Sunday, October 27, 2013

Jupiter Bound Juno snaps Dazzling Gallery of Planet Earth Portraits

Jupiter Bound Juno snaps Dazzling Gallery of Planet Earth Portraits:
This false color composite shows more than half of Earth’s disk over the coast of Argentina and the South Atlantic Ocean as the Juno probe slingshotted by on Oct. 9, 2013 for a gravity assisted acceleration to Jupiter. The mosaic was assembled from raw images taken by the Junocam imager. Credit: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo
Juno Portrait of Earth
This false color composite shows more than half of Earth’s disk over the coast of Argentina and the South Atlantic Ocean as the Juno probe slingshotted by on Oct. 9, 2013 for a gravity assisted acceleration to Jupiter. The mosaic was assembled from raw images taken by the Junocam imager. Credit: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo
See below a gallery of Earth from Juno
During a crucial speed boosting slingshot maneuver around Earth on Oct. 9, NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno probe snapped a dazzling gallery of portraits of our Home Planet over the South American coastline and the Atlantic Ocean. See our mosaics of land, sea and swirling clouds above and below, including several shown in false color.
But an unexpected glitch during the do or die swing-by sent the spacecraft into ‘safe mode’ and delayed the transmission of most of the raw imagery and other science observations while mission controllers worked hastily to analyze the problem and successfully restore Juno to full operation on Oct. 12 – but only temporarily!
Because less than 48 hours later, Juno tripped back into safe mode for a second time. Five days later engineers finally recouped Juno and it’s been smooth sailing ever since, the top scientist told Universe Today.
“Juno is now fully operational and on its way to Jupiter,” Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton told me today. Bolton is from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), San Antonio, Texas. (...)
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Friday, October 25, 2013

Planck Enters Retirement Shortly; This Picture Shows Just Some Of Its Views

Planck Enters Retirement Shortly; This Picture Shows Just Some Of Its Views:
A March 2013 picture of the Shapley Supercluster from the European Space Agency's Planck observatory. ESA describes it as
A March 2013 picture of the Shapley Supercluster from the European Space Agency’s Planck observatory. ESA describes it as “the largest cosmic structure in the local Universe.” Credit: ESA & Planck Collaboration / Rosat/ Digitised Sky Survey
With two days left before Planck switches off forever, the European Space Agency re-posted this beautiful image the telescope recently assisted in taking. It shows the Shapley Supercluster, which ESA describes as the biggest cosmic structure in our neighborhood.
(...)
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How to See This Season’s “Other” Comet: 2P/Encke

How to See This Season’s “Other” Comet: 2P/Encke:
Comet 2P/Encke as imaged by Damian Peach on October 12th. (Credit: D. Peach)
Comet 2P/Encke as imaged by Damian Peach on October 12th. Taken with a 20″ CDK telescope and a FLI Proline PL11002 Colr CCD camera; LRGB: L: 6×2 minutes, RGB exposure: 1×2 minutes.  (Credit: D. Peach)
2013 may well go down as “The Year of the Comet.” After over a decade punctuated by only sporadic bright comets such as 17P/Holmes, C/2011 W3 Lovejoy and C/2006 P1 McNaught, we’ve already had two naked eye comets visible this year by way of C/2012 F6 Lemmon and C/2011 L4 PanSTARRS. And of course, all eyes are on Comet C/2012 S1 ISON as it plunges towards perihelion on U.S. Thanksgiving Day, November 28th.
But there’s an “old faithful” of comets that’s currently in our solar neighborhood, and worth checking out as well.(...)
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A Colorful Art Project You Can Only Do In Space

A Colorful Art Project You Can Only Do In Space:
On Expedition 27 in May 2011, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman participated in the Auroral Oval Spiral Top experiment. Credit: NASA
On Expedition 27 in May 2011, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman participated in the Auroral Oval Spiral Top experiment. Credit: NASA
Wow! That was our reaction to seeing this picture (and others) of a light show aboard the International Space Station. After confirming with NASA that the images circulating lately on social media are real, we were directed to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), who co-ordinated this experiment.
The work is called “Auroral Oval Spiral Top” and was done in the Kibo module on May 12, 2011, JAXA said. This was the second version of the experiment, which initially ran April 30, 2009 during Expedition 19.
(...)
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Astrophoto: Hubble in the Bubble

