Universe

Cosma Home > Communication > Knowledge > Realm > Physical > Universe

Spotlight


Related

Pages

Physical Realm
Universe Astronomical Instrument
Galaxy Milky Way, Andromeda
Planetary System Star, Brown Dwarf, Planet, Moon

Solar System Sun
Terrestrial Planet Mercury, Venus, Earth (Moon), Mars
Asteroid Belt Ceres, Vesta
Jovian Planet Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Trans-Neptunian Object
Kuiper Belt Pluto, Haumea, Makemake
Scattered Disc Eris, Sedna, Planet X
Oort Cloud Etc. Scholz’s Star
Small Body Comet, Centaur, Asteroid

Posts

  • Milky Way Lost & Found (8/15/2018) - Have you seen the Milky Way? You may think that you have, but are you sure? Unless you live in an extremely remote area, or you’ve visited one, then you probably haven’t seen our own galaxy, the Milky Way, very well, or at all. Worse yet, you may not even realize that it’s missing. The … Continue reading Milky Way Lost & Found

Resources

These are organized by a classification scheme developed exclusively for Cosma. More…

General

Dictionary

universe : a distinct field or province of thought or reality that forms a closed system or self-inclusive and independent organization — Webster

OneLook, Free Dictionary, Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary

space : a boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction — Webster

OneLook, Free Dictionary, Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary

Thesaurus

Roget’s II (Thesaurus.com), Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, Visuwords

Encyclopedia

Universe The Universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. While the spatial size of the entire Universe is still unknown, it is possible to measure the observable universe. — Wikipedia

Encyclopædia Britannica

Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe. However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework. — Wikipedia

Encyclopædia Britannica

Cosmos: SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy (Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing)
Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy (Eric Weisstein’s World of Astronomy, Wolfram Research)
Astrophysics (Eric Weisstein’s World of Physics, Wolfram Research)

Introduction


Portal

Astronomy Guide (Library of Congress)
Astronomy Selected Internet Resources (Library of Congress)
Astronomy and Astrophysics Science Tracer Bullet (Library of Congress)
Archaeoastronomy Science Tracer Bullet (Library of Congress)
Astronomy Subject Primer (National Network of Libraries of Medicine)
Astrophysics, Astronomy, Astrochemistry, Astrobiology & Cosmology Center (Martindale’s Reference Desk)
Space Portal (Wikipedia)
Astronomy Portal (Wikipedia)

Search

Space & Astronomy (Wolfram Alpha)
Astronomy (Wolfram Alpha)
Astrophysics (Wolfram Alpha)

Science


Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry, in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, galaxies, and comets; the phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, all phenomena that originate outside Earth’s atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy.

Astronomy is one of the oldest of the natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history, such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Nubians, Iranians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas performed methodical observations of the night sky. Historically, astronomy has included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars, but professional astronomy is now often considered to be synonymous with astrophysics. — Wikipedia

Encyclopædia Britannica

Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that employs the principles of physics and chemistry to ascertain the nature of the astronomical objects, rather than their positions or motions in space. Among the objects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Their emissions are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics. — Wikipedia

Britannica

Outline

Outline of Space sciences (Wikipedia)

Preservation

History

History of Astronomy (Ask an Astronomer, Cornell University)

Quotation

Quotations Page Bartlett’s

Museum

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (YouTube Channel)

Library

WorldCat, Library of Congress, UPenn Online Books, Open Library

Participation

Education



SciShow Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space (YouTube Channel)
SciShow Space (YouTube Channel)

Teaching Astronomy Internet Resources (Library of Congress)
Educator Resources (Smithsonian Air & Space Museum)
AstroEdu (International Astronomical Union)

Universe (Space Place, NASA)
What’s in Space (Space Place, NASA)
The Universe (Cosmos4Kids)

Course



Crash Course Astronomy (YouTube)

Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (MIT Open Courseware)
Physics and Astronomy (Coursera)
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources

