Articles tagged with Astrodynamics
Astronomers have discovered a Saturn-sized planet orbiting a small, cool star 35 light-years from Earth using the astrometric technique. The planet has a mass comparable to Saturn and orbits its star every 221 days. This discovery is significant as it reveals that smaller planets can exist around cooler stars.
The amount of space debris has increased exponentially over the decades, posing a significant challenge for safely operating spacecrafts in lower Earth orbit. WVU engineer Piyush Mehta is working on improving drag prediction accuracy with the help of a $125,000 NASA award.
A Princeton astrophysicist has developed an AI model, SPOCK, to predict the stability of planetary systems. By combining simplified models with machine learning methods, researchers can quickly eliminate unstable configurations, reducing computational time by factors of 100,000.
A new study found higher metal concentrations in the Moon's craters, which could change our understanding of its formation. The researchers used radar to image and characterize fine dust at the bottom of craters, revealing a potentially richer subsurface.
KELT-9 b experiences two summers and two winters every year due to its unique polar orbit around an extremely hot star. The planet's atmosphere streams away into space as it receives 44,000 times more energy from its star than Earth does from the Sun.
Researchers successfully measured the spin-orbit alignment for the first time in a directly-imaged planetary system. The study reveals that the Beta Pictoris system is as well-aligned as our own solar system, favoring planet-planet scattering as the cause of orbit obliquities.
Astronomers have discovered an infant planet, AU Mic b, orbiting a 25-million-year-old star in the solar system. The planet, about the size of Neptune, takes only eight and a half days to complete one orbit around its host star, AU Microscopii.
Scientists have discovered a planet about as large as Neptune that orbits the young star AU Mic in just over a week, providing valuable insights into planetary formation and evolution. The planet, named AU Mic b, was detected using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope.
Scientists have captured new images of Phobos using NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, providing insight into the moon's surface temperature variations and composition. The images suggest a relatively uniform surface made of fine-grained materials, mostly basaltic in origin.
The ATLAS telescope has discovered an asteroid that exhibits cometary behavior, including a tail of dust or gas, near Jupiter's orbit. This finding challenges the long-held assumption that Jupiter Trojan asteroids should not display cometary characteristics.
Astronomers have measured the stellar obliquity of TRAPPIST-1, a very low-mass star, and found it to be low and close to zero. This is the first detection of this effect for an exoplanet system with Earth-like planets, suggesting that planetary orbits may not be misaligned with star rotation.
Dione will collect energy input and ionospheric-thermospheric data, providing insights into atmospheric drag and improving space weather forecasts. The mission complements the Geospace Dynamics Constellation and marks a new era for CubeSats in gathering similar data.
Researchers at the University of Würzburg and Technical University of Braunschweig have developed two innovative technologies, Skith and Wall#E, to simplify satellite construction. Skith enables wireless control and reduces satellite mass, while Wall#E is a fiber-reinforced structure that stores electrical energy.
Heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Irondro was displaced southeast of the center due to strong wind shear, with light rain throughout the rest of the storm. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots despite wind shear, and is expected to become a cold core low pressure area later in the day.
A new study has found that the energy source behind mysterious ultraviolet radiation is likely star-forming galaxies, which are producing gigantic clouds of hydrogen gas that emit Lyman-alpha light. The study's findings suggest that infalling hydrogen gas originates in the intergalactic medium rather than the galaxy itself.
Astronomers have discovered a rare opportunity to study the evolution of a planetary system, with the DS Tuc binary system providing insights into how planets form without being heavily impacted by external forces. The findings suggest that the planet DS Tuc Ab formed through relatively calm processes.
An international team of astrophysicists has found evidence for 'frame-dragging', a phenomenon where the spinning of a celestial body twists space and time. The discovery confirms Einstein's theory of General Relativity and provides new insights into the behavior of white dwarfs and neutron stars.
Tropical Cyclone Claudia was dissipating in the Southern Indian Ocean when NASA's Terra satellite captured its final image. The storm's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 35 knots, and strong northeasterly wind shear had pushed clouds away from its center.
Researchers analyze cyclical changes in light spectrum emitted by Proxima Centauri and suggest the presence of a second planet. The candidate planet orbits every 5.2 years and may be a 'super-Earth', challenging current models of low-mass planet formation.
Astronomers have discovered a new class of bizarre objects at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which resemble gas and behave like stars. The objects are thought to be binary stars that merged due to the strong gravitational force of the supermassive black hole, with four additional objects found in the same orbit.