Astrophoto: Hubble in the Bubble:
The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, seen in the Hubble Palette. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7635, seen in the Hubble Palette. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
Here’s a beautiful look at the Bubble Nebula, taken by astrophotographer Terry Hancock using what’s known as the “Hubble Palette,” — imaging in very narrow wavelengths of light using various filters. This allows very subtle details to be revealed, things that the human eye cannot see. Terry has been working on this one for a while — since mid-August — but the results are spectacular!
Terry took images from his “DownUnder Observatory” in Fremont, Michigan. He explains the image and techniques he used:
(...)
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Proposed Balloon Ride Would Let You See The Blackness Of Space

Proposed Balloon Ride Would Let You See The Blackness Of Space:
Artist's conception of World View's planned balloon mission some 19 miles (30 kilometers) up. Credit: World View Enterprises Inc.
Artist’s conception of World View’s planned balloon mission some 19 miles (30 kilometers) up. Credit: World View Enterprises Inc.
Doesn’t that look fun? A startup company is proposing to send customers 19 miles (30 kilometers) into the air via balloon, where they can linger for two hours and look at the curvature of the Earth and experience a black sky. While it’s not high enough to qualify as a spaceflight, the listed ticket price may be a little more affordable for space enthusiasts: $75,000.
Don’t get too excited yet — the project appears to be in very early stages, and no “first flight” date is listed yet. But there are some interesting notes for those looking for space and science experience in the company.
(...)
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There Are Now Officially Over 1,000 Confirmed Exoplanets!

There Are Now Officially Over 1,000 Confirmed Exoplanets!:
More than 1,000 exoplanets have been confirmed and cataloged (PHL @ UPR Arecibo)
More than 1,000 exoplanets have now been confirmed and cataloged (PHL @ UPR Arecibo)
It was just last week that we reported on the oh-so-close approach to 1,000 confirmed exoplanets discovered thus far, and now it’s official: the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia now includes more than 1,000! (1,010, to be exact.)
21 years after the first planets beyond our own Solar System were even confirmed to exist, it’s quite a milestone!
(...)
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Taking Measure: A ‘New’ Most Distant Galaxy

Taking Measure: A ‘New’ Most Distant Galaxy:
Galaxy z8_GND_5296 (seen in the inset) is the earliest galaxy that astronomers have measured the distance to accurately. It formed approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang, and is forming stars at an incredibly rapid rate. [Credit: V. Tilvi (Texas A&M), S. Finkelstein (UT Austin), the CANDELS team, and HST/NASA]
Galaxy z8_GND_5296 (seen in the inset) is the earliest galaxy that astronomers have measured the distance to accurately. It formed approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang, and is forming stars at an incredibly rapid rate. [Credit: V. Tilvi (Texas A&M), S. Finkelstein (UT Austin), the CANDELS team, and HST/NASA]
“The farthest galaxy yet seen!” Haven’t we heard that one before? (See here and here, for example.) While it’s true that astronomers keep pushing farther back in time with better instruments, there are fundamental challenges both in observing and measuring the distances to the earliest galaxies in the cosmos.
That’s why this new observation of a galaxy that formed about 700 million years after the Big Bang is significant. (...)
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Titan’s North Pole is Loaded With Lakes

Titan’s North Pole is Loaded With Lakes:
Titan’s North Pole is Loaded With Lakes
Mosaic of near-infrared images from Cassini showing lakes on Titan’s north pole (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)
A combination of exceptionally clear weather, the steady approach of northern summer, and a poleward orbital path has given Cassini — and Cassini scientists — unprecedented views of countless lakes scattered across Titan’s north polar region. In the near-infrared mosaic above they can be seen as dark splotches and speckles scattered around the moon’s north pole. Previously observed mainly via radar, these are the best visual and infrared wavelength images ever obtained of Titan’s northern “land o’ lakes!”
(...)
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Watch the Sun Split Apart

