Friday, November 29, 2013

Is Comet ISON Dead? Astronomers Say It’s Likely After Icarus Sun-Grazing Stunt

Is Comet ISON Dead? Astronomers Say It’s Likely After Icarus Sun-Grazing Stunt:
Comet ISON on Nov. 10 before the recent outburst with well-developed dust (upper) and gas tails. Click ot enlarge. Credit: Damian Peach
Is Comet ISON Dead? Astronomers Say It’s Likely After Icarus Sun-Grazing Stunt
Comet ISON on Nov. 10. Credit: Damian Peach
Update, 4:40 p.m. EST: On Twitter, the European Space Agency (quoting SOHO scientist Bernhard Fleck) said the comet is gone. Separately, the Naval Research Laboratory’s Karl Battams posted that he thinks recent observations show debris from ISON, but not a nucleus. Astronomers are still monitoring, however. Real-time images are available on this website.
Update, 3:56 p.m. EST: Something has emerged from perihelion, but the experts are divided as to whether it’s leftovers of ISON’s tail, or the comet itself. Stay tuned.
It’s not looking good for Comet C/2012 S1 ISON. It made its closest approach to the sun today (Nov. 28) around 1:44 p.m. EST (6:44 p.m. UTC) and as of the time this article was written more than an hour later, no one has spotted any sign of the comet. That’s putting a damper on hopes for a good comet show in the next few weeks.
It will take a few more hours until NASA and other agencies can say for sure what the comet’s fate is, but several astronomers are saying the comet likely died during its closest approach. That said, there still is valuable science that can be performed if ISON has broken up — more details below the jump.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

NASA Plans To Deepen Asteroid Searches With Planetary Resources

NASA Plans To Deepen Asteroid Searches With Planetary Resources:
An artist's conception of two tidally locked objects orbiting the Sun from afar. The system: 2010 WG9 may likely look like this. Credit: zmescience
NASA Plans To Deepen Asteroid Searches With Planetary Resources
An artist’s conception of two tidally locked objects orbiting the Sun from afar. The system: 2010 WG9 may likely look like this. Credit: zmescience
Planetary Resources Inc. — that company that is developing a crowdsourced space telescope to search for asteroids — is planning to work on “crowdsourced software solutions” to make it easier to find asteroids and other near-Earth objects, using NASA-funded data.
NASA announced that Planetary Resources will receive a non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement to help NASA characterize near-Earth objects. It’s the first initiative announced under NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge, which the agency announced this summer as a vehicle to find threats to Earth.
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Monday, November 25, 2013

Guide to Safely Viewing Comet ISON on Perihelion Day, November 28

Guide to Safely Viewing Comet ISON on Perihelion Day, November 28:
Comet ISON joins Earth and Mercury in this photo made by NASA's STEREO-A (Ahead) spacecraft in the early morning hours of Nov. 23, 2013. Click to see additional images.
Guide to Safely Viewing Comet ISON on Perihelion Day, November 28
Comet ISON joins Earth and Mercury in this photo made by NASA’s STEREO-A (Ahead) spacecraft in the early morning hours of Nov. 23, 2013. The sun is off-frame to the right. Click to see additional images.
The day of truth is fast approaching. Will Comet ISON’s sungrazing ways spark it to brilliance or break it to bits? How bright will the comet become? Studying the latest images from NASA’s STEREO Ahead sun-watching spacecraft, it’s obvious that ISON remains healthy and intact. The most recent pictures taken from the ground confirm that no major breakup has occurred. Assuming that ISON doesn’t crumble apart on Nov. 28, when it passes just 730,000 miles (1.2 million km) from the sun, it could brighten to -4 magnitude or better in the hours leading up to and after the moment of perihelion at 12:24:57 p.m. CST (18:24:57 UT).
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Sunday, November 24, 2013

NASA’s LADEE Probe Starts Science Study of Thin Lunar Atmosphere and Dusty Mystery

