Sirius is a binary star, with a small white dwarf called the Pup orbiting the large primary star. It’s not easy to observe, but it is possible. Here’s how. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/how-to-observe-sirius-b…
Tag: resolution
CNN: Tesla’s Net Profit ‘Doesn’t Come From Selling Cars’
“Tesla posted its first full year of net income in 2020 — but not because of sales to its customers,” reports CNN: Eleven states require automakers sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles by 2025. If they can’t, the automakers have to buy regulatory credits from another automaker that meets those requirements — such as Tesla, which exclusively sells electric cars….
JADES will go deeper than the Hubble Deep Fields
Astronomers announced this month that a new deep-field survey called JADES will be carried out with the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s much-anticipated successor. The Webb is due to launch later this year. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jades-deep-field-surveys-epoch-of-1st-galaxies…
The Highest Resolution Photos Ever Taken of Snowflakes
Photographer and scientist Nathan Myhrvold has developed a camera that captures snowflakes at a microscopic level never seen before. Smithsonian Magazine reports: Myhrvold, who holds a PhD in theoretical mathematics and physics from Princeton University and served as the Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft for 14 years, leaned on his background as a scientist to create the camera. He also tapped…
Successful test paves way for new planetary radar
The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Raytheon Intelligence & Space conducted a test in November to prove that a new radio telescope system can capture high-resolution images in near-Earth space. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-successful-paves-planetary-radar.html…
ProtonMail, Threema, Tresorit and Tutanota Warn EU Lawmakers Over ‘Anti-Encryption’ Push
Four European apps which secure user data via end-to-end encryption, ProtonMail, Threema, Tresorit and Tutanota, have issued a joint-statement warning over recent moves by EU institutions that they say are setting lawmakers on a dangerous path to backdooring encryption. From a report: Last month the EU Council passed a resolution on encryption that’s riven with contradiction — calling for “security through…
Astronomers find possible exoplanet-in-the-making within its own whirlpool
Astronomers have discovered a possible newly-born planet forming within its own “whirlpool” of dust and pebbles, in orbit around a young star 330 light-years from Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/star-hd-163296-new-planet-seen-forming-within-whirlpool…
New evidence for multiple ice ages on Mars
Earth has had at least 5 major ice ages. Now it appears Mars – the next planet outward from the sun – has undergone anywhere from half a dozen to 20 ice ages in the past several hundred million years. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-evidence-for-multiple-ice-ages-on-mars…
Oldest carbonates in the solar system
A meteorite that fell in northern Germany in 2019 contains carbonates which are among the oldest in the solar system; it also evidences the earliest presence of liquid water on a minor planet. The high-resolution Ion Probe—a research instrument at the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University—provided the measurements. The investigation by the Cosmochemistry Research Group led by Prof. Dr….
China’s huge FAST telescope to open to international observers
FAST’s 500-meter (1,640-foot) dish makes it the world’s largest single-dish radio observatory. It’s expected to open to international observers in 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-china-fast…