develop on the satellite. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-07 18:03:39 Jupiter has lightning as well

The first evidence of the lightning in Jupiter's clouds was obtained almost 40 years ago, thanks to the planet's low-frequency radio emissions. Not long afterwards, the cameras of the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft directly recorded flashes in the planet's clouds.

Lightning on the gas giant results from electrical interactions between water droplets and ice particles. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-06 18:03:37 What's the difference between a meteorite and a meteor?

Plenty of asteroid fragments are scattered in space, moving along an arbitrary trajectory, or have fairly stable orbits.

When such a fragment enters the planetary gravitational field, its trajectory changes and it gradually rushes toward the planet's surface.

Meteor is a glowing streak left by a space object in the night sky as it burns up in the atmosphere.

When a space body reaches the planet's surface, it may be termed a meteorite. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-05 15:45:01 Feast your eyes on the European Southern Observatory beauty

These are photos of nearby galaxies, obtained by superimposing optical images in several bands and images in the radio band.

Bright golden light marks hot clouds of ionized hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur, which suggest the presence of newborn stars, while bluish areas reflect the distribution of slightly older stars. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-04 15:45:02 How to See the Solar Corona?

As everyone knows, the Sun is surrounded by a thick shell of gases called the solar corona.

Typically, the solar corona is obscured by bright light emanating from the surface of the Sun itself. Although the corona is hotter than the Sun's surface, it is quite dim due to its low density. Therefore, it is quite difficult to observe and investigate. That's why we need special instruments to see it.

Without equipment, it can only be seen during a total solar eclipse. When the Moon passes over the disk of the Sun, it blocks most of the light, so you can see the white glowing corona around the darkened Sun.

Astrophysicists use a coronagraph for this, a special telescope that blocks direct light from the Sun. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-03 15:45:11 NASA has shared a photo of a supermassive black hole

It is located in the center of the NGC 1600 galaxy. Scientists claim that the black hole weighs as much as 17 billion Suns. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-02 20:47:43 Japanese Scientists Demonstrated Soil Particles from the Ryugu Asteroid

Japanese Hayabusa-2 spacecraft flew by Earth and dropped a container of rocks from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid.

Previously, Ryugu was thought to be rich in water. One hypothesis suggests this asteroid underwent some sort of alteration by water, resulting in the formation of hydrated clays. And at some point, the asteroid heated up to temperatures at which partial dehydration occurred.

Now scientists have a chance to test this version, as well as other working hypotheses. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-10-01 20:49:39 Why do astronauts not fly to the dark side of the Moon?

The point is that there is no radio communication with Earth on the other side of the Moon.

One solution to this problem is to use a constellation of satellites to send a signal, though this approach is expensive and difficult.

Sending people to the Moon without constant communication is an unreasonable risk Открыть/Комментировать

2021-09-30 20:23:08 Is it possible for astronauts to get sick in space?

Astronauts are human beings, too, and they are prone to injury, poisoning, or colds. Anything is possible in space.

In order to prevent illnesses and provide first aid, all necessary medicines and equipment are aboard - from bandages, ointments, antibiotics to medical equipment ranging from the simplest to special. Also the entire crew is trained in the basics of first aid.

Medical team is always on call, ready to help and advise what medicines to take.

Also, to exclude the appearance of infectious diseases in space, the crew enters observation mode: daily checks, they examine everyone who comes in, i.e. everything is done to prevent bringing infections to the station. Открыть/Комментировать

2021-09-29 19:02:23 Human Orbital Stay World Record

The world record for the space flight duration belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov. He spent 437 days on the Mir station.

And this year the NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei intends to break the record for the United States. For this purpose, he has to stay aboard the ISS until April 2021. Открыть/Комментировать