Watch the Sun Split Apart:
An enormous rift opens in the Sun's photosphere after a prominence lifted off on Sept. 29 (NASA/SDO/AIA)
An enormous magnetic rift opened in the Sun’s lower corona after a filament lifted off on Sept. 29 (NASA/SDO/AIA)
Here’s your amazing oh-my-gosh-space-is-so-cool video of the day — a “canyon of fire” forming on the Sun after the liftoff and detachment of an enormous filament on September 29-30. A new video, created from images captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and assembled by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, shows the entire dramatic event unfolding in all its mesmerizing magnetic glory.
Watch it below:
(...)
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Beautiful Comet ISON Timelapse and Recent Images

Beautiful Comet ISON Timelapse and Recent Images:
Comet ISON, as seen on October 21, 2013 from Marion, Ohio, USA, using a QHY9 monochrome CCD camera and TEC 140 F7, 5 inch Refractor telescope. Credit and copyright: Cliff Spohn and Terry Hancock.
Comet ISON, as seen on October 21, 2013 from Marion, Ohio, USA, using a QHY9 monochrome CCD camera and TEC 140 F7, 5 inch Refractor telescope. Credit and copyright: Cliff Spohn and Terry Hancock.
This beautiful new view of Comet ISON comes from a collaborative effort between astrophotographers Cliff Spohn in Ohio and Terry Hancock in Michigan, taken on October 21, 2013. “The first time in almost two weeks that we have had a break in the clouds and rain we could not miss this rare opportunity to capture ISON using Cliff’s equipment,” said Terry via email. “Credit goes to Cliff for capturing the object while I did the calibration, stacking in CCDStack post processing in CS5 and video editing.”
You can see a timelapse video below, covering 93 minutes of imaging, again on October 21. It’s obvious ISON is still intact and it continues to bright, as it is currently about magnitude 9.
(...)
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Japanese ‘Space Cannon’ On Track For Aiming At An Asteroid: Reports

Japanese ‘Space Cannon’ On Track For Aiming At An Asteroid: Reports:
Painting of Asteroid 2012 DA14. © David A. Hardy/www.astroart.org
Painting of Asteroid 2012 DA14. © David A. Hardy/www.astroart.org
Watch out, asteroid 1999 JU3: you’re being targeted. As several media reports reminded us, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s Hayabusa-2 asteroid exploration mission will carry a ‘space cannon’ on board — media-speak for the “collision device” that will create an artificial crater on the asteroid’s surface.
(...)
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‘Light Echos’ Reveal Old, Bright Outbursts Near Milky Way’s Black Hole

‘Light Echos’ Reveal Old, Bright Outbursts Near Milky Way’s Black Hole:
X-ray emissions from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way galazy, about 26,000 light years from Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC/APC/Université Paris Diderot/M.Clavel et al
X-ray emissions from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way galazy, about 26,000 light years from Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC/APC/Université Paris Diderot/M.Clavel et al
How’s that for a beacon? NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has tracked down evidence of at least a couple of past luminous outbursts near the Milky Way’s huge black hole. These flare-ups took place sometime in the past few hundred years, which is very recently in astronomical terms.
(...)
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Why Is Comet ISON Green?

Why Is Comet ISON Green?:
Recent images of Comet ISON along with spectral data. Credit and copyright: Chris Schur.
Recent images of Comet ISON along with spectral data. Credit and copyright: Chris Schur.
Undoubtedly, you’ve been seeing the recent images of Comet ISON now that it is approaching its close encounter with the Sun on November 28. ISON is currently visible to space telescopes like the Hubble and amateur astronomers with larger telescopes. But you might be wondering why many images show the comet with a green-ish “teal” or blue-green color.
Amateur Astronomer Chris Schur has put together this great graphic which provides information on the spectra of what elements are present in the comet’s coma.
For the conspiracy theorists out there, the green color is actually a good omen, and lots of comets display this color. (...)
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Hubble and NTT Capture Strange Alignment of Planetary Nebulae

Hubble and NTT Capture Strange Alignment of Planetary Nebulae:
Hubble and NTT Capture Strange Alignment of Planetary Nebulae
While taking a look at more than a hundred planetary nebulae in our galaxy’s central bulge, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESO’s New Technology Telescope have found something rather incredible. It would appear that butterfly-shaped planetary nebulae – despite their differences – are somehow mysteriously aligned! (...)
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Super-Earth’s Probable Water Atmosphere Revealed In Blue Light

