Tag - astronomy

 
 

ASTRONOMY

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2020
We’re never going to mine the asteroid belt
One factor rules out most space mining at the outset: gravity. It guarantees that most of the solar system's best mineral resources are to be found under our feet on Earth.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 22, 2020
China to launch moon probe, seeking to bring back first lunar rock since 1970s
China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon this week to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from Earth's natural satellite since the 1970s.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2020
Life on Venus? Astronomers see a signal in its clouds
Scientists detected a chemical — phosphine — in the thick Venus atmosphere, and they assert that something now alive is the only explanation for its source.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2020
Scientists confounded by new findings on universe's mysterious dark matter
Dark matter, mysterious invisible stuff that makes up most of the mass of galaxies including our own Milky Way, is confounding scientists again, with new observations of distant galaxies conflicting with the current understanding of its nature.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2020
Japan team finds traces of one of largest craters in solar system
A Japanese research team has announced the discovery of traces of the largest impact craters in the solar system on a moon of Jupiter.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 21, 2020
For first time, scientists spot an alien planet as it is being formed
Astronomers have gazed into what appears to be a planetary maternity ward, observing for the first time within a huge disk of dense gas and dust surrounding a newly formed star a planet in the process of being born.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 3, 2020
Astronomers spot 'missing link' black hole — not too big and not too small
Scientists have detected a midsize black hole — considered the "missing link" in the understanding of these celestial brutes — eviscerating an unfortunate star that strayed too close.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 8, 2020
Spacecraft to map sun's poles for first time
A spacecraft built jointly by U.S. and European space agencies is ready for a blazing journey to the sun to capture an unprecedented view of its two poles, an angle that could help researchers understand how the star's vast bubble of magnetic energy affects Earth.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 31, 2020
Sun's surface revealed in closest detail yet
Images from a powerful new telescope installed on top of a volcano in Hawaii show the surface of the sun in the closest detail yet, revealing features as small as 30 km (18 miles) across.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Nov 16, 2019
Gazing in wonder at the many faces of the moon
Why do the sun and the moon see so little of each other?
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 27, 2019
NASA telescope captures black hole shredding a star
Scientists have captured a view of a colossal black hole violently ripping apart a doomed star, illustrating an extraordinary and chaotic cosmic event from beginning to end for the first time using NASA's planet-hunting telescope.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2019
Scientists say newly discovered comet is likely to be an 'interstellar visitor'
A newly discovered comet hurtling toward the orbit of Mars has scientists scurrying to confirm whether it came from outside the solar system, a likely prospect that would make it the second such interstellar object observed in our planetary neighborhood.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 8, 2019
International team of astronomers discover massive ancient galaxies
An international team of astronomers, including those from the University of Tokyo and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, have discovered 39 massive galaxies thought to have been actively forming stars over 11 billion years ago.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’