Researchers analyze Cassini data to study Saturn's ultraviolet auroras and their dynamic processes. The new observations provide unique views of the small-scale structures behind these auroras, revealing similarities with Jupiter's magnetosphere.
Researchers at Cornell University have discovered a way to make four-satellite constellations possible, enabling advances in telecommunication, navigation, and remote sensing. The new design harnesses energy from gravitational and solar radiation forces, reducing propellant needs and extending lifespan.
Researchers at San Diego State University have discovered two new planetary systems similar to Tatooine from Star Wars, including TOI-1338 b and KOI-3152 b. These circumbinary planets were found using NASA's TESS mission data and provide insight into the population of such systems.
Researchers at Hebrew University of Jerusalem use traditional mathematics to predict planets' movements in unstable three-body systems. Their findings provide a new understanding of these complex processes and are essential for visualizing complicated phenomena.
Physicists propose detecting wormholes by searching for small deviations in the orbit of stars near Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole. The technique could reveal the presence of traversable or non-traversable wormholes.
Researchers at University of California, Riverside discover that Milky Way is undergoing a massive merger with its largest satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. Several ultrafaint dwarfs and relatively bright satellite galaxies were likely stolen from LMC.
A team of astronomers has discovered a second giant planet, β Pictoris c, in the Beta Pictoris system. The exoplanet has a mass nine times that of Jupiter and completes its orbit in approximately 1,200 days. This detection marks the first time a planet has been found around a star like β Pictoris using the radial velocity method.
Researchers confirm a 'hot Earth' exoplanet, GJ 357 b, and discover two additional worlds orbiting the same star, including one potentially habitable planet, GJ 357 d. The newly discovered planets are located in the habitable zone of their star, which receives about the same amount of stellar energy as Mars does from the Sun.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered three new planets orbiting a nearby star, including one slightly larger than Earth. The planets' sizes and masses are unique, with two potentially similar to Neptune in our solar system, offering insights into planetary formation and evolution.
The discovery of TOI-270 includes two sub-Neptunes that could be an intermediate size between Earth and Neptune, providing insights into planetary formation. Astronomers also found a rocky super-Earth with a three-day orbit, adding to the system's potential for studying exoplanet dynamics.
A UCLA-led team, led by Andrea Ghez, has conducted the most comprehensive test of general relativity near a supermassive black hole. Their analysis confirms that Einstein's theory is still valid but also reveals its vulnerability in explaining gravity inside a black hole.
Researchers propose inventory control method to efficiently swap out broken satellites, ensuring continuous global coverage. The 'warehouse strategy' utilizes lower-altitude parking orbits and batch launches to minimize costs and maximize efficiency.
Vestigo Aerospace LLC is developing drag sail technology to remove small satellites and launch vehicle stages from orbit, addressing the growing risk of on-orbit collisions. The company aims to reduce energy and debris impact zones through targeted reentry.
The National University of Singapore's quantum satellite SpooQy-1 carries a quote from The Golden Record 2.0, a play written for the NUS Arts Festival, to test a quantum light source enabling future secure communication. The satellite, built by CQT and the NUS Centre for the Arts, honours Singapore's diversity and globalised world.
A collaboration between amateur astronomers and the Ministry of Defence has successfully used high-end consumer equipment to track satellites in space. The project shows that small aperture prosumer level lenses can monitor positions and maintain accurate orbits for low Earth orbit satellites.
A new study reveals that electric propulsion for orbit raising can cause significant solar cell degradation due to space weather exposure. Satellites using this method may experience a 8% reduction in output power after a radiation storm, similar to spending 15 years at geostationary orbit.
The discovery of L 98-59b marks the tiniest planet found by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to date. The planet is around 80% Earth's size and orbits its host star every 2.25 days, receiving up to 22 times the energy of our planet.
A Southwest Research Institute-led team studied the orientation of distant solar system bodies in binary pairs, providing insights into planet formation. Most Kuiper Belt objects (80%) orbit in a prograde direction, contradicting theories on binary formation and supporting the streaming instability hypothesis.
Satellites equipped with the new technology can deorbit and reenter the Earth's atmosphere, preventing space debris proliferation. Researchers have developed a prototype of the deorbit kit using low work-function tethers, which transforms orbital energy into electrical energy without fuel.
