Astronomy News and Research Archives Page 24

Up, Up And Away -- To Venus (9/5/2007)

Scientists hope to learn more about climate changes here on Earth by studying Venus. A prototype balloon could eventually study the planet's surface and examine its atmosphere and the bizarre winds and chemistry within it. A team of JPL, ILC Dover and NASA Wallops Flight Facility engineers designed, fabricated and tested the balloon. ...> Full Article

'Lucky Camera' takes sharpest ever images of stars (9/5/2007)

A team of astronomers led by Cambridge University have taken pictures of the stars that are sharper than anything produced by the Hubble telescope, at 50 thousandths of the cost. ...> Full Article

'One Of The Most Curious Objects In The Sky' Delights Astronomers Again (9/5/2007)

Edwin Hubble once called IC 10 "one of the most curious objects in the sky," and new observations of the extremely faint, lightweight dwarf galaxy are giving scientists new clues about how populations of stars are born. ...> Full Article

500 days at Venus, and the surprises keep coming (9/4/2007)

Venus Express has now orbited Earth's twin for 500 Earth days, completing as many orbits. While the satellite maintains steady and excellent performance, the planet continues to surprise and amaze us. ...> Full Article

Stellar Firework in a Whirlwind (9/4/2007)

Stars do not like to be alone. Indeed, most stars are members of a binary system, in which two stars circle around each other in an apparently never-ending cosmic ballet. But sometimes, things can go wrong. When the dancing stars are too close to each other, one of them can start devouring its partner. If the vampire star is a white dwarf â€" a burned-out star that was once like our Sun â€" this greed can lead to a cosmic catastrophe: the white dwarf explodes as a Type Ia supernova. ...> Full Article

SMART-1: Europe on the Moon, one year on (9/3/2007)

A year ago, as Europe reached the Moon for the first time, scientists on Earth eagerly watched SMART-1’s spectacular impact. New results from the impact analysis and from the instruments still keep coming. ...> Full Article

AKARI finishes its cool observations (9/2/2007)

International scientific satellite reaches the end of the major phase of its work ...> Full Article

HiRISE Camera Returns New View of Dark Pit on Mars (9/1/2007)

The High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) has confirmed that a dark pit seen on Mars in an earlier HiRISE image really is a vertical shaft that cuts through lava flow on the flank of the Arsia Mons volcano. Such pits form on similar volcanoes in Hawaii and are called "pit craters." ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Elusive Waves in Solar Corona (8/31/2007)

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. ...> Full Article

The Highs And Lows Of Martian Water Vapour (8/31/2007)

Recent observations by instruments aboard Mars Express show peculiar behaviour by water vapour in the highest and lowest regions of Mars. ...> Full Article

White Dwarf Eats Red Giant For Breakfast (8/30/2007)

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 Study will Help Stop Stowaways to Mars (8/30/2007)

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

Researchers find absolutely nothing (8/30/2007)

Astronomers discover great gaping gash in the heavens ...> Full Article

Could Enceladus's Icy Plumes Pose A Hazard To Cassini? (8/30/2007)

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

Handling Turbulence On Titan And Earth (8/30/2007)

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

Will Titan Lose Its Veil? (8/29/2007)

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

September stars are on stage (8/29/2007)

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

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Status Report (8/29/2007)

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

Flares From Sun's Far Side May Affect Space Weather Of Inner Planets (8/28/2007)

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

Space-time Distorts Near Neutron Stars As Einstein Predicted (8/28/2007)

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

Jupiter: Friend Or Foe? (8/27/2007)

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

Saturn's skewed ring current (8/27/2007)

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

Speeding Bullet Star Leaves Enormous Streak Across Sky (8/27/2007)

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

Astronomers Baffled By Basalt In The Outer Asteroid Belt (8/26/2007)

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

International Consortium Is Created to Build World's Largest Submillimeter Telescope (8/26/2007)

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

Astronomers get first look at Uranus's rings as they swing edge-on to Earth (8/26/2007)

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

Hurtling Toward Mars (8/25/2007)

By the time you finish reading this sentence, you'll be 25 miles closer to the planet Mars. ...> Full Article

Physicists Go Deep For 'Dark Matter' (8/25/2007)

Search for elusive particles takes scientists to Geneva, Chicago and Rome ...> Full Article

Space shuttle brings strep bacteria back for study (8/24/2007)

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

SMART-1 diagnoses wrinkles and excess weight on the Moon (8/24/2007)

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