Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization: 07/15/13

Monday, 15 July 2013

Hubble finds new Neptune moon

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(Phys.org) —NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the giant planet.

Lunar cycle affects cardiac patients undergoing acute aortic dissection: Waning and full moon cycles impact length of stay, mortality

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If you need cardiac surgery in the future, aortic dissection in particular, reach for the moon. Or at least try to schedule your surgery around its cycle. A new study found that acute aortic dissection repair performed in the waning full moon appears to reduce the odds of death, and a full moon was associated with shorter length of stay.

via Science Daily

Hubble finds new Neptune moon: Smallest known moon in the Neptunian system

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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the giant planet.

via Science Daily

NASA Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the giant planet.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-hubble-finds-new-neptune-moon

Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

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In the summer of 1989, a robotic emissary from Earth visited the farthest major planet from the Sun, Neptune. Like any good tourist, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft snapped a lot of pictures during the brief flyby. The prolific probe discovered several moons orbiting close to the blue-green planet. But one moon, no bigger than a metropolitan city and nearly coal-black, escaped detection because it was too faint to be seen. Until now.

via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2013/30/

New form of carbon: Grossly warped 'nanographene'

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By introducing multiple odd-membered ring defects into a graphene lattice, researchers have experimentally demonstrated that the electronic properties of graphene can be modified in a predictable manner through precisely controlled chemical synthesis.

via Science Daily

NASA Deputy Administrator Garver at Future Space 2013

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will participate in a panel discussion titled "Destined for Exploration" at 11:50 a.m. EDT Wednesday, July 17, at Future Space 2013.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-deputy-administrator-garver-at-future-space-2013

Hubble reveals variation between hot extrasolar planet atmospheres

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First results from the analysis of eight 'hot Jupiter' exoplanets suggest that winds and clouds play an important role in the atmospheric make up of these exotic planets. Catherine Huitson of the University of Exeter will present the results at the National Astronomy Meeting in St Andrews on Friday 5 July.

MIT researchers build an all-optical transistor

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Optical computing—using light rather than electricity to perform calculations—could pay dividends for both conventional computers and quantum computers, largely hypothetical devices that could perform some types of computations exponentially faster than classical computers.

Molecular chains hypersensitive to magnetic fields

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Researchers of MESA+, the research institute for nanotechnology of the University of Twente, in cooperation with researchers of the University of Strasbourg and Eindhoven University of Technology, are the first to successfully create perfect one-dimensional molecular wires of which the electrical conductivity can almost entirely be suppressed by a weak magnetic field at room temperature. The underlying mechanism is possibly closely related to the biological compass used by some migratory birds to find their bearings in the geomagnetic field. This spectacular discovery may lead to radically new magnetic field sensors, for smartphones for example. The leading scientific journal Science publishes the research results on 4 July.

Feeding galaxy caught in distant searchlight

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An international group of astronomers that includes UC Santa Barbara astrophysicist Crystal Martin and former UCSB postdoctoral researcher Nicolas Bouché has spotted a distant galaxy hungrily snacking on nearby gas. The gas is seen to fall inward toward the galaxy, creating a flow that both fuels star formation and drives the galaxy's rotation. This is the best direct observational evidence so far supporting the theory that galaxies pull in and devour nearby material in order to grow and form stars. The results will appear in the July 5 issue of the journal Science.

Cosmic radio bursts point to cataclysmic origins

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Mysterious bursts of radio waves originating from billions of light years away have left the scientists who detected them speculating about their origins.

Star Tau Boo's baffling magnetic flips

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(Phys.org) —The first observations of the complete magnetic cycle of a star other than the Sun are proving a puzzle to astronomers. Tau Boötis, known as Tau Boo (τ Boo), is a yellowish star that is a little brighter than our Sun. It is located 51 light years away in the constellation of Boötes. It is host to a giant exoplanet about six times the mass of Jupiter, which orbits Tau Boo every 3.3 days.

Exhibit highlights advances in quantum communication and computing

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Researchers from the Cambridge Research Laboratory of Toshiba Research Europe Limited and the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge will today present the world's most secure chat and video conferencing network at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London. It uses quantum physics to automatically detect tapping of the network and alert users of any potential threat.

