Recent content by newworldsexplr

As I'm sure some of you know, there's a debate in the astronomical community about the nature (extent and composition) of the atmospheres of planets orbiting red dwarf stars. This is especially true of red dwarf star planets in the habitable zone of their parent stars where these planets...

:) Hi Space.com and other astronomy fans, As I'm sure some of you know that one of the most interested candidate but until recently definitely not confirmed Kepler planet was KOI 4878.01 or KOI 4878 b. However, a couple days ago, around the beginning of October 2022 an update on Extrasolar...

If anyone is having trouble understanding the above question I will try to give some clarification. I have often heard astronomy teachers saying, rightly, that we can't see the center of the galaxy from Earth or our solar system because the intervening dust and perhaps gas absorbs or blocks out...

Since the James Webb space telescope has emphasis on infrared both near and mid infrared observing and most of the obstruction of our view of the center or even other side of our Milky Way galaxy if blocked by intervening gas and dust to visible light but not as blocked to infrared radiation how...

Hi Joe, Why hasn't NASA or some other space agency like ESA or the Chinese Space Agency made another version of the Labelled Release Experiment on the Viking landers that seemed to have some positive indications in the search for microbial life on Mars. I heard Gilbert Levin who developed this...

I heard that the former NASA Spitzer and European Space Agency (ESA) Herschel space telescopes were colder and could see further into the infrared than the James Webb space telescope. However, they were both substantially smaller telescopes than James Webb. What are the possibilities that...

I, as well as I'm sure most of you, hear regularly how expensive it is to transport material (or people) to space even to the International Space Station (ISS) in low earth orbit. I'm sure it wouldn't be as practical for complex molecules but could beams of simple molecules like H2O, O2 or...

Hi Pogo, good response and that from Bill Slugg. How long do you think it will be before astronomers can observe interstellar objects on a more regular basis and get a better idea what is normal compared to Oumuamua or Boresov's Comet?

There might be more of these heavier super-heavy nuclei closer to those having 184 neutrons produced soon when the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams comes on-line at Michigan State University, likely some time in 2022.

According to contemporary nuclear physics, Element 115 is next door to Element 114 which is at an island of nuclear stability. However this island of stability is around 184 neutrons with a closed neutron shell in the nucleus for Element 114 or nearby ones like Element 115, 113 etc. It is...

There have been two confirmed observed interstellar objects in our solar system so far as I know, the asteroid Oumuamua and Borosov's Comet. Both of these objects were deflected by the sun and sent out in substantially different directions from which they came. My question is could an...

Yes, overall that's true I think that there haven't been any confirmed exomoon detections. However, I follow Professor David Kipping who is one of the main astronomers in the world searching for and writing about exomoons. He is also the main astronomer claiming there is an exomoon around Kepler...

As has been a consideration for some time, one of the frontier areas of astronomy especially in research in other solar systems is the search for moons of other planets, exomoons. British astronomer David Kipping has led the way in research that seems to support a very large exomoon around the...

Regarding access of astronauts to the lunar or eventually Martian surface from the living quarters of the SpaceX Starship I learned that SpaceX has thought of a possibly remedy to that problem. According to a recent article in Space Daily with title Protests over SpaceX contract put timetable...

Hi FredM, I agree fine with what you say. I wasn't aware of spaceplanes that could land like an airplane with retrorockets and can accept that could be done on the Moon even without its significant atmosphere. However, the current use by SpaceX of Earth's atmosphere for their landing and to make...