The article discusses NICER's nighttime X-ray sweeps of the entire sky, tracing magnetic fields and energetic particles. These observations provide insights into neutron star properties and the formation of pulsars, shedding light on the mysteries of matter in their cores.
Researchers at Penn State have found that gravitational forces within protoplanetary disks can cause super-Earths to migrate closer to their host star. This simulation shows that chaotic interactions among planets and the gas disk can lead to synchronized orbits, resulting in super-Earths being pushed towards the star.
The World Economic Forum has announced a new Space Sustainability Rating system to address growing space traffic and debris in Earth's orbit. The rating will assess satellite operators' environmental impact, with the goal of reducing congestion and promoting sustainability.
Messier 75 is a globular cluster located approximately 67,000 light-years away from Earth in the Sagittarius constellation. The cluster features an enormous core with about 400,000 stars, making it one of the most densely populated clusters ever discovered.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that high-altitude auroras, known as Poleward Moving Auroral Forms (PMAF), cause drag on satellites by producing moving pockets of air. These 'speed bumps' were previously thought to be a simple phenomenon, but are now understood to be more complex and structured.
The discovery of Kepler-47d, the third planet in the Kepler-47 circumbinary system, sheds light on the formation and composition of low-density planets. The new planet's size and location were unexpected, with it being the largest of the three planets in the system.
The Moon appeared to move in two opposite directions during a lunar transit, due to the SDO's faster orbital speed. The spacecraft caught this phenomenon, resulting in a 'freeze-frame' effect as the Moon remained in view.
Large moons in stable orbits around their parent planets are thought to be capable of hosting satellite submoons, with four bodies in our Solar System potentially fitting this description. However, the lack of observed submoons may offer insights into planetary formation and evolution.
Researchers discovered a double star system with a planet-forming disc that orbits at right angles to the binary star orbit, challenging traditional theories. The finding suggests that misaligned circumbinary planets may exist and could have unique seasonal variations.
Scientists have discovered a new planet, HD 21749b, with the longest orbital period of three planets so far identified by TESS. The planet, about three times the size of Earth and 23 times as massive, is likely a dense, gaseous 'sub-Neptune' world.
Researchers have observed a warped disk around an infant protostar, suggesting that misalignment of planetary orbits could be caused by distortions in the planet-forming disk. The discovery provides new insights into how planets form and could explain why many extrasolar systems have planets not lined up in a single plane.
Astronomers at Carnegie Institution for Science have discovered a frozen Super-Earth orbiting Barnard's star, just six light-years from Earth. The planet has at least 3.2 times Earth's mass and orbits its star every 233 days at a distance where water would be frozen.
A team led by Dr Farzana Meru of the University of Warwick has developed a way to detect planet migration in protoplanetary discs using ALMA observations. By analyzing the particle size in two dust rings, astronomers can determine if a planet is migrating within the disc.
A young star with a protoplanetary disc has been discovered to have four Jupiter and Saturn-sized planets in orbit around it. The system's extreme range of orbits raises questions about how such a system might have formed.
Astronomers used the VLBA to study the effects on radio waves coming from a distant galaxy when an asteroid passed in front of it. They measured the size and shape of the asteroid, improving the accuracy of its orbital path calculation.
A new study published in Icarus challenges the International Astronomical Union's 2006 definition of a planet, which requires a celestial body to clear its orbit. Researchers argue that this standard is not supported by scientific literature and propose a new classification method based on size and gravitational dominance.
Hurricane Olivia's eye is clearly visible in infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite, surrounded by extremely cold cloud top temperatures of minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit. The storm is moving west-northwest at 15 mph with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph and is expected to weaken slowly through the weekend.
A new approach using a geostationary hyperspectral infrared sounder can significantly improve local severe-storm forecasting by providing high-resolution atmospheric temperature and humidity information. This unprecedented data is crucial for nowcasting and forecasting high-impact weather events.
A new UK-US study found that electron radiation levels within the Van Allen radiation belts can remain exceptionally high for 5 days or more after a solar wind event. This increases the risk of damage to satellites' electronic components, potentially leading to malfunctions and service outages.
A new review detects mini-moons, small asteroids temporarily captured in Earth's orbit, which can provide interesting science and technology testbeds. The advent of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will verify their existence and track their paths around our planet.
Parker Solar Probe, launched in August 2018, will study the solar corona's temperature and wind sources with French-developed instruments. The probe will complete 25 orbits near the Sun, reaching speeds of up to 700,000 km/h.