SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: June 2004
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Satellite images 'show Atlantis'
(Jun 7, 2004)
A scientist says he may have found remains of the lost city of Atlantis.
Satellite photos of southern Spain reveal features on the ground appearing
to match descriptions made by Greek scholar Plato of the fabled utopia.
Dr Rainer Kuehne thinks the "island" of Atlantis simply referred to
a region of the southern Spanish coast destroyed by a flood between
800 BC and 500 BC. The research has been reported as an ongoing project
in the online edition of the journal Antiquity.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Extrasolar planet hunters eye Venus transit
(Jun 7, 2004)
Extrasolar planet hunters will set their sights close to home on Tuesday
when Venus passes in front of the Sun for the first time since 1882.
About 120 planets have been discovered orbiting other stars. Three
of these were revealed because they dimmed their stars' light during
transits, which also gave information about the planets' masses. And
future space missions such as NASA's Kepler, due to launch in 2007,
aim to find many more transits by monitoring 100,000 Sun-like stars.
The transit of Venus will dim the Sun's light by just a tenth of one
per cent but the data astronomers hope to gather will help interpret
future extrasolar searches. Graphic: BBC.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Proof found for gamma-ray burst in Milky
Way
(Jun 5, 2004)
Combined data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and infrared observations
with the Palomar 200-inch telescope have uncovered evidence that a
gamma-ray burst, one of nature's most catastrophic explosions, occurred
in our Galaxy a few thousand years ago. The supernova remnant, W49B,
may also be the first remnant of a gamma-ray burst discovered in the
Milky Way. W49B is a barrel-shaped nebula located about 35,000 light
years from Earth. The new data reveal bright infrared rings, like
hoops around a barrel, and intense X-radiation from iron and nickel
along the axis of the barrel.
Read
more. Source: Spaceflight Now / Chandra |
Fossils hint at early complexity
(Jun 4, 2004)
Blob-like fossils dating back about 600 million years may indicate
that complex life evolved much earlier on our planet than had been
thought, scientists say. The animals are less than a fifth of a millimetre
long and have a two-sided body plan previously thought to have existed
much later in Earth's history. These "bilaterians" have what look
like mouths and guts, as well as internal and external layers of body
tissue. The findings are reported by a US-Chinese team in Science
magazine.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Meteorite turned Earth inside out
(Jun 4, 2004)
A devastating meteorite collision caused part of the Earth's crust
to flip inside out billions of years ago and left a dusting of a rare
metal scattered on the top of the crater, says new University of Toronto
research. The study, published in the June 3 issue of Nature, examines
the devastating effects of meteorite impacts on the Earth's evolution.
Researchers from the University of Toronto and the Geological Survey
of Canada studied the remains of a 250-kilometre wide crater in Sudbury,
Ontario, known as the Sudbury Igneous Complex, caused by a collision
with a Mount Everest-sized meteorite 1.8 billion years ago.
Read
more. Source: Space Daily |
Mars rover Spirit nears hills as Opportunity
probes crater
(Jun 4, 2004)
More than a month into bonus time after a successful primary mission
on Mars, NASA's Spirit rover has sighted possibly layered rock in
hills just ahead, while twin Opportunity has extended its arm to pockmarked
stones on a crater rim to gather clues of a watery past. Spirit has
driven more than 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) since arriving at Mars
five months ago, more than three-fourths of that since completing
its three-month primary mission. It now has only about 400 meters
(440 yards) to go – possibly less than a week of driving –
before reaching the base of a range of hills informally named "Columbia
Hills," which scientists identified in January as a desirable but
potentially unreachable destination for the rover.
Read
more. Source: Spaceflight Now / NASA-JPL |
Robots to rescue Hubble Telescope
(Jun 3, 2004)
NASA's chief, Sean O'Keefe, has taken a step toward a robotic repair
mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope. In January, he said there
would be no more space shuttle visits to service Hubble because it
was too dangerous. He has now said the US space agency would ask for
proposals regarding the feasibility of a robotic servicing mission.
It could take place in 2007. His announcement was made to applause
at the 204th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Colorado.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
>/tr>
Date set for private space launch
(Jun 3, 2004)
Scaled Composites, the company behind the first private manned spacecraft,
will launch it into space on 21 June carrying an as yet unnamed astronaut.
SpaceShipOne is built by aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan who hopes to
win the Ansari X-prize of $10m (£5.7m) for the first private flight
into space. The craft has to reach an altitude of 100km (329,000ft)
twice in two weeks to win. A total of 25 other teams across the world
are competing for the prize.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Probe positions for Saturn orbit
(Jun 2, 2004)
The Cassini spacecraft has performed what may be its final course
correction before entering orbit around the ringed planet Saturn on
1 July. The short pressurised engine burn was the first carried out
in five years and simulates a firing that is still needed to make
the probe circle the planet. The manoeuvre also places Cassini on
course for a fly-by of the little studied Saturnian moon known as
Phoebe. The four-year mission is a joint venture between the US and
Europe. "You could think of it as a dress rehearsal for Saturn orbit
insertion," Dr Linda Spilker, Cassini deputy project scientist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, US, told BBC News Online.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Black holes multiply in new observations
(Jun 1, 2004)
European researchers have found 30 previously hidden supermassive
black holes anchoring faraway galaxies, which suggests there at least
twice as many of the colossal gravity wells as thought. Supermassive
black holes hold as much matter as millions or billions of suns. The
newfound black holes were long sought but went unnoticed because they
lurk behind veils of dust and are so faraway that even the galaxies
they anchor are difficult to examine in any detail.
Read
more. Source: CNN/space.com |
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