Super-Earth’s Probable Water Atmosphere Revealed In Blue Light:
Artist's conception of GJ 1214 b passing across its host star, as viewed in blue light. Credit: NAOJ
Artist’s conception of GJ 1214 b passing across its host star, as viewed in blue light. Credit: NAOJ
Playing with the filters on a telescope can show us amazing things. In a recent case, Japanese astronomers looked at the star Gilese 1214 in blue light and watched its “super-Earth” planet (Gliese 1214 b, or GJ 1214 b) passing across the surface from the viewpoint of Earth. The result — a probable detection of water in the planet’s atmosphere.
(...)
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How Could We Find Aliens? The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

How Could We Find Aliens? The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI):

In a previous video, I talked about the Fermi Paradox.
Our Universe is big, and it’s been around for a long time. So why don’t we see any evidence of aliens? If they are out there, why haven’t they contacted us, and how do we contact them? What methods might they use to try and contact us?
Where do we look for signs of alien civilizations?
(...)
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Giveaway: Star Walk: the Stargazing App for the iPad

Giveaway: Star Walk: the Stargazing App for the iPad:
Giveaway: Star Walk: the Stargazing App for the iPadOnce again, we are giving away 10 promo copies of Star Walk by Vito Technology. Whereas we provided 10 free copies for the iPhone, this contest is for 10 free copies for your iPad. What a great teaching tool this app can be: as parents, many of us are looking for interesting and educational activities to do with their kids. What better way to support family learning than by looking at high resolution, beautiful images of the night sky while learning the properties of various celestial objects? Vito Technologies have recently launched Dino Walk and Geo Walk. Look for a promotion in the coming weeks for their other app, Solar Walk.
More information can be found on Vito’s website.
From the developer:
Let’s find out more about our neighbouring planets in the Universe, play around with them determining the speed of circulation, time, choosing a particular planet to become the centre of the Universe, seeing the moons of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. The 3D model in the Solar Walk app is the scaled reproduction of the real Solar System and the Milky Way galaxy.
Improved high resolution interface and textures of planets make the exploration of the Solar System breathtaking and true to life. Each planet is portrayed in detail including the internal structure.vito
Here is how you enter to win a free copy of Star Walk for the iPad:
In order to be entered into the giveaway drawing, just put your email address into the box at the bottom of this post (where it says “Enter the Giveaway”) before Thursday, September 12, 2013. We’ll send you a confirmation email, so you’ll need to click that to be entered into the drawing.

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This Very Old Cosmic Light Has A Bend To It

This Very Old Cosmic Light Has A Bend To It:
Artist's impression of how huge cosmic structures deflect photons in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Credit: ESA and the Planck Collaboration
Artist’s impression of how huge cosmic structures deflect photons in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Credit: ESA and the Planck Collaboration
Leftover radiation from the Big Bang — that expansion that kick-started the universe — can be bent by huge cosmic structures, just like other light that we see in the universe. While the finding seems esoteric at first glance, scientists say the discovery could pave the way for finding a similar kind of signal that indicate the presence of gravitational waves in the moments after the universe was born.
(...)
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This Planetary Nebula Comes With a Twist

This Planetary Nebula Comes With a Twist:
This Planetary Nebula Comes With a Twist
Planetary nebulae imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.
From the Cat’s Eye to the Eskimo, planetary nebulae are arguably among the most dazzling objects in the Universe. These misnamed stellar remnants are created when the outer layers of a dying star blows off and expands into space. However, they can look radically different from one another, revealing complicated histories and structures.
But recently, astronomers have argued that some of the most exotic shapes are the result of not one, but two stars at the center. It is the interaction between the progenitor star and a binary companion that shapes the resulting planetary nebula.
(...)
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Keck Spots A Galaxy Fueled With Ancient Gas

Keck Spots A Galaxy Fueled With Ancient Gas:
Image of a galaxy with rendering showing a stream of inflowing gas, as rendered in a supercomputer. Credit: MPIA (G. Stinson / A.V. Maccio)
Image of a galaxy with rendering showing a stream of inflowing gas, as rendered in a supercomputer. Credit: MPIA (G. Stinson / A.V. Maccio)
“Primordial hydrogen” sounds like a great name for a band. It’s also a great thing to find when you’re looking at a galaxy. This ancient gas is a leftover of the Big Bang, and astronomers discovered it in a faraway star-forming galaxy that was created when the universe was young.
(...)
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Double Star Fomalhaut May Actually Be A Triplet!

