The Space Thread

Cool stuff!

Friction from tides could help distant Earth-sized planets survive, and thrive

Stretching forces shaped Jupiter moon's surface, laboratory model suggests

Record levels of solar ultraviolet on Earth's surface measured in South America

Astronomers bring the third dimension to a doomed star's outburst

How Black Holes Destroy Star Formation

Carbon monoxide predicts 'red and dead' future of gas guzzler galaxy

MESSENGER and STEREO measurements open new window into high-energy processes on the Sun

Hubble spots spiral bridge of young stars linking two ancient galaxies

Sun-like stars reveal their ages

Radio-burst discovery deepens astrophysics mystery

Artificial spacetime experiment could show tantalizing effects of gravitational waves

Found! Most Distant Stars in Milky Way Galaxy

Hi-ho! Astronomers discover seven dwarf galaxies with new telescope

NASA spacecraft observes further evidence of dry ice gullies on Mars

Does this mean M101 is about to be renamed Snow White?

Ha. Has there been any new news on the Warp Drive research? The last thing I remember was its use may be a tad bit hazardous when it stops.

The math is wrong. I don't understand any word in the OP, though.

edited 11th Jul '14 1:54:00 PM by KnightofNASA

You'll forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of an armchair physicist's findings. It looks like the original research was just worded in a very confusing way. The math might still be wrong, of course (I'm not a physicist either), I'm just saying wait for an actual scientific report on the matter.

I've chucked that link to my friend who has a masters in physics (and is working on his doctorate) so if people want I can share any answer he gives me with the thread.

Do it, and post it on that thread too if it's possible.

Please do. It will be interesting to see.

Out of an hours-long explosion, a stand-in for the first stars

Landsat looks to the Moon (w/ Video)

Orbital poised to launch cargo ship to space station

Space station shipment launched from Virginia

Silhouettes of early galaxies reveal few seeds for new stars

Another reddit AMA, this time with Bill Nye, chief scientist Ellen Stofan, and Europa scientist Robert Pappalardo.

Large number of dark matter peaks found using gravitational lensing

Questions involving astronomy are on-topic, right? I'm writing/designing a fictional stellar system with several planets orbiting two or more suns; what things do I have to account for if I want to make sure that one of those planets has sufficiently Earth-like characteristics that it is naturally habitable by humans (i.e. no need for terraforming or space suits of any kind^note unless one is worried about local alien microbial/viral hazards that native life has taken for granted, that is)?

The biggest thing is orbital perturbation. There are 2 kinds of stable orbit; one around both stars at once (which have to be close to each other then, otherwise the planet ends up too far away) or only around one (then the distance needs to be larger to prevent the other star from perturbing the orbit of the planet).

Van Allen Probes show how to accelerate electrons

OK, how to make a stable orbit... Check, though I'd have to make further consultations on how close should the two stars be for them to remain stable too (else they'd smash into each other!).

What about Earth-like conditions for human habitability? If we assume that we have two suns that are more or less of the same kind as Earth's sun (i.e. a G-type main-sequence star, or "yellow dwarf"), then logic would dictate that they'd have to be much farther from the planet than Earth's sun is — I think about double the distance, unless the process works on a non-linear basis — if we want to have roughly the same net "output" on said planet's atmosphere as the Sun does to Earth, otherwise it would become another Mercury or Venus before long. Too far away, however, and it would end up in the same position as Mars.

edited 16th Jul '14 3:08:18 PM by MarqFJA