INFORMATION

The sky in Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night (1889) matches, in both observation and shape, the pre-dawn sky over Saint-Rémy around 22 July 1889, when a waning crescent moon, Venus and the Hyades star cluster appeared close together, according to a study published inScientific Reports. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Lk0dJ8M via IFTTT

The planet Mars shares many landforms and weather patterns with the Earth, including changing seasons, volcanoes, canyons, dust storms and dust devils, and water ice. But one feature that Earth and Mars share among the eight planets in our solar system are polar ice caps. Both are one of each planet’s striking features, but the major difference is while Earth’s polar ice caps are both comprised of water, Mars’ north polar ice cap is only comprised of water while its southern polar ice cap is carbon dioxide. The reasons for this are determined by altitude, but Mars’ northern polar ice cap is one of the most studied regions primarily due to its water ice composition. But how does the north polar ice cap water ice change with the seasons compared to Earth, and what can this teach scientists about Mars’ climate history? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/mD6nSYa via IFTTT

The dwarf planet Ceres is arguably one of the most overlooked and underappreciated planetary objects in the entire solar system. This could be because while Ceres has the same dwarf planet designation as Pluto, Ceres is largely considered an “asteroid” since it resides the in main asteroid belt. However, along with being the largest object in the main asteroid belt, Ceres’ mass comprises between 25 to 30 percent of all the mass of the entire main asteroid belt. Despite its lack of recognition, Ceres’ interior is layered like most rocky planets, including Pluto, and its surface displays evidence of past water ice activity (also called cryovolcanism) with several “bright spots”, which are highly reflective salt deposits. But what can these salt deposits teach scientists about Ceres’ formation and evolution? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/YVH7O0T via IFTTT

NASA plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028 for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. But the famed agency has no intention of stopping there, as they plan to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon through a slow and meticulous process involving power, resource extraction, and habitat technologies. However, with the soaring use of artificial intelligence (AI) in our everyday lives, how could this emerging technology be used to identify new landing sites for future outposts on the Moon and possibly Mars? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/aOdBVyc via IFTTT

Planetary defense is a growing concern among the scientific community, as efforts have been made to design and implement missions meant to deflect incoming threats to the Earth well in advance. In 2022, NASA intentionally collided the Double Asteroid Redirection test (DART) planetary defense spacecraft into the smaller asteroid of the binary asteroid, Didymos and Dimorphos, with the latter being the smaller one. While the goal was to ascertain if deflecting an asteroid is feasible, how did this influence the geological characteristics of Dimorphos, and what can it teach us about planetary defense missions? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/zymSnTf via IFTTT

Astronomers at Queen’s University Belfast have led an international team studying new solar system bodies near Neptune, helping to unravel the mysteries of our solar system’s evolution. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/QaHhRnk via IFTTT