Double Star Fomalhaut May Actually Be A Triplet!:
This false-color composite image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals the orbital motion of the planet Fomalhaut b. Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley and SETI Institute)
This false-color composite image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals the orbital motion of the planet Fomalhaut b. Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley and SETI Institute)
Fomalhaut is a really cool place to study. The naked-eye star (the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus) has a planet, Fomalhaut b, that once appeared dead but rose again in science circles. It is the site of a comet massacre. Now it’s getting even more interesting: Scientists have believed for years that Fomalhaut is a double star, but a new paper proposes that it is actually a triplet.
(...)
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Here’s Your Chance To Help Blend Earth And Mars Rocks

Here’s Your Chance To Help Blend Earth And Mars Rocks:
The official poster of the World Space Week Association 2013 campaign. Credit: World Space Week Association
The official poster of the World Space Week Association 2013 campaign. Credit: World Space Week Association
The organizers of the World Space Week Association are working to create an “Earth Master Sample”, and they want your help. Anyone worldwide can send the association a fist-sized rock from their locale.
Next will come the interplanetary recipe magic: Once the samples arrive, a tiny bit of each rock will be procured and ground into a powder. The powder will be mixed together, with a dash of Mars meteorite added in. Next, a crystal company (Swarovski) will melt down the combination into 100 crystals.
(...)
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LADEE Set to Enter Lunar Orbit on Oct. 3 in Midst of Government Shutdown

LADEE Set to Enter Lunar Orbit on Oct. 3 in Midst of Government Shutdown:
NASA’s LADEE lunar orbiter will firing its main engine on Oct. 6 to enter lunar orbit in the midst of the US government shutdown. Credit: NASA
NASA’s LADEE lunar orbiter will firing its main engine on Oct. 6 to enter lunar orbit in the midst of the US government shutdown. Credit: NASA

NASA’s trailblazing LADEE lunar spacecraft is set to ignite its main engine and enter lunar orbit on Sunday morning, Oct. 3 – if all goes well – following the spectacular Sept. 6 night launch from NASA’s Virginia spaceport.
And in a happenstance no one could have foreseen, the critical engine firing comes smack in the midst of the political chaos reigning in Washington D.C. that has shut down the US government, furloughed 97% of NASA’s employees, and temporarily threatened the upcoming launch of NASA next mission to Mars – the MAVEN orbiter.
However, orbital mechanics waits for no one!
A source indicated that LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) mission operations are continuing.(...)
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Is That Planet Habitable? Look To The Star First, New Study Cautions

Is That Planet Habitable? Look To The Star First, New Study Cautions:
Artist’s impression of the deep blue planet HD 189733b, based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA.
Artist’s impression of the deep blue planet HD 189733b, based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA.
Finding Earth 2.0, in the words of noted SETI researcher Jill Tarter, is something a lot of exoplanet searchers are hoping for one day. They’re trying not to narrow down their search to Sun-like stars, but also examine stars that are smaller, like red dwarfs.
A new study, however, cautions that the X-ray environment of these dwarfs may give us false positives. They looked at Earth-mass planets in the neighborhood of four stars, such as GJ 667 (which has three planets that could be habitable), and concluded it’s possible for oxygen to reside in these planets even in the absence of life.
(...)
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Higgs Boson Physicists Receive 2013 Nobel Prize

Higgs Boson Physicists Receive 2013 Nobel Prize:
Higgs Boson Physicists Receive 2013 Nobel Prize
That was fast! Just one year after a Higgs Boson-like particle was found at the Large Hadron Collider, the two physicists who first proposed its existence have received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. François Englert (of the former Free University of Brussels in Belgium) and Peter W. Higgs (at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom) received the prize officially this morning (Oct. 8.)
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