Community

Occupation


Careers in Astronomy (Ask an Astronomer, Cornell University)
The Universe (Ask an Astronomer, Cornell University)

Organization

International Astronomical Union (IAU)
American Astronomical Society (AAS)

Blog

The Science Geek : Astronomy, space and space travel for the non scientist
Astronomy Café

News

Space & Planetary Science EurekaAlert (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
Sky & Telescope Astronomy News
Space.com
Phys.org
ScienceDaily
Scientific American
Smithsonian Magazine

Government

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology)
International Space Agencies (NASA)

Document

USA.gov

Expression



What Space Smells Like (Megan Garber, The Atlantic)

Fun


Humor

How To Go To Space (with XKCD!)

Arts

Astronomy in the Arts (Ask an Astronomer, Cornell University)

Poem

OEDILF: The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

Music


Song Lyrics

returntotop

Cosma Posts

  • Dark, Deep & Spooky… (8/8/2017) - Today’s physics is “probably” not the kind of thing that you, or at least your parents and grandparents, learned about in school (unless you happen to be a Physicist). Even the most casual science buff knows that today it’s all about exotic stuff like dark matter (NASA), ghost particles (FermiLab) and “spooky action at a … Continue reading Dark, Deep & Spooky…
  • Enterprise (1/22/2017) - Star Trek fans, take notice. Here’s a cool new 360° video that takes you where you’ve never gone before… or well, at least not outside of a 2D screen. It’s a grand up-close tour of the Enterprise, and it was posted by CBS to promote the series. Check it out! (This is a 360° YouTube … Continue reading Enterprise
  • ExoMars (10/19/2016) - Oct. 21 Update: Unfortunately, the ExoMars mission’s Schiaparelli lander did not make a successful landing due to technical difficulties, and the crash site has been found. Happily, the mother ship did successfully enter orbit. Why Schiaparelli Probe’s Mars ‘Crash Land’ Is No Failure (Mason Peck, Newsweek) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter views Schiaparelli landing site (ESA) Here’s … Continue reading ExoMars
  • Exoplanet Junket (6/2/2018) - I’m on a vacation of sorts, so it’s no surprise that stories about travel tend to catch my eye. However, it is surprising if the story happens to be about something that NASA’s done. This week NASA released a new project that they’ve dubbed the Exoplanet Travel Bureau. The core of the project consists of … Continue reading Exoplanet Junket
  • Get Lost in Space! (9/14/2018) - Way back in August, in anticipation of the start of a new school year, I set out to update the pages on this site related to space. Those pages tend to be popular among the teachers and students who use Cosma, and I happen to enjoy updating them, too. It sounded like a short, fun … Continue reading Get Lost in Space!
  • Great Views of Earth (4/22/2018) - April 22nd is Earth Day! In honor of that, here are some great ways to see the honoree. First, you can get a nice view from this neat 360° Video from Seeker. It essentially shows you what it would feel like if you could just fly straight up and see the Earth from space. National … Continue reading Great Views of Earth
  • Lunar Landings (7/19/2019) - Saturday, July 20th is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, and there’s a massive media blitz surrounding the occasion. Pretty much every major news outlet is covering it in some way, and it’s no surprise that NASA is leading the publicity frenzy. On Friday at 1 p.m. (EDT) NASA is broadcasting 50 … Continue reading Lunar Landings
  • Mars 3D (11/16/2016) - Mars is getting even more attention than usual this week, and that is “mostly” because National Geographic began airing their special six part Mars series on Monday nights (9/8c). Here’s a trailer and links about it… Virtual Trip to Mars Offers Ultimate Preview to Crewed Mission (Nadia Drake, National Geographic) Inside Nat Geo’s Incredible Documentary … Continue reading Mars 3D
  • Mars is hard! (11/25/2018) - Update 8:30 PM November 26, 2018 (EST) Touchdown! Mars InSight lander reaches red planet (Alexandra Witze, Nature) NASA’s InSight Mission Triumphantly Touches Down on Mars (Ian O’Neill, Scientific American) InSight has landed with Updates (Emily Lakdawalla, Planetary Society) Landing Replay (SciNews) Original Post If you hear a phrase like “six and a half minutes of … Continue reading Mars is hard!
  • Milky Way Lost & Found (8/15/2018) - Have you seen the Milky Way? You may think that you have, but are you sure? Unless you live in an extremely remote area, or you’ve visited one, then you probably haven’t seen our own galaxy, the Milky Way, very well, or at all. Worse yet, you may not even realize that it’s missing. The … Continue reading Milky Way Lost & Found
