SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS: November 2005Home > Space & Science News > Space & Science News: November 2005: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
NASA tightens its belt, again
(Nov 7, 2005)
NASA administrator Mike Griffin has confirