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Astronomy News and Research - August 2007 Archives
 | Recent observations by instruments aboard Mars Express show peculiar behaviour by water vapour in the highest and lowest regions of Mars. ...> Full Article |
 | Scientists for the first time have observed elusive oscillations in the sun's corona, known as Alfvén waves, that transport energy outward from the surface of the sun. The discovery may give researchers more insight into solar magnetic fields, eventually leading to a better understanding of how the sun affects Earth's atmosphere and the entire solar system.
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 | On 12th March 2008, Cassini will swing by Saturn's moon Enceladus at an altitude of less than 100 kilometres at the point of closest approach. This will give scientists and unprecedented opportunity to study the plumes of water vapour emanating from the "tiger stripe" fissures near the moon's south pole, but it has also given the Cassini team pause for thought as to whether ice grains lofted by the jets could damage the spacecraft. ...> Full Article |
 | Ever spilled your drink on an airline due to turbulence? Researchers on both sides of the Atlantic are finding new ways to understand the phenomenon - both on Earth and on Titan. ...> Full Article |
 | New, detailed observations of a supernova show evidence that a white dwarf star "fed" off a red giant to gain the critical mass needed for explosion. ...> Full Article |
 | NASA clean rooms, where scientists and engineers assemble spacecraft, have joined hot springs, ice caves, and deep mines as unlikely places where scientists have discovered ultra-hardy organisms collectively known as 'extremophiles'. Some species of bacteria uncovered in a recent NASA study have never been detected anywhere else. ...> Full Article |
 | Astronomers discover great gaping gash in the heavens ...> Full Article |
 | The question of whether Titan can retain its thick, organic atmosphere for the rest of its lifetime could hinge on how efficiently methane molecules were packed inside water "crates" during a period of the moon's formation. ...> Full Article |
 | As the summer sun recedes, it makes way for the autumn stars sweeping in. Many belong to water constellations like Pisces, Capricornus, and Aquarius, which are now chasing the Milky Way westward. Late evenings are graced by a furiously brightening Mars, and approaching morning sees Venus soar to a lofty throne, there to preside until the break of day. ...> Full Article |
 | Diagnostic tests and months of stable, successful operation have resolved concerns raised early this year about long-term prospects for the powerful telescopic camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ...> Full Article |
 | Observations of solar flares by spacecraft at Mars, Venus and the Earth show that eruptions on the far side of the Sun may affect our "space weather" back on Earth. ...> Full Article |
 | Using European and Japanese/NASA X-ray satellites, astronomers have seen Einstein's predicted distortion of space-time around three neutron stars, and in doing so they have pioneered a groundbreaking technique for determining the properties of these ultradense objects. ...> Full Article |
 | NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has spotted an amazingly long comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space at supersonic speeds. "I was shocked when I first saw this completely unexpected, humongous tail trailing behind a well-known star," said Caltech's Christopher Martin. ...> Full Article |
 | The traditional belief that Jupiter acts as a celestial shield, deflecting asteroids and comets away from the inner Solar System, has been challenged by the first in a series of studies evaluating the impact risk to the Earth posed by different groups of object. ...> Full Article |
 | Images taken by Cassini's Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) show that Saturn's ring current is a warped disc that balloons out of the equatorial plane on the planet's dayside and remains a thin disk that rises above the plane at larger distances on the nightside. Dr Stamatios "Tom" Krimigis, the Principal Investigator for the instrument, who is presenting images at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam on Thursday 23rd August, said, "Ring currents surround planets sort of like the brim of a hat. ...> Full Article |
 | Analysis of the chemical make up of two asteroids in the outer asteroid belt has thrown the classification system for these small bodies, which orbit between Mars and Jupiter, into disorder. ...> Full Article |
 | Five institutions from North America and Europe have created a consortium to oversee the building of a 25-meter submillimeter telescope on a high elevation in Chile. When completed in 2013, the $100 million instrument will be the premier telescope of its kind in the world. ...> Full Article |
 | As the rings of Uranus swing edge-on to Earth - a short-lived view we get only once every 42 years - astronomers observing the event are getting an unprecedented, glare-free view of the rings and the fine dust that permeates them. ...> Full Article |
 | By the time you finish reading this sentence, you'll be 25 miles closer to the planet Mars. ...> Full Article |
 | Search for elusive particles takes scientists to Geneva, Chicago and Rome ...> Full Article |
 | When the space shuttle Endeavour touched down at the Kennedy Space Center August 21, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston microbiology and immunology department chairman David Niesel was waiting by the runway, looking forward to a reunion with some of its passengers. ...> Full Article |
 | Combining information from SMART-1 and Clementine makes it possible to assess the link between fine geological structures, identified for the first time with AMIE's high resolution, and the chemical composition of the study area. These fine geological structures form due to local mascon (mass concentration) or because of the thermal effects in the area related to volcanic activity. This deforms the crust giving it the appearance of being 'overweight' or 'wrinkled'. ...> Full Article |
 | A year after launch, scientists working with Hinode, a Japanese mission with ESA participation, are meeting at Trinity College, Dublin, to discuss latest findings on solar mysteries - including new insights on solar flares and coronal heating. ...> Full Article |
 | Ancient explorers set sail expecting to encounter dragons on the world's unknown oceans. NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft are searching for dragons of a different sort as they enter the boundary of our solar system â€" cosmic "dragons" that breathe a strange fire of high-speed atomic fragments called cosmic rays. ...> Full Article |
 | As August draws to an end, watchers of the night sky will be in for a treat. In the early morning hours of August 28, sky watchers across much of the world can look on as the Moon crosses in to the shadow of the Earth, becoming completely immersed for one-hour and 30 minutes, a period of time much longer than most typical lunar eclipses. In fact, this eclipse will be the deepest and longest in 7 years. ...> Full Article |
 | Imagine cruising the heavens from your desktop and seeing all the spectacular images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Exploding stars and faraway galaxies are just a mouse click away today through 'Sky in Google Earth'. ...> Full Article |
 | An international team of researchers has detected low-energy solar neutrinos--subatomic particles produced in the core of the sun--and measured in real-time the rate the particles hit our planet. ...> Full Article |
 | Using NASA's Swift satellite, McGill University and Penn State astronomers have identified an object that is likely one of the closest neutron stars to Earth -- and possibly the closest. ...> Full Article |
 | Scientists from the Ulysses mission have proven that sounds generated deep inside the Sun cause the Earth to shake and vibrate in sympathy. They have found that Earth's magnetic field, atmosphere and terrestrial systems, all take part in this cosmic sing-along. ...> Full Article |
 | The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from now. ...> Full Article |
 | Astronomers have discovered a chaotic scene unlike any witnessed before in a cosmic "train wreck" between giant galaxy clusters. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes revealed a dark matter core that was mostly devoid of galaxies, which may pose problems for current theories of dark matter behavior. ...> Full Article |
 | Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space are revealed today in the New Journal of Physics. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. They also point to a possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth. ...> Full Article |
 | How is matter created? What happens when stars die? Is the universe shrinking, or is it expanding? For decades, scientists have been looking for answers to such "big picture" questions. ...> Full Article |
Some of the elements necessary to support life on Earth are widely known - oxygen, carbon and water, to name a few. Just as important in the existence of life as any other component is the presence of adenine, an essential organic molecule. Without it, the basic building blocks of life would not come together. Scientists have been trying to find the origin of Earth's adenine and where else it might exist in the solar system. University of Missouri-Columbia researcher Rainer Glaser may have the answer.
