U of A scientists use fireball monitoring network to capture images of the meteor that lit up the skies over Western Canada
Western Canadians caught a glimpse of a bright flash overhead this week as a fireball lit up the sky on the morning of Feb. 22. Now, University of Alberta researchers have used Western Canada’s most advanced fireball network to capture images and trajectory of the fireball – revealing it to be a small piece of…
A pressure-packed recovery mission in the harshness of space featuring the ingenuity of the University of Alberta’s satellite team and a race against time played out high above Edmonton on Jan. 19, sending notice that the future of Canada’s designs on exploration of space is in good hands. The saga began in November as DESCENT,…
U of A physicists discover surprising new findings about how our planet’s magnetic field controls space weather as it shields us from solar wind
University of Alberta physicists have discovered a surprising imbalance in how the Earth responds to space weather driven by the sun. Energy generated as the electrically charged particles in solar wind hit the Earth result in more electromagnetic energy heading towards the magnetic north pole than to the magnetic south pole. The sun bathes our…
The United States has been sitting on some stunning discoveries for years
No one ever took U.S. President Donald Trump for Star Trek’s Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. Nevertheless, his creation of the U.S. Space Force in December 2019 resembled the latter’s powerful command, “Engage!” The space race is on but what most people would find surprising is how far along that race is already. “The power of space…
Sky watching isn’t as simple as looking at fluffy clouds
Watching the night sky has always fascinated people but daytime skies can be just as interesting. In July, I travelled to Nunavut as a ship naturalist on an expedition to northern Canada. I had the rare opportunity to explore parts of Baffin Island and Ungava Bay that few get to see. While I saw wonderful…
There’s a good chance the global shift from skepticism to possibility about extraterrestrial life is about to extend even further
Is there life on other planets? That question has intrigued man for generations. Most people used to scoff at the suggestion of the existence of UFOs and tales of little green men from Mars (or worse). Societal attitudes have shifted due to our increased fascination with Roswell/UFO sightings, Phoenix Lights, Lubbock Lights, and depictions of…
International team shares new image of stars switching between two alter egos
The strange behaviour of a duo of stars in a dense cluster called Terzan 5 located 19,000 light-years from Earth has caught the eye of an international team of astronomers. “We observed an exotic stellar binary system using both X-rays and radio waves,” said University of Alberta astrophysicist Craig Heinke. “Only 10 years ago, we knew…Astronauts and seniors with frailty have much in common and innovative research may help solve problems for both
For decades, researchers have studied the effects of reduced physical activity on astronauts during prolonged journeys to space. But what's surprising is one of the uses of that research. It turns out that understanding the effects of space travel on the body may be important to understanding what happens to us on Earth as we…
A planned spaceport on the East Coast would launch eight satellite-carrying rockets annually by 2022
On some glittering summer’s day, this decade or maybe next, you might find me rusticating on the back deck of my ancestral home overlooking Nova Scotia’s great, grumbling Chedabucto Bay – as deep and dangerous as the firmament itself. There, I will hoist a late-afternoon drink, cast my eyes toward the town of Canso and…
The made-in-Canada jet interceptor certainly had its problems. But the manner in which it was killed raised serious questions
On Feb. 20, 1959, the Canadian government cancelled the Avro Arrow. Some people still refer to the day as Black Friday. Growing up in Ireland, my teenage awareness of Canada was limited. Other than occasional news snippets in my father’s weekly edition of Time magazine, Canada meant snow, the RCMP, Paul Anka and Yvon Durelle,…