  • Moon+H2O=Moonbase? (7/25/2017) - One of the big science stories in the news right now is that Earth’s Moon has more water than scientists expected. This Newsy video is just one of the hundreds of stories flooding news feeds. This round of stories has been inspired by this article in Nature Geoscience. Remote detection of widespread indigenous water in … Continue reading Moon+H2O=Moonbase?
  • Octopuses from Space! (5/20/2018) - Did you hear the one about the octopuses from space? It sounds like the title of a cheesy sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? But it isn’t, this time, or at least, yet. Instead, it’s actually an oddball theory that’s been put forth in a recently published “scientific” article that’s getting quite a lot of buzz in … Continue reading Octopuses from Space!
  • Perspectives on Earth (11/23/2017) - Last week NASA released this fascinating video entitled Our Living Planet based upon 20 years of data from satellites that observe all plant life at the surface of the land and ocean. You can find out more about the video from this article. The Changing Colors of our Living Planet (NASA) Of course, releasing fantastic … Continue reading Perspectives on Earth
  • RIP Rossetta! (10/1/2016) - The “Little Mission that Could” has come to an end, but what a mission it was to watch! Rosetta Concludes Mission with a Crash (Megan Gannon, Scientific American) Rosetta Mission Ends With Spacecraft’s Dive Into Comet (Kenneth Chang, New York Times) It was such a joy to watch each historic milestone the mission passed over … Continue reading RIP Rossetta!
  • Space Rocks! (1/4/2019) - It was a fantastic holiday season for space fans! In fact, there was so much going on, it was almost impossible to keep up with it all. According to your news sources and interests, you have probably heard about at least some of the amazing things that happened, but chances are you haven’t heard about … Continue reading Space Rocks!
  • Strange Things (11/12/2016) - There’s been a ton of cool stuff going on in the 3D/360°/AR/VR hardware and software universe lately, and there’s about to be even more (more on that soon). On the other hand, the 3D/360°/AR/VR content front has been “relatively” static (unless you love Halloween’esque horror, of course). When I went looking for something interesting to … Continue reading Strange Things
  • Super Bowl of Astronomy (1/15/2018) - The annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society, a.k.a. the “Super Bowl of Astronomy” was held in Washington DC last week. While it might not have as much cachet as the Consumer Electronics Show, great tidbits from the conference do slip into the mainstream media from time to time. For example, Phys.org did a nice … Continue reading Super Bowl of Astronomy
  • The waves won! (10/4/2017) - Gravitational waves that is! It has been announced that Rainer Weiss (MIT), Barry Barish (Caltech) and Kip Thorne (Caltech) have won the 2017 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for their decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the first observation of gravitational waves in 2015. Here’s a quick one minute video from Newsy and a … Continue reading The waves won!
  • To touch the Sun (6/1/2017) - The big “space” news this week is that NASA has announced that they renamed the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft the “Parker Solar Probe” in honor of Eugene N. Parker, the astrophysicist from the University of Chicago who predicted the solar wind. The probe is scheduled to launch next summer and become the first mission to … Continue reading To touch the Sun
  • TRAPPIST-1 (2/23/2017) - You’ve probably heard that NASA has found a trove of “Earth-like” planets circling the TRAPPIST-1 system roughly 40 light years away, but just in case you haven’t, here’s a short 2 minute AP video about the discovery. Here’s another video from NASA/JPL with more explanation. Most entertainingly, here’s a 360° YouTube Video published by NASA/JPL … Continue reading TRAPPIST-1
  • Umbraphiles (8/20/2017) - umbraphile : One who loves eclipses, often travelling to see them. — Wiktionary Yes, this is that obligatory post about “The Solar Eclipse” (NASA, Wikipedia). Of course, there had to be one — eclipses really are just too cool to ignore. You’ve already been bombarded with explanations of the science and history of eclipses, but … Continue reading Umbraphiles
  • Visioning Spacesteads (8/8/2018) - Space, the final frontier… Humans have been imagining what it would be like to setup homesteads and live in space for about as long as they’ve been imagining how to get there, but the process didn’t really take off until after we actually got there. Back in the 1970’s NASA dedicated some resources to the … Continue reading Visioning Spacesteads