Graphene provides efficient electronics cooling

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A layer of graphene can reduce the working temperature in hotspots inside a processor by up to 25 percent – which can significantly extend the working life of computers and other electronics. An international group of researchers, headed by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, are the first in the world to show that graphene has a heat dissipating effect on silicon based electronics.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3627

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(Phys.org) —The spiral galaxy NGC 3627 is located about 30 million light years from Earth. This composite image includes X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope (red), and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope (yellow). The inset shows the central region, which contains a bright X-ray source that is likely powered by material falling onto a supermassive black hole.

M82: Starburst Galaxy with a Superwind

Cigar Galaxy

Also known as the Cigar Galaxy for its elongated visual appearance, M82 is a starburst galaxy with a superwind. In fact, through ensuing supernova explosions and powerful winds from massive stars, the burst of star formation in M82 is driving a prodigious outflow of material. Evidence for the superwind from the galaxy's central regions is clear in this sharp telescopic snapshot. The composite image highlights emission from long outflow filaments of atomic hydrogen gas in reddish hues. Some of the gas in the superwind, enriched in heavy elements forged in the massive stars, will eventually escape into intergalactic space. Including narrow band image data in the deep exposure has revealed a faint feature dubbed the cap. Perched about 35,000 light-years above the galaxy at the upper left, the cap appears to be galactic halo material ionized by the superwind shock or intense ultraviolet radiation from the young, massive stars in the galaxy's core. Triggered by a close encounter with nearby large galaxy M81, the furious burst of star formation in M82 should last about 100 million years or so. M82 is 12 million light-years distant, near the northern boundary of Ursa Major.

Stars and Lightning Over Greece

Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters

PanSTARRS: The Anti Tail Comet

Once known as Earth's sunset comet, PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) is up all night now, but only for northern hemisphere skygazers. Telescopes are required to track its progress as it fades and heads for the outer solar system. But because planet Earth passed through the comet's orbital plane in late May, PanSTARRS will also be remembered for its remarkably long anti-tail. That edge-on perspective looking along the broad, fanned-out dust tail as it trailed behind the comet created the appearance of an anti-tail pointing in the sunward direction, back toward the inner solar system. Recorded on the night of May 27, this 13 pane mosaic (shown in positive and negative views) follows PanSTARRS' anti-tail as it stretches over 7 degrees from the comet's coma at the far right. The anti-tail was likely much longer, but gets lost in the evening's bright moonlight encroaching on the left edge of the scene. Background star cluster NGC 188 in Cepheus shows up along the way, near top left.

A Super Moon's Halo

Moon over Punta Piedras

A Full Perigee Moon rose as the Sun set last Sunday. At its closest to Earth it was, by just a bit, the year's brightest and largest Full Moon also known as a Super Moon. Seen from Punta Piedras, Argentina and the mouth of the Rio de La Plata, near Buenos Aires, the Super Moon's light created this magnificent circular lunar halo. Still, the size of a lunar halo is determined by the geometry of six sided water ice crystals in planet Earth's high, thin clouds. The crystals deflect the rays of moonlight more strongly through a minimum angle of 22 degrees. So this halo has an inner radius of 22 degrees, just like the halos of the less-than-super moons. Even more common than a Super Moon, beautiful 22 degree halos can be spotted at any time of year.

Noctilucent Clouds over Moscow

This panoramic night scene from June 8 looks out across a Moscow skyline from atop the main building of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Shining in the darkened sky above are widespread noctilucent clouds. From the edge of space, about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface, the icy clouds can still reflect sunlight even though the Sun itself is below the horizon as seen from the ground. Usually spotted at high latitudes in summer months the diaphanous apparitions, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, have come early this season. The seasonal clouds are understood to form as water vapor driven into the cold upper atmosphere condenses on the fine dust particles supplied by meteor smoke (debris left by disintegrating meteors) or volcanic ash. Their early start this year may be connected to changing global circulation patterns in the lower atmosphere. During this northern summer, NASA's AIM mission provides daily projections of the noctilucent clouds as seen from space.

Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization