SpaceTime with Stuart Gary

Hubble maps a giant halo around Andromeda Astronomers have mapped an immense halo of gas surrounding our nearest large galactic neighbour -- the Andromeda galaxy M-31. *Rogue planets could outnumber the stars An upcoming NASA mission could find that there are more rogue planets - planets that float in space without orbiting a star - than what there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy. *Vega’s return...

*Biggest black hole collision ever detected Scientists have observed the most massive black hole collision ever seen. The event appears to have originated from a point some seven billion light-years away – at a time when the universe was just half its present age – and making it one of the most distant gravitational wave sources ever detected. *A new estimate for the age of Earth’s core A new stud...

*Meteorite study suggests Earth may have been wet since it formed A new study of meteorites suggests Earth may always have been wet. The findings reported in the journal Science add a new chapter in to ongoing debate about the origins of Earth’s water. *NASA’s planet-hunting TESS spacecraft completes its primary mission NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – TESS – has finished its primary...

*A small but evolving dent in Earth's magnetic field Scientists are seeing a split in the South Atlantic Anomaly – a growing weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field. *The strange hot world of KELT-9B Astronomers have discovered one of the strangest most extreme worlds in the galaxy. *Calls for development of a new satellite early warning system The United States and Japan are looking at developing a n...

*Finding our place in the Universe Deep sea ocean sediments are helping scientists better understand the complicated structure of our local galactic neighbourhood. *New Zealand’s rocket lab back in the air Rocket Lab has successfully placed a new Earth observation satellite into orbit. The flight was the first since July’s failed launch attempt. *Project starship gathers pace SpaceX boss Elon Musk...

*Looking at the end of the universe A new study claims the universe will end not with a bang but with a whimper facing a heat death from a black dwarf supernova *The Pentagon looking at Shooting Star military space station The Pentagon is looking at using Sierra Nevada’s Shooting Star cargo module as the basis for a military space station. *NASA to begin operational Commercial Crew Program flights...

*Southern Launch to carry out its first test flight this month Southern Launch will carry out its first suborbital test flight in the South Australian outback on September the 15th. *Europa’s surface not connected to the core A new look at high-resolution observations of the frozen surface of the Jovian ice moon Europa shows that it’s rotated by some 70 degrees over the last few million years. *CH...

*Mysterious movements in the heart of the Milky Way Astronomers have discovered mysterious cold dense blobs of gas being shot out like bullets from the centre of the Milky Way. *New questions about the South Atlantic anomaly A new study suggests the South Atlantic anomaly may be a recurring feature which has been around for up to eleven million years. *Space Station leaking air Astronauts aboard t...

*The world-famous Arecibo dish seriously damaged The National Science Foundation has been forced to suspend astronomical observations from its iconic Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico after its 305-metre dish was seriously damaged following a cable break. *SOHO discovers 4000th comet Citizen scientists looking through data from NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft -- SOHO – ha...

*New record for a close call for planet Earth with an asteroid Planet Earth’s just had another close call with an asteroid the size of a small truck narrowly missing the planet. *The ultimate rave data set released Some call it the ultimate rave – the release of the sixth and final data set from the RAdial Velocity Experiment or RAVE -- the largest systematic spectroscopic survey of motions of sta...

*Best place on Earth to see stars A new study has determined that a frozen plateau in Antarctica called Dome A is the best place on Earth to see the stars. *Dozens of brown dwarfs discovered in our neighbourhood A new study has uncovered 95 previously unknown brown dwarfs lurking in our cosmic neighbourhood. *The tenth pack of Starlink satellites now in orbit SpaceX has launched its tenth Starlink...

*Asteroid Psyche could be the core of an unformed planet A new study of the Main Belt asteroid Psyche suggests it could be the remnant of a planet that never formed. *New discovery about the Higgs Boson Physicists at CERN the European Centre for nuclear research have witnessed the Higgs Boson decaying into a pair of muons. *Satellite Navigation systems Satellite navigation systems have become esse...

*New study warns that alien life would be dangerous to Earthlings Discovery that alien peptides containing two amino acids commonly found in carbonaceous meteorites would pose a serious threat to human health. *NASA looking at a new mission to Venus The proposed mission named VERITAS would transform sciences understanding of the internal geodynamics that shaped Earth’s sister planet Venus. *The Kr...

*Astronomers discover a pulsar powering up Astronomers have for the first time seen material spiralling into a distant neutron star and triggering a massive outburst of energy thousands of times brighter than the Sun. *The solar system’s largest impact crater discovered on Ganymede Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the solar system’s largest impact crater on the Jovian moon Ganymede....

*A neutron star at the heart of supernova 1987A There’s growing evidence that a neutron star was created from the explosion of supernova 1987A *SpaceX Dragon completes its first mission carrying crew to the space station The first-ever privately operated manned orbital space flight has returned safely to Earth. *Stunning early morning Proton launch A Proton rocket has transported two new telecommu...

*Discovery of a possible origin for mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Astronomers have detected mysterious signals known as Fast Radio Bursts apparently emanating from a highly magnetic neutron star known as a magnetar. *First exposed planetary core discovered Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the exposed core of a planet – providing an unprecedented opportunity to see inside the interior...

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 80 *Discovery of a mysterious ancient stellar cluster Astronomers have discovered the shredded remains of an ancient globular star cluster that was torn apart by our own Milky Way galaxy more than two billion years ago. *NASA launches the most sophisticated ever mission to Mars After more than a decade of preparation NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover...

*Debate continues over the age of the universe New observations by the National Science Foundation’s Atacama Cosmology Telescope have now placed the age of the universe at 13.77 billion years -- give or take 40 million years. *Signs of a new ocean opening up in Africa Scientists say a 60 kilometre long crack in the Ethiopian desert which first opened up in 2005 with the equivalent of several hundr...

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 78 *Hayabusa-2 asteroid sample return capsule to land in Australia The Australian Space Agency confirms Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return capsule will land in the Woomera Rocket Range in outback South Australia on December the 6th. *NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope set to fly on October 31st 2021 After decades of development NASA's James Webb s...

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 77 *Stunning first images of the Sun sent back by Solar Orbiter The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter has sent back its first stunning close-up images of the Sun revealing miniature omnipresent solar flares – which have been named campfires. https://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/post /624157305271992320  https://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.c...

*Alien stellar stream discovered in our neighbourhood Astronomers have discovered a stream of stars close to our own solar system that didn’t originate in our galaxy. *Tracking satellites from the Arctic A look at one of the most remote and inhospitable satellite ground stations on the planet. *Red planet rush hour with three missions bound for Mars this month It’s a busy time on the road to Mars...

*Astronomers discover a massive structure beyond Laniakea Astronomers mapping the distribution of galaxies around the Milky Way have discovered a massive structure beyond the Laniakea galaxy supercluster. *New hypothesis to try to explain ‘Oumuamua Computer simulations suggest the mysterious interstellar asteroid Oumuamua probably formed its strange elongated cigar shape through gravitational tida...

*Mysterious objects discovered in deep space Astronomers have discovered something new lurking out in the depths of space – a series of four faint circular radio objects they’ve dubbed odd radio circles or ORCs – which are unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. *Square Kilometre Array construction about to begin Construction will finally begin next year on the what will be the world’s largest t...

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Series 23 Episode 73 *Construction starts on NASA’s Psyche spacecraft Construction is now underway on NASA’s new spacecraft to explore the metal-rich main-belt asteroid 16 Psyche. *A new hypothesis to try to explain the Tunguska event Scientists have come up with a new explanation for the lack of debris from the Tunguska event – the largest asteroid impact with Earth in...

*Rocket Lab fails on its latest mission A full accident investigation is now underway to determine what caused the failure of an Electron rocket during the second stage of its journey to orbit. *Strange galactic structure near the centre of the Milky Way Astronomers studying a strange unexplained structure known as the tilted disk located near the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. *Studying the red...