returntotop

More…

    Feed has no items.

EurekAlert! - Space and Planetary Science The premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  • Enabling longer space missions
    on August 20, 2019 at 4:00 am

    (Springer) The Hall thruster is a propulsion system that is often used by spacecraft enaged in longer missions. A recent study by Andrey Shashkov and co-workers at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia has shown how the operating lives of these systems can be further extended; their work was recently published in EPJ D.

  • Stardust in the Antarctic snow
    on August 20, 2019 at 4:00 am

    (Technical University of Munich (TUM)) The rare isotope iron-60 is created in massive stellar explosions. Only a very small amount of this isotope reaches the earth from distant stars. Now, a research team with significant involvement from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered iron-60 in Antarctic snow for the first time. The scientists suggest that the iron isotope comes from the interstellar neighborhood.

  • Lab-based dark energy experiment narrows search...
    on August 19, 2019 at 4:00 am

    (Imperial College London) An experiment to test a popular theory of dark energy has found no evidence of new forces, placing strong constraints on related theories.

  • Brookhaven completes LSST's digital sensor array
    on August 19, 2019 at 4:00 am

    (DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory) After 16 years of dedicated planning and engineering, scientists at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have completed a 3.2 gigapixel sensor array for the camera that will be used in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a massive telescope that will observe the universe like never before.

  • A second planet in the Beta Pictoris system
    on August 19, 2019 at 4:00 am

    (CNRS) A team of astronomers led by Anne-Marie Lagrange, a CNRS researcher, has discovered a second giant planet in orbit around β Pictoris, a star that is relatively young (23 million years old) and close (63.4 light years), and surrounded by a disk of dust. The β Pictoris system has fascinated astronomers for the last 30 years since it enables them to observe a planetary system in the process of forming around its star.


Astronomy News – Sky & Telescope The essential guide to astronomy / All Sky & Telescope (www.skyandtelescope.com) content is copyrighted. Please contact us for reuse permissions.

  • Image Sleuth Spots Tiny “Churyumoon” Around...
    by David Dickinson on August 20, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    A tiny, 4-meter fragment dubbed Churyumoon has been spotted orbiting Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which the Rosetta mission visited in 2014–2016. The post Image Sleuth Spots Tiny “Churyumoon” Around Rosetta’s Comet appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

  • Where is the Tropic of Capricorn?
    by Robert Kieckhefer on August 20, 2019 at 1:53 pm

    A well-traveled geophysicist recounts his curious findings at a prominent geographic benchmark in the Southern Hemisphere. The post Where is the Tropic of Capricorn? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

  • Beta Pic’s New Planet, Jupiter’s...
    by Monica Young on August 19, 2019 at 4:17 pm

    Astronomers announce another planet around Beta Pictoris, simulations explain Jupiter's large and fuzzy core, and observations reveal an ancient star. The post Beta Pic’s New Planet, Jupiter’s Fuzzy Core & An Ancient Star appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