NASA’s LADEE Probe Starts Science Study of Thin Lunar Atmosphere and Dusty Mystery:
Artist’s concept of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft in orbit above the moon as dust scatters light during the lunar sunset. Credit: NASA Ames / Dana Berry
NASA’s LADEE Probe Starts Science Study of Thin Lunar Atmosphere and Dusty Mystery
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft in orbit above the moon as dust scatters light during the lunar sunset. Credit: NASA Ames / Dana Berry
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) has descended to its planned low altitude orbit and begun capturing science data on its ground breaking mission to study the Moon’s ultra tenuous atmosphere and dust using a spacecraft based on a revolutionary new design aimed at speeding development and cutting costs.
LADEE set sail for Earth’s nearest neighbor during a spectacular night time launch atop the maiden flight of an Air Force Minotaur V rocket on Sept. 6 from NASA’s Wallops Island launch facility on Virginia’s Eastern shore.
The flawless launch thrilled spectators up and down virtually the entire US East coast region and yielded many memorable snapshots.
Following a month long voyage and three and a half long looping orbits of the Earth, LADEE successfully fired its main engine for 4 minutes and 12 seconds on Oct. 6 and successfully entered lunar orbit, Dawn McIntosh, LADEE deputy project manager at NASA Ames Research Center, told Universe Today in an exclusive interview.(...)
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Friday, November 22, 2013

The Challenges of Lasers in Space

The Challenges of Lasers in Space:
Artist concept of a solar sail demonstration mission that will use lasers for naviation. Credit: NASA.
The Challenges of Lasers in Space
Artist concept of a solar sail demonstration mission that will use lasers for naviation. Credit: NASA.
Since the beginning of the space age, radio waves have been used for communication with spacecraft. But last month, NASA’s Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) made history by using a pulsed laser beam to transmit data over the 385,000 km (239,000 miles) between the Moon and Earth at a record-breaking download rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps). This was NASA’s first system for two-way communication using a laser instead of radio waves. In our previous article today, we described how NASA will test out the Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) on the International Space Station to demonstrate how videos can be beamed to Earth via laser beam.
What are the challenges in testing out an entirely new way of doing communications and other systems like navigation using lasers in space?
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Volcanic Blast Forms New Island Near Japan

Volcanic Blast Forms New Island Near Japan:
An erupting undersea volcano forms a new island off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small unihabited island in the southern Ogasawara chain of islands. The image was taken on November 21, 2013 by the Japanese Coast Guard.
Volcanic Blast Forms New Island Near Japan
An erupting undersea volcano forms a new island off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small unihabited island in the southern Ogasawara chain of islands. The image was taken on November 21, 2013 by the Japanese Coast Guard.
A volcanic eruption is creating a tiny new island off the coast of Japan. The Japanese Coast Guard snapped images and video of the eruption taking place, showing the new island being formed. Footage showed heavy smoke, ash and rocks spewing from the volcanic crater. As of this writing, experts say the small island is about 200 meters (660 feet) in diameter. It is located just off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain, also known as the Bonin Islands, about about 620 miles (1,000 km) south of Tokyo.
See a video and additional images below.
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Astrophoto: Plane Pwns the Moon

Astrophoto: Plane Pwns the Moon:
An airplane at about 2,400 meters above the ground passes in front of the Moon on its way to landing at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. Taken from about 70 km from Paris. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.
Astrophoto: Plane Pwns the Moon
An airplane at about 2,400 meters above the ground passes in front of the Moon on its way to landing at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. Taken from about 70 km from Paris. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.
Astrophotgrapher Sebastien Lebrigand lives along the flight path to the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and regularly captures planes flying in front of the Moon (see another of his shots here). But this might be the image to end all ‘plane crosses in front of the Moon’ pictures. This plane is seriously taking over the Moon! Plus, its a great detailed shot of the lunar surface.
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Astronomers Catch a Galactic Threesome in the Act

Astronomers Catch a Galactic Threesome in the Act:
A combined image from the Spitzer, Hubble, and Subaru telescopes show this structure to be three galaxies merging into one (NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/NAOJ/Subaru)
Astronomers Catch a Galactic Threesome in the Act
A combined image from the Spitzer, Hubble, and Subaru telescopes show this structure to be three galaxies merging into one (NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/NAOJ/Subaru)
An enormous and incredibly luminous distant galaxy has turned out to actually be three galaxies in the process of merging together, based on the latest observations from ALMA as well as the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. Located 13 billion light-years away, this galactic threesome is being seen near the very beginning of what astronomers call the “Cosmic Dawn,” a time when the Universe first became illuminated by stars.
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Best Evidence Yet for a High-Energy Jet Emanating from the Milky Way’s Black Hole

