SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: January 2005
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Sunspot cluster ejects huge radiation
storm
(Jan 24, 2005)
The Sun spewed forth a massive amount of radiation this week, causing
brilliant auroras and a radio blackout. Since 14 January alone, it
has unleashed at least 17 medium and five large solar flares from
a single sunspot cluster. Forecasters at the US National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expect medium to high solar activity
to continue until 23 January. "Having so many big flares from one
particular region of the Sun is quite something," says Bernhard Fleck,
project scientist for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite.
The X-rays produced by the flares did not rise to the level of the
notorious solar storms of October and November 2003, but in terms
of high-energy protons, this is the largest radiation storm since
October 1989.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Young low-mass objects are twice as heavy
as predicted
(Jan 22, 2005)
Although mass is the most important property of stars, it has proved
very hard to measure for the lowest mass objects in the universe.
Thanks to a powerful new camera, a very rare, low-mass companion has
finally been photographed. The discovery suggests that, due to errors
in the models, astronomers have overestimated the number of young
"brown dwarfs" and "free floating" extrasolar planets. An international
team of astronomers lead by University of Arizona Associate Professor
Laird Close reports the discovery in today's (Jan 20.) issue of Nature.
Read
more. Source: University of Arizona |
Methane rivers and rain shape Titan's
surface
(Jan 21, 2005)
Hills made of ice and rivers carved by liquid methane mark the surface
of Saturn's giant moon, reveal data from the Huygens probe. Scientists
are now beginning to get a coherent picture of Titan after the probe
landed there on 14 January. The coldest world that humanity has ever
explored bears a strange resemblance to Earth, boasting hills, river
systems, and mud flats. The probe survived an unexpectedly bumpy ride
through the atmosphere of Titan but enjoyed a soft landing, settling
several centimetres into the surface, Huygens' scientists revealed
at the European Space Agency's headquarters in Paris on Friday. (Image:
dark channels on Titan's surface may have been formed by "springs"
of liquid methane.)
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Image shows Huygens landing site
(Jan 20, 2005)
Scientists have identified the area of Saturn's moon Titan where the
Huygens spacecraft touched down in new images released by the European
Space Agency. On Friday, the probe parachuted towards the surface,
sending scientific data – including stunning images –
to Earth. Huygens had a rougher than expected ride through Titan's
upper atmosphere, mission scientists have announced. Nevertheless,
the spacecraft made a safe "splat-down" on to a material likened to
"creme brulee".
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Amazing hominid haul in Ethiopia
(Jan 20, 2005)
Fossil hunters working in Ethiopia have unearthed the remains of at
least nine primitive hominids that are between 4.5 million and 4.3
million years old. The fossils, which were uncovered at As Duma in
the north of the country, are mostly teeth and jaw fragments, but
also include parts of hands and feet. All finds belong to the same
species – Ardipithecus ramidus – which was first
described about a decade ago. Details of the discoveries appear in
the latest issue of Nature magazine.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Human Hubble mission wins support
(Jan 19, 2005)
Support is growing for a human mission to be sent to repair the Hubble
space telescope instead of robots. The American Astronomical Society
(AAS) said it endorsed a National Research Council recommendation
that Nasa pursue a manned mission to repair Hubble. It said the mission
should be launched as early as possible after the space shuttle is
ready to fly again. Scientists have been wrangling over how –
or whether – to service the ageing telescope for some months
now.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Hubble finds infant stars in neighboring
galaxy
(Jan 18, 2005)
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered for
the first time a population of embryonic stars in the Small Magellanic
Cloud, a companion galaxy of our Milky Way. Hubble's exquisite sharpness
plucked out an underlying population of embryonic stars embedded in
the nebula NGC 346 that are still forming from gravitationally collapsing
gas clouds. They have not yet ignited their hydrogen fuel to sustain
nuclear fusion. The smallest of these infant stars is only half the
mass of our Sun.
Read
more. Source: Space Telescope Science Institute |
Black hole's particle jets trigger star
births
(Jan 17, 2005)
A violent jet of particles shot out from a black hole is triggering
star birth in a nearby galaxy, reveal the best observations of the
system to date. The phenomenon, rare today, may have played a significant
role in forming galaxies in the early universe. Super-massive black
holes can create jets of charged particles when matter falling towards
them gets ejected along strong magnetic fields. The particles slice
through space at nearly the speed of light, emitting radio waves as
they go. About 20 years ago, astronomers discovered a so-called radio
jet that appeared to be capped with a galaxy. "People said this could
be a chance collision between a jet and a galaxy," says Wil van Breugel,
an astronomer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore,
California. But today, a handful of these systems have been discovered
in nearby galaxies, and astronomers no longer believe the pairings
are an accident.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Scientists thrilled by bird's eye view
of Titan
(Jan 16, 2005)
Jubiliant European scientists yesterday unveiled the secrets of mysterious
Titan, a world that has a surface like crème brûlée. British-built
instruments carried on Europe's Huygens probe, which landed on Saturn's
giant moon on Friday, have revealed an alien surface with a thin crust
and soft, sticky material underneath. 'The nearest Earth equivalent
that we can think of is crème brûlée, though of a rather gritty nature
– more like sandy crème brûlée,' said Andrew Ball, a member
of the Open University team that built Huygens's Surface Science Package
(SSP), which has sent back analyses of the landing site.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
Sky surveys reveal cosmic ripples
(Jan 16, 2005)
The unimaginably big of today has its explanation in the fantastically
small of 13 billion years ago. Astronomers have shown how the present
pattern of galaxies in the cosmos grew from tiny fluctuations in the
density of matter just after the Big Bang. The work draws on results
from two scientific teams conducting sky surveys based in Australia
and the US. "It's an amazing new insight into how the Universe works,"
said Prof Carlos Frenk, of the University of Durham, UK.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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