Monday 31 October 2016

Canary Islands Are Alternate Site for Planned Mauna Kea Telescope

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If astronomers’ plan to build a giant telescope in Hawaii is blocked, they have narrowed their worldwide search for a backup.
via New York Times

Ghost Aurora over Canada

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A sinister skyscape

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Space Science Image of the Week: An unusually bright and sudden aurora looms over Iceland, adopting the spooky form of a writhing celestial serpent
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/10/A_sinister-looking_aurora_over_Iceland

Sunday 30 October 2016

Halloween and the Ghost Head Nebula

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When it comes to atomic-scale manufacturing, less really is more

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Electrical currents can be now be switched on and off at the smallest conceivable scale enabling a new generation of 'green electronics' with the potential for great impact on the digital economy.
via Science Daily

Saturday 29 October 2016

Moonset at Whitby Abbey

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October's Hunters Moon shines near the horizon, setting beyond the arches of Whitby Abbey in this eerie night scene. The moonlight partly illuminates the ruined Benedictine abbey's grounds and walls on a cliff overlooking the North Sea from England's Yorkshire coast. Fans of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula will recognize the abbey and town of Whitby as the location of the Transylvanian count's shipwrecked landing on English shores. There fiction's most famous vampire transformed into an immense dog, jumped ashore and ran up the cliff to the ruined abbey. A 360 degree panorama, the dramatic fisheye view was created from 23 digitally stitched photos.
Tomorrow's picture: ghost head nebula
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

NASA missions harvest a passel of 'pumpkin' stars

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Astronomers have discovered a batch of rapidly spinning stars that produce X-rays at more than 100 times the peak levels ever seen from the sun. The stars, which spin so fast they've been squashed into pumpkin-like shapes, are thought to be the result of close binary systems where two sun-like stars merge.
via Science Daily
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Hybrid nanostructures hold hydrogen well

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Layers of graphene separated by nanotube pillars of boron nitride may be a suitable material to store hydrogen fuel in cars, according to scientists.
via Science Daily

Friday 28 October 2016

Trilobites: No More Data From Pluto

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NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft made more than 400 scientific observations of the dwarf planet. Now scientists can analyze them all.
via New York Times

161028

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CLOUD experiment sharpens climate predictions

Ewen Whitaker, Who Guided NASA to the Moon, Dies at 94

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Mr. Whitaker had no formal training as an astronomer, but he used his unparalleled knowledge of the lunar surface to select landing sites for spacecraft.
via New York Times

Further clues to fate of Mars lander, seen from orbit

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The most powerful telescope orbiting Mars is providing new details of the scene near the Martian equator where Europe's Schiaparelli test lander hit the surface last week.
via Science Daily
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Insights into giant impacts on moon, Earth and Mars

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New results from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission are providing insights into the huge impacts that dominated the early history of Earth's moon and other solid worlds, like Earth, Mars, and the satellites of the outer solar system.
via Science Daily
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A death star's ghostly glow

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The eerie glow of a dead star, which exploded long ago as a supernova, reveals itself in this Hubble Space Telescope image of the Crab Nebula. But, the ghoulish-looking object still has a pulse. Buried at its center is the star's tell-tale heart, which beats with rhythmic precision. The green hue has been added to give the image a Halloween theme.
via Science Daily
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New Horizons returns last bits of 2015 flyby data to Earth

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NASA's New Horizons mission reached a major milestone this week when the last bits of science data from the Pluto flyby -- stored on the spacecraft's digital recorders since July 2015 -- arrived safely on Earth.
via Science Daily
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Forging a brand-new chemical bond using the pressure of the Mars core

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When it comes to making chemical bonds, some elements go together like peanut butter and jelly; but for others, it's more like oil and water. Scientists can combat this elemental antipathy using extreme pressures. And now in a new article, researchers report that they have used pressure equivalent to that within the core of Mars to forge the first-ever iron-bismuth bond, which could help them make brand-new magnetic and superconducting materials.
via Science Daily
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Thursday 27 October 2016