Best Evidence Yet for a High-Energy Jet Emanating from the Milky Way’s Black Hole:
A composite image in X-ray and radio showing a likely candidate for a jet emanating from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. X-ray: NASA/CXC/UCLA/Z.Li et al; Radio: NRAO/VLA
Best Evidence Yet for a High-Energy Jet Emanating from the Milky Way’s Black Hole
A composite image in X-ray and radio showing a likely candidate for a jet emanating from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. X-ray: NASA/CXC/UCLA/Z.Li et al; Radio: NRAO/VLA
Jets of high energy particles emanating from a black hole have been detected plenty of times before, but in other galaxies, that is — not from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Previous studies and other evidence suggested that perhaps there were jets – or ghosts of past jets – but many findings and studies often contradicted each other, and none were considered definitive.
Now, astronomers using Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope have found strong evidence Sgr A* is producing a jet of high-energy particles.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Asteroids Can Get Shaken And Stirred By Mars’ Gravity

Asteroids Can Get Shaken And Stirred By Mars’ Gravity:
Artist's conception of Mars, with asteroids nearby. Credit: NASA
Asteroids Can Get Shaken And Stirred By Mars’ Gravity
Artist’s conception of Mars, with asteroids nearby. Credit: NASA
Asteroids are sometimes called loose rubble piles, which leads to interesting effects if they happen to get close to a planet. A science team in 2010 found out that when asteroids get close to Earth, the gravity of our planet can stir up the dust grains and “refresh” its face, in a sense. Now, scientists have found that Mars can do the same thing.
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Exploring Our Galaxy’s Ancient Brown Dwarfs

Exploring Our Galaxy’s Ancient Brown Dwarfs:
A brown dwarf from the thick-disk or halo is shown. Although astronomers observe these objects as they pass near to the solar system, they spend much of their time away from the busiest part of the Galaxy, and the Milky Way's disk can be seen in the background. Credit: John Pinfield
Exploring Our Galaxy’s Ancient Brown Dwarfs
A brown dwarf from the thick-disk or halo is shown. Although astronomers observe these objects as they pass near to the solar system, they spend much of their time away from the busiest part of the Galaxy, and the Milky Way’s disk can be seen in the background. Credit: John Pinfield
As the name implies, a brown dwarf is small… only about 7% the size of the Sun. As far as stellar senior citizens go, they’re cool. Zipping along through space at speeds of 100 to 200 kilometers per second, they may have formed back when our galaxy was young – perhaps 10 billion years ago. Now a team of astronomers headed by Dr. David Pinfield at the University of Hertfordshire has identified a pair of the oldest brown dwarfs known… a set of orbs which could be the harbinger of a huge amount of new, unseen objects. (...)
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group

A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group:
NGC 5044 as seen in a composite image from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the Digitized Sky Survey (optical), Galex (near-ultraviolet) and new X-ray observations from XMM-Newton (in blue.) Astronomers say they are able to see hot gas moving in this galaxy because of an interaction with another galaxy millions of years ago. Credit: E. O’Sullivan & ESA
A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group
NGC 5044 as seen in a composite image from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the Digitized Sky Survey (optical), Galex (near-ultraviolet) and new X-ray observations from XMM-Newton (in blue.) Astronomers say they are able to see hot gas moving in this galaxy because of an interaction with another galaxy millions of years ago. Credit: E. O’Sullivan & ESA
So galaxy group NGC 5044 was just sitting quietly by itself a few million years ago when galaxy NGC 5054 decided to pass right through it. That close encounter finished long ago, but the ricochet is still visible in telescopes as astronomers spotted hot gas rippling through the host galaxy.
(...)
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‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation

‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation:
NGC 3572 seen with a 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/G. Beccari
‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation
NGC 3572 seen with a 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/G. Beccari
Star winds are pushing the gas around NGC 3572 into “elephant trunks”, as you can see if you look carefully as this picture snapped by a La Silla Observatory telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. It’s a demonstration of the power of the youngster blue-white stars embedded in the cloud, which are generating huge gusts blowing the gas and dust away from them.
It’s common for young stars to form in groups. After a few million years growing together, their respective gravities pushes everything further apart, and the stars then finish their lifetimes on their own. Looking at young star clusters such as this gives astronomers a better sense about how our own Sun began its life.
If we zoomed closer to those elephant trunks, they would look similar to the famous “Pillars of Creation” image captured in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope in the Eagle Nebula (M16). NASA also did a follow-up observation using infrared wavelengths in 2005 and 2011, which made the young stars a bit easier to see amid the gas and dust.
(...)
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UrtheCast: Cameras for Live Video Views of Planet Earth To Launch Nov. 25