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 | NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander accomplished on Aug. 10 the first and largest of six course corrections planned during the spacecraft's flight from Earth to Mars. ...> Full Article |
 | Enthusiastic observers were rewarded by a nice display of the Perseid meteor shower that was visible at its best in the night between 12 and 13 August 2007. We present glimpses of the spectacle and the scientific rewards of staying up all night. ...> Full Article |
 | As NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander hurtles toward the "Red Planet," Tufts' Sam Kounaves and his research team await the chance to answer the big question: Is there life on Mars? ...> Full Article |
 | A new model of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus may quell hopes of finding life there. Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, the model explains the most salient observations on Enceladus without requiring the presence of liquid water. ...> Full Article |
 | Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new research paper by Cardiff scientists. ...> Full Article |
 | By combining the capabilities of several telescopes, teams of scientists, including University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomers, have spotted extremely bright galaxies hiding in the distant, young universe. They are the most luminous and prolific galaxies seen at that great distance, churning out stars at a rate 1,000 times greater than that of the Milky Way. ...> Full Article |
 | Earth's surface is a very active place; its plates are forever jiggling around, rearranging themselves into new configurations. Continents collide and mountains arise, oceans slide beneath continents and volcanoes spew. As far as we know Earth's restless surface is unique to the planets in our solar system. So what is it that keeps Earth's plates oiled and on the move? ...> Full Article |
 | The world's largest bolometer camera for submillimetre astronomy is now in service at the 12-m APEX telescope, located on the 5100m high Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes. LABOCA was specifically designed for the study of extremely cold astronomical objects and, with its large field of view and very high sensitivity, will open new vistas in our knowledge of how stars form and how the first galaxies emerged from the Big Bang. ...> Full Article |
 | On the night of 21 July, ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky took images of the night sky above Paranal, the 2600m high mountain in the Chilean Atacama Desert home to ESO's Very Large Telescope. The amazing images bear witness to the unique quality of the sky, revealing not only the Milky Way in all its splendour but also the planet Jupiter and the laser beam used at Yepun, one of the 8.2-m telescopes that make up this extraordinary facility. ...> Full Article |
 | Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers from France and Brazil have detected a huge cloud of dust around a star. This observation is further evidence for the theory that such stellar puffs are the cause of the repeated extreme dimming of the star. ...> Full Article |
 | As the Perseid meteor shower becomes visible in all its glory on 13 August, natural fireworks will fill the sky. ...> Full Article |
 | An international team of astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey announce today the discovery of TrES-4, a new extrasolar planet in the constellation of Hercules. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets - that is, planets that pass in front of their home star - using a network of small automated telescopes in Arizona, California, and the Canary Islands. TrES-4 was discovered less than half a degree (about the size of the full Moon) from the team's third planet, TrES-3. ...> Full Article |
 | ESA's Mars Express will keep an eye on NASA's Phoenix lander as it makes its way to the Martian surface, setting an example for international cooperation and interplanetary networking. ...> Full Article |
 | Four galaxies are slamming into each other and kicking up billions of stars in one of the largest cosmic smash-ups ever observed. ...> Full Article |
 | Crystals on meteorite hold a key to understanding building blocks of planets ...> Full Article |
 | NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission blasted off Saturday, aiming for a May 25, 2008, arrival at the Red Planet and a close-up examination of the surface of the northern polar region. ...> Full Article |
 | A planet orbiting a giant red star has been discovered by an astronomy team led by Penn State's Alex Wolszczan, who in 1992 discovered the first planets ever found outside this solar system. The new discovery is helping astronomers to understand what will happen to the planets in this solar system when the sun becomes a red-giant star, expanding so much that its surface will reach as far as Earth's orbit. ...> Full Article |
 | Transgenic tomatoes that have been genetically modified so that they grow better in micro-gravity environments, are on there way to the International Space Station ...> Full Article |
 | A software program developed by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is allowing viewers everywhere access to early images from the most powerful spectral camera ever sent to Mars. The images are now available on NASA's online planetary data archive. ...> Full Article |
 | Administrators at New Mexico Tech recently signed a contract with Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) to have the Belgian company design and build telescopes for the research university's Magdalena Ridge Observatory (MRO) Interferometer project. ...> Full Article |
 | For nearly 40 years, the complete photographic record from the Apollo moon project sat in a freezer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, almost untouched, until now. ...> Full Article |
 | Cassini scientists may have identified the source of one of Saturn's more mysterious rings. Saturn's G ring likely is produced by relatively large, icy particles that reside within a bright arc on the ring's inner edge. ...> Full Article |
 | Queensland University of Technology interior design lecturer Marisha McAuliffe spent last week on an unusual assignment - designing a space station. ...> Full Article |
 | Columbia astronomy professor Arlin Crotts thinks he has solved a 400-year-old mystery: the origin of strange optical flashes often reported as appearing on the moon's surface. ...> Full Article |
 | The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express obtained images of the Tyrrhena Terra region on Mars. ...> Full Article |
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Scientists locate apparent hydrothermal vents off Antarctica
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