Detailed images of Schiaparelli and its descent hardware on Mars

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A high-resolution image taken by a NASA Mars orbiter this week reveals further details of the area where the ExoMars Schiaparelli module ended up following its descent on 19 October.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Detailed_images_of_Schiaparelli_and_its_descent_hardware_on_Mars

A Death Star's Ghostly Glow


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In writer Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," a killer confesses his crime after he thinks he hears the beating of his victim's heart. The heartbeat turns out to be an illusion. Astronomers, however, discovered a real "tell-tale heart" in space, 6,500 light-years from Earth. The "heart" is the crushed core of a long-dead star, called a neutron star, which exploded as a supernova and is now still beating with rhythmic precision. Evidence of its heartbeat are rapid-fire, lighthouse-like pulses of energy from the fast-spinning neutron star. The stellar relic is embedded in the center of the Crab Nebula, the expanding, tattered remains of the doomed star.


via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2016/37/

A Giant Squid in the Flying Bat

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Very faint but also very large on planet Earth's sky, a giant Squid Nebula cataloged as Ou4, and Sh2-129 also known as the Flying Bat Nebula, are both caught in this cosmic scene toward the royal constellation Cepheus. Composed with almost 17 hours of narrowband image data, the telescopic field of view is 4 degrees or 8 Full Moons across. Discovered in 2011 by French astro-imager Nicolas Outters, the Squid Nebula's alluring bipolar shape is distinguished here by the telltale blue-green emission from doubly ionized oxygen atoms. Though apparently completely surrounded by the reddish hydrogen emission region Sh2-129, the true distance and nature of the Squid Nebula have been difficult to determine. Still, a recent investigation suggests Ou4 really does lie within Sh2-129 some 2,300 light-years away. Consistent with that scenario, Ou4 would represent a spectacular outflow driven by HR8119, a triple system of hot, massive stars seen near the center of the nebula. The truly giant Squid Nebula would physically be nearly 50 light-years across.
Tomorrow's picture: haunting Cepheus
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Trilobites: Lighting Up the Night Skies

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Australian astronomers produced a Gleamoscope that dials up visions of the skies from instruments using different varieties of electromagnetic radiation.
via New York Times

Cosmic horseshoe is not the lucky beacon

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Although the universe started out with a bang it quickly evolved to a relatively cool, dark place. After a few hundred thousand years the lights came back on and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
via Science Daily
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Unexpected giant glowing halos discovered around distant quasars

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Astronomers have discovered glowing gas clouds surrounding distant quasars. This new survey indicates that halos around quasars are far more common than expected. The properties of the halos in this surprising find are also in striking disagreement with currently accepted theories of galaxy formation in the early Universe.
via Science Daily
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Tuesday 25 October 2016

'Heartbeat stars' unlocked in new study

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Matters of the heart can be puzzling and mysterious -- so too with unusual astronomical objects called heartbeat stars.
via Science Daily
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Uranus may have two undiscovered moons

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NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus 30 years ago, but researchers are still making discoveries from the data it gathered then. A new study led by University of Idaho researchers suggests there could be two tiny, previously undiscovered moonlets orbiting near two of the planet's rings.
via Science Daily
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Project 2D-Health launched

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Graphenea is proud to participate in a new project funded by EPSRC (the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. The project “2D Materials for Next Generation Healthcare Technologies” (2D-Health) started on October 1 st and will utilize £5.2m of funding over the next 5 years. The project aims to further explore how two-dimensional materials can improve major health challenges, such as cancer, diabetes and dementia. 2D-Health is one of four major research grants awarded as part of the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies scheme, totaling £17.7 million, that will develop new technologies to address the health issues of an aging UK population.

Graphenea is one of two graphene material producers in the project consortium. Other partners include four major healthcare multinationals and laboratories from across the University of Manchester, spanning physics, chemistry, pharmacy and medicine research.