UrtheCast: Cameras for Live Video Views of Planet Earth To Launch Nov. 25:
A view of rivers in Montana, USA, from the ISS. Credit: ESA/Luca Parmitano.
UrtheCast: Cameras for Live Video Views of Planet Earth To Launch Nov. 25
A view of rivers in Montana, USA, from the ISS. Credit: ESA/Luca Parmitano.
A Canadian camera system aiming to provide near-realtime video views of Earth is readying for a launch from Kazakhstan.
If all goes well, the UrtheCast dual camera system will blast off in a Progress supply ship on Nov. 25, 2013.
This will be the world’s first ever high definition, live-streaming video platform of planet Earth from the International Space Station.
(...)
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Teenaged Space Station Thriving After 15 Years Of Science, Extreme Construction And Tricky Repairs

Teenaged Space Station Thriving After 15 Years Of Science, Extreme Construction And Tricky Repairs:
The International Space Station in March 2009 as seen from the departing STS-119 space shuttle Discovery crew. Credit: NASA/ESA
Teenaged Space Station Thriving After 15 Years Of Science, Extreme Construction And Tricky Repairs
The International Space Station in March 2009 as seen from the departing STS-119 space shuttle Discovery crew. Credit: NASA/ESA
Extreme conditions surround the International Space Station’s scientific work, to say the least. It takes a rocketship to get there. Construction required more than 1,000 hours of people using spacesuits. Astronauts must balance their scientific work with the need to repair stuff when it breaks (like an ammonia coolant leak this past spring.)
But amid these conditions, despite what could have been show-stoppers to construction such as the Columbia shuttle tragedy of 2003, and in the face of changing political priorities and funding from the many nations building the station, there the ISS orbits. Fully built, although more is being added every year. The first module (Zarya) launched into space 15 years ago tomorrow. Humans have been on board continuously since November 2000, an incredible 13 years.
The bulk of construction wrapped up in 2011, but the station is still growing and changing and producing science for the researchers sending experiments up there. Below are some of the milestones of construction in the past couple of decades. Did we miss something important? Let us know in the comments.
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Using the ‘Missing Physics’ of Stellar Feedback to Accurately Simulate Galaxies from the Big Bang to Today

Using the ‘Missing Physics’ of Stellar Feedback to Accurately Simulate Galaxies from the Big Bang to Today:
A simulated dwarf galaxy when the universe was 0.5 billion years old. Magenta represents cool gas, green is warm ionized gas, and red is hot gas. Check out the movie. Image credit: Hopkins et al. 2013.
Using the ‘Missing Physics’ of Stellar Feedback to Accurately Simulate Galaxies from the Big Bang to Today
A simulated dwarf galaxy when the universe was 0.5 billion years old. Magenta represents cool gas, green is warm ionized gas, and red is hot gas. Check out the movie by clicking above. Image credit: Hopkins et al. 2013.
For the first time, astronomers are able to accurately simulate galaxies from shortly after the big bang to today by including a realistic treatment of the effects stars have on their host galaxies.
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Monday, November 18, 2013

A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group

A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group:
NGC 5044 as seen in a composite image from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the Digitized Sky Survey (optical), Galex (near-ultraviolet) and new X-ray observations from XMM-Newton (in blue.) Astronomers say they are able to see hot gas moving in this galaxy because of an interaction with another galaxy millions of years ago. Credit: E. O’Sullivan & ESA
A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group
NGC 5044 as seen in a composite image from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the Digitized Sky Survey (optical), Galex (near-ultraviolet) and new X-ray observations from XMM-Newton (in blue.) Astronomers say they are able to see hot gas moving in this galaxy because of an interaction with another galaxy millions of years ago. Credit: E. O’Sullivan & ESA
So galaxy group NGC 5044 was just sitting quietly by itself a few million years ago when galaxy NGC 5054 decided to pass right through it. That close encounter finished long ago, but the ricochet is still visible in telescopes as astronomers spotted hot gas rippling through the host galaxy.
(...)
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‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation

‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation:
NGC 3572 seen with a 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/G. Beccari
‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation
NGC 3572 seen with a 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/G. Beccari
Star winds are pushing the gas around NGC 3572 into “elephant trunks”, as you can see if you look carefully as this picture snapped by a La Silla Observatory telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. It’s a demonstration of the power of the youngster blue-white stars embedded in the cloud, which are generating huge gusts blowing the gas and dust away from them.
It’s common for young stars to form in groups. After a few million years growing together, their respective gravities pushes everything further apart, and the stars then finish their lifetimes on their own. Looking at young star clusters such as this gives astronomers a better sense about how our own Sun began its life.
If we zoomed closer to those elephant trunks, they would look similar to the famous “Pillars of Creation” image captured in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope in the Eagle Nebula (M16). NASA also did a follow-up observation using infrared wavelengths in 2005 and 2011, which made the young stars a bit easier to see amid the gas and dust.
(...)
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European satellite burns up after plunging into Earth’s atmosphere

