New radio images from the ALMA telescope show the direct effects of Io’s volcanism on its atmosphere. Plus, we’ll take a look at the next NASA missions to small bodies that we have to look forward to now that OSIRIS-REx has completed the first touch-and-go sample. And you should smile and wave up at the sky because there are exoplanets that could see us, too
Of course, our top story today is the touch-and-go sampling event on our favorite asteroid-to-hate, Bennu. OSIRIS-REx’s TAGSAM worked as expected, and now we’re waiting for the mass measurement of the sample taken. Plus, the Milky Way’s black hole is spinning too slowly to make jets, and the galaxy’s history can be found in atomic hydrogen filaments.
All of Betelguese’s strange behavior for the last year had everyone looking at the star, which the latest research shows is smaller and closer than previously calculated. Plus, InSight’s mole is finally all the way underground, new measurements of atomic hydrogen in distant galaxies, and two planets have been discovered around a red dwarf star.
Join us for our weekly tour through the local neighborhood! This week we cover how the ice caps on Pluto’s mountains form; we celebrate BepiColombo’s flyby of Venus; and we continue to prep for that Bennu sample. Plus planetary scientist Alan Stern is going to space!
Today we look at three astronomical stories! First, simulations show that rocky Super-Earth sized exoplanets have a Jupiter-sized guardian. Then a study of over 700 quasars shows they form because of… magnetic fields, of course! And finally, spare observation time leads to the discovery of a metal-poor globular cluster near the Andromeda Galaxy.
Join us for a look at today’s top story: ESO telescopes captured the last moments of a star being destroyed by a black hole in a tidal disruption event. Plus scientists are studying Bennu’s surface to get ready for next week’s touch and go sample collection, and NOIRLab begins the process of restarting telescope operations at several observatories around the world.
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