2D-Health will utilize selected unique properties offered by 2D materials and technologies and develop innovative solutions for specific unmet clinical needs in wound care and management (relevant to diabetes), tissue rehabilitation by electrical stimulation (relevant to dementia), cell therapeutics (relevant to cardiovascular disease), and immunotherapeutics (relevant to cancer).

Research into using graphene for health is widespread, including graphene for drug delivery, biosensing, and getting rid of bacteria.

This programme directly aligns to the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies priorities by aiming to develop future therapies in specific applications of unmet clinical needs and draws on several cross-cutting capabilities: a) custom-design 2D materials into advanced materials under specifications aimed at a precise industry-driven use, exploring different chemical modification strategies; b) development of novel imaging and sensing technologies for tracking and monitoring therapeutic intervention; and c) develop 2D-based technologies through the preclinical stage for each of the application areas using relevant cellular and animal models. Strong industrial-academic partnership for rapid clinical translation, in collaboration with ethicists and regulators, aims to ensure responsible and societally-acceptable innovations.

Graphenea will participate with our extensive experience in graphene applications and with high quality materials.


via Graphenea

Next step towards a gravitational-wave observatory in space

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Today, ESA has invited European scientists to propose concepts for the third large mission in its science programme, to study the gravitational Universe.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Next_step_towards_a_gravitational-wave_observatory_in_space

Clouds Near Jupiter's South Pole from Juno

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Sunday 23 October 2016

Eagle Aurora over Norway

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The universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, or is it?

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Five years ago, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three astronomers for their discovery that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace. This led to the widespread acceptance of the idea that the universe is dominated by a mysterious substance named 'dark energy' that drives this accelerating expansion. Now, a team of scientists has cast doubt on this standard cosmological concept. The evidence for acceleration may be flimsier than previously thought, they say, with the data being consistent with a constant rate of expansion.
via Science Daily
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Tracking waves from sunspots gives new solar insight

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The sun is constantly changing. Material courses through not only the star itself, but throughout its expansive atmosphere. Understanding the dance of this charged gas is a key part of better understanding our sun. Now, for the first time, researchers have tracked a particular kind of solar wave as it swept upward from the sun's surface through its atmosphere, adding to our understanding of how solar material travels throughout the sun.
via Science Daily
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Saturday 22 October 2016

Cerro Tololo Trails

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Early one moonlit evening car lights left a wandering trail along the road to the Chilean Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Setting stars left the wandering trails in the sky. The serene view toward the mountainous horizon was captured in a telephoto timelapse image and video taken from nearby Cerro Pachon, home to Gemini South. Afforded by the mountaintop vantage point, the clear, long sight-line passes through layers of atmosphere. The changing atmospheric refraction shifts and distorts the otherwise steady apparent paths of the stars as they set. That effect also causes the distorted appearance of Sun and Moon as they rise or set near a distant horizon.
Tomorrow's picture: auroral eagle
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Friday 21 October 2016

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter views Schiaparelli landing site

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NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified new markings on the surface of the Red Planet that are believed to be related to ESA's ExoMars Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing technology demonstrator module.
via Science Daily
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Researchers solve the problem of the dimensions of space-time in theories relating to the Large Hadron Collider

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Researchers propose an approach to the experimental data generated by the Large Hadron Collider that solves the infinity problem without breaching the four dimensions of space-time.
via Science Daily
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Space-based droplet dynamics lessons?