European satellite burns up after plunging into Earth’s atmosphere:
True colour satellite image of the Earth centred on Asia and Oceania with cloud coverage, during summer solstice at 6 a.m GMT. This image in orthographic projection was compiled from data acquired by LANDSAT 5 & 7 satellites., Globe Centred On Asia And Oceania, True Colour Satellite Image (Photo by Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
European satellite burns up after plunging into Earth’s atmosphere
True colour satellite image of the Earth centred on Asia and Oceania with cloud coverage, during summer solstice at 6 a.m GMT. This image in orthographic projection was compiled from data acquired by LANDSAT 5 & 7 satellites., Globe Centred On Asia And Oceania. Credit: Getty Images
A 1-ton European science satellite plunged back into Earth’s atmosphere and incinerated with debris most likely landing in the southern regions of the Atlantic Ocean, officials said on Monday.
The last contact by ground tracking stations with Europe’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, known as GOCE, was at 5:42 p.m. EST  on Sunday as the spacecraft flew just 75 miles above Antarctica, the European Space Agency said.
Extrapolating from computer models, officials believe GOCE hit the upper atmosphere about 50 miles above the planet’s surface no later than 7:16 p.m. EST Sunday near the Falkland Islands.
“This would put the main area over which any possible GOCE remnants fell to the southernmost regions of the Atlantic Ocean,” the space agency wrote in a status report on its website.
“No damage to property has been reported from any debris,” the report said.
About 25 percent of the car-sized satellite was expected to have survived re-entry.
GOCE was launched in 2009 to map variations in Earth’s gravity. Scientists assembled the data into the first detailed global maps of the boundary between the planet’s crust and mantle, among other projects.
The satellite ran out of fuel on Oct. 21 and had been steadily losing altitude since, tugged by Earth’s gravity.
The 1.2-ton GOCE satellite is small in comparison to other spacecraft that recently crashed back into the atmosphere.
In January 2012, Russia’s failed 14-ton Phobos-Grunt Mars probe returned. In 2011, NASA’s 6.5-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and Germany’s 2.4-ton  X-ray ROSAT telescope re-entered the atmosphere.

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Friday, November 15, 2013

Delving Into The Mystery Of Black Hole Jets

Delving Into The Mystery Of Black Hole Jets:
Black hole with disc and jets visualization courtesy of ESA
Delving Into The Mystery Of Black Hole Jets
Black hole with disc and jets visualization courtesy of ESA
The concept of a black hole jet isn’t a new one, but we still have a lot to learn about the mixture of particles found in the vacinity of them. Through the use of ESA’s XMM-Newton Observatory, astronomers have been taking a look at a black hole in our galaxy and found some surprising results. (...)
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Comet ISON Suddenly Brightens as it Dives Toward the Sun

Comet ISON Suddenly Brightens as it Dives Toward the Sun:
Mike Hankey of Monkton, Maryland took this photo of Comet ISON in outburst this morning Nov. 14. The tail now shows multiple streamers. Click to enlarge. Credit: Mike Hankey
Comet ISON Suddenly Brightens as it Dives Toward the Sun
Mike Hankey of Monkton, Maryland took this photo of Comet ISON in outburst this morning Nov. 14. The tail now shows multiple streamers. Click to enlarge. Credit: Mike Hankey
After a sleepy week, Comet ISON is suddenly coming alive. Several amateur astronomers and at least one professional astronomers are reporting today that the comet has brightened at least a full magnitude overnight.  Two days ago it glowed at around magnitude 7.5 and was visible weakly in 10×50 binoculars from a dark sky. Now it’s surged to around magnitude 6 – naked eye limit – and continues to brighten. ISON’s appearance has radically changed too.
(...)
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How Astronauts Can Explore The Martian Moon Phobos

How Astronauts Can Explore The Martian Moon Phobos:
Projected timeline of the MARS-X project. Credit: MARS-X
How Astronauts Can Explore The Martian Moon Phobos
Projected timeline of the MARS-X project. Credit: MARS-X
OTTAWA, CANADA – Humans would spend more than a year orbiting and bouncing on the Martian moon Phobos under a mission concept developed by students at the International Space University.
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