  • The RAC Summer Star Party
    by JR on August 16, 2019 at 6:27 pm

    It's high summer and time to party — star party, that is. The RAC Summer Star Party offered fun, friends, and some good, clear nights this year. As is typical for New England, the spring season was wet and cloudy with few opportunities for extended observing sessions. But at least that meant I had plenty of time to dream up my observing lists for the summer star party season. This […] The post The RAC Summer Star Party appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

  • NASA Selects Final Four Asteroid Landing Sites...
    by David Dickinson on August 16, 2019 at 3:14 pm

    The Osiris-REX spacecraft will sample one of four sites on the asteroid Bennu in July 2020. The post NASA Selects Final Four Asteroid Landing Sites for Osiris-REX appeared first on Sky & Telescope.


Space.com Get the latest space exploration, innovation and astronomy news. Space.com celebrates humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier.


Space News - Space, Astronomy, Space Exploration Phys.org provides the latest news on astronomy and space exploration.

  • Enabling longer space missions
    on August 20, 2019 at 4:11 pm

    The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing has reignited interest in space travel. However, almost any mission beyond the moon, whether manned or unmanned, will require the spacecraft to remain fully operational for at least several years. The Hall thruster is a propulsion system that is often used by craft involved in long missions. A recent study by Andrey Shashkov and co-workers at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia has shown how the operating lives of these […]

  • Space station's data rate increase supports...
    on August 20, 2019 at 2:20 pm

    NASA recently doubled the rate at which data from the International Space Station returns to Earth, paving the way for similar future upgrades on Gateway, NASA's upcoming outpost in lunar orbit, and other exploration missions. This new data rate will enable the space station to send back more science data faster than ever before.

  • Image: Luca installs BioRock
    on August 20, 2019 at 2:12 pm

    Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it is off to work the microbes go.

  • Physicists design an experiment to pin down the...
    on August 20, 2019 at 12:01 pm

    Nearly all of the oxygen in our universe is forged in the bellies of massive stars like our sun. As these stars contract and burn, they set off thermonuclear reactions within their cores, where nuclei of carbon and helium can collide and fuse in a rare though essential nuclear reaction that generates much of the oxygen in the universe.

  • A space cocktail of science, bubbles and sounds
    on August 20, 2019 at 11:31 am

    The International Space Station was again the stage for novel European science and routine operations during the first half of August. Plenty of action in the form of bubbles and sounds added to the mix in the run-up to a spacewalk and the comings and goings of visiting vehicles.


Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily Astronomy news. New! Earth-like extrasolar planet found; double helix nebula; supermassive black holes, astronomy articles, astronomy pictures. Updated daily.

  • Stardust in the Antarctic snow
    on August 20, 2019 at 2:16 pm

    The rare isotope iron-60 is created in massive stellar explosions. Only a very small amount of this isotope reaches the earth from distant stars. Now, a research team has discovered iron-60 in Antarctic snow for the first time. The scientists suggest that the iron isotope comes from the interstellar neighborhood.

  • Black hole holograms
    on August 20, 2019 at 2:16 pm

    Researchers show how a holographic tabletop experiment can be used to simulate the physics of a black hole. This work may lead the way to a more complete theory of quantum gravity that harmonizes quantum mechanics and relativity.

  • A second planet in the Beta Pictoris system
    on August 19, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    A team of astronomers has discovered a second giant planet in orbit around alpha Pictoris, a star that is relatively young (23 million years old) and close (63.4 light years), and surrounded by a disk of dust. The alpha Pictoris system has fascinated astronomers for the last 30 years since it enables them to observe a planetary system in the process of forming around its star.

  • Best of both worlds: Asteroids and massive mergers
    on August 16, 2019 at 1:24 pm

    Researchers are using the Catalina Sky Survey's near-Earth object telescopes to locate the optical counterparts to gravitational waves triggered by massive mergers.

  • Moon glows brighter than sun in images from...
    on August 15, 2019 at 4:06 pm

    If our eyes could see gamma rays, the Moon would appear brighter than the Sun! That's how NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has seen our neighbor in space for the past decade.