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Droplets in space can grow freakishly large and bounce off nonwetting surfaces in truly unearthly ways. Astronauts frequently encounter huge droplets, and Scott Kelly recently demonstrated their unusual behavior aboard the International Space Station (ISS) via water balls and a hydrophobic (water repellant) ping pong paddle.
via Science Daily
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Dark Spot in Mars Photo Is Probably Wreckage of European Spacecraft

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The remnants of the Schiaparelli lander seemed to appear on Mars in photos taken by a NASA orbiter, the European Space Agency said Friday.
via New York Times

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter views Schiaparelli landing site

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NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified new markings on the surface of the Red Planet that are believed to be related to ESA’s ExoMars Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing technology demonstrator module.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter_views_Schiaparelli_landing_site

STScI Appoints Head of Newly Created Data Science Mission Office


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Dr. Arfon Smith has been selected to lead the newly created Data Science Mission Office at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. The Data Science Mission Head is responsible for maximizing the scientific returns from a huge archive containing astronomical observations from 17 space astronomy missions and ground-based observatories.


via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2016/44/

Full Moon in Mountain Shadow

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On October 15, standing near the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea and looking away from a gorgeous sunset produced this magnificent snapshot of a Full Moon rising within the volcanic mountain's shadow. An alignment across the Solar System is captured in the stunning scene and seeming contradiction of bright Moon in dark shadow. The triangular appearance of a shadow cast by a mountain's irregular profile is normal. It's created by the perspective of the distant mountaintop view through the dense atmosphere. Rising as the Sun sets, the antisolar point or the point opposite the Sun is close to the perspective's vanishing point near the mountain shadow's peak. But extending in the antisolar direction, Earth's conical shadow is only a few lunar diameter's wide at the distance of the Moon. So October's Full Hunters Moon is still reflecting sunlight, seen through the mountain's atmospheric shadow but found too far from the antisolar point and the Earth's extended shadow to be eclipsed.
Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Trilobites: The Orionid Meteor Shower Will Peak Tonight. Don’t Expect Much.

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The annual show left in the wake of Halley’s comet is expected to peak Thursday night and Friday morning, but the moon will most likely obscure views of meteors.
via New York Times

Thursday 20 October 2016

Study explains strength gap between graphene, carbon fiber

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Carbon fiber, a pillar of strength in materials manufacturing for decades, isn't as good as it could be, but there are ways to improve it, according to scientists. They found the polymer chains that make up a common carbon fiber are prone to misalign during manufacture, a defect the researchers compared with a faulty zipper that weakens the product.
via Science Daily

ExoMars lander descent data: Decoding underway

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Essential data from the ExoMars Schiaparelli lander sent to its mothership Trace Gas Orbiter during the module's descent to the Red Planet's surface yesterday has been downlinked to Earth and is currently being analysed by experts.
via Science Daily
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ExoMars orbiter reaches Mars orbit while lander situation under assessment

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The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) of ESA's ExoMars 2016 has successfully performed the long 139-minute burn required to be captured by Mars and entered an elliptical orbit around the Red Planet, while contact has not yet been confirmed with the mission's test lander from the surface.
via Science Daily
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Unexplainable activity in distant stars: New class of explosive events?

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Researcher pored through more than 10 years of existing Chandra X-ray Observatory data and found stars that repeatedly survive quick, massive surges in space energy. There are no such instances in our galaxy, as stars are destroyed by similar conditions.
via Science Daily
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Astrophysicists map the Milky Way

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Hydrogen. Atomic number 1. It is the simplest and lightest element on the periodic table, but don't be fooled by its humble appearance. With just a single proton and a single electron, it is the most abundant element in the universe and has fueled star formation for the past 13 billion years. Now scientists have mapped the key ingredient's distribution across the Milky Way, revealing details about our galaxy that have never been seen before.
via Science Daily
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First Pluto, now this: Discovery of first binary-binary calls solar system formation into question

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Everything we know about the formation of solar systems might be wrong, says two astronomers. They've discovered the first "binary--binary" -- two massive companions around one star in a close binary system, one so-called giant planet and one brown dwarf, or "failed star" The first, called MARVELS-7a, is 12 times the mass of Jupiter, while the second, MARVELS-7b, has 57 times the mass of Jupiter.
via Science Daily
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The Tulip in the Swan

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Framing a bright emission region this telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. Popularly called the Tulip Nebula, the glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust is also found in the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless as Sh2-101. About 8,000 light-years distant and 70 light-years across the complex and beautiful nebula blossoms at the center of the composite image. Red, green, and blue hues map emission from ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Ultraviolet radiation from young, energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the visible light emission from the Tulip Nebula. HDE 227018 is the bright star very near the blue arc at the center of the cosmic tulip.
Tomorrow's picture: moonrise, mountainshadow
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Juno Hobbled but Healthy After Glitch, NASA Says

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The spacecraft put itself into “safe mode” early Wednesday and restarted its computer, scuttling observations that were to take place as it passed 3,000 miles above Jupiter’s clouds.
via New York Times

No Signal From Mars Lander, but European Officials Declare Mission a Success

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The lack of a signal most likely means the planned “soft landing” failed, but the orbiter continues to gather and transmit data.
via New York Times

Schiaparelli descent data: decoding underway

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Essential data from the ExoMars Schiaparelli lander sent to its mothership Trace Gas Orbiter during the module’s descent to the Red Planet’s surface yesterday has been downlinked to Earth and is currently being analysed by experts.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Schiaparelli_descent_data_decoding_underway

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Ups and downs of water escape from Mars

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After investigating the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet for a full Martian year, NASA's MAVEN mission has determined that the escaping water does not always go gently into space. Hydrogen in Mars' upper atmosphere comes from water vapor in the lower atmosphere. An atmospheric water molecule can be broken apart by sunlight, releasing the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atom that they had been bound to. Several processes at work in Mars' upper atmosphere may then act on the hydrogen, leading to its escape.
via Science Daily
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Possible clouds on Pluto, next target is reddish

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Stern said that Pluto's complex, layered atmosphere is hazy and appears to be mostly free of clouds, but the team has spied a handful of potential clouds in images taken with New Horizons' cameras. "If there are clouds, it would mean the weather on Pluto is even more complex than we imagined," Stern said.
via Science Daily
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Eta Carinae: VLT Interferometer captures raging winds in famous massive stellar system

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Astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope Interferometer to image the Eta Carinae star system in the greatest detail ever achieved. They found new and unexpected structures within the binary system, including in the area between the two stars where extremely high velocity stellar winds are colliding. These new insights into this enigmatic star system could lead to a better understanding of the evolution of very massive stars.
via Science Daily
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ExoMars TGO reaches Mars orbit while EDM situation under assessment

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The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) of ESA’s ExoMars 2016 has successfully performed the long 139-minute burn required to be captured by Mars and entered an elliptical orbit around the Red Planet, while contact has not yet been confirmed with the mission’s test lander from the surface.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/ExoMars_TGO_reaches_Mars_orbit_while_EDM_situation_under_assessment

ExoMars briefing

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Watch live: Status report on the ExoMars mission. Streaming starts 08:00 GMT / 10:00 CEST 
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Watch_ExoMars_arrival_and_landing

Signals from Mars

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Initial signals received from Mars indicate the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has completed its orbit insertion manoeuvre as planned. Mission teams continue waiting for confirmation of progress from the Schiaparelli lander
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/mars_live

M45: The Pleiades Star Cluster

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ExoMars Mission to Join Crowd of Spacecraft at Mars

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The joint mission of the European and Russian space agencies consists of an orbiter and a lander looking for methane and testing landing technologies.
via New York Times

Trilobites: Pluto May Have Clouds, New Data Indicate

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Findings from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft include images showing seven small, bright spots that might be clouds floating just above Pluto’s surface.
via New York Times

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Microbial life on Mars: The possibility must be considered

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The existence of microbial life on Mars remains highly controversial, but recent evidence of water, complex organic molecules, and methane in the Martian environment, combined with findings from the 1976 Viking mission, have led to the conclusion that existing life on Mars is a possibility that must be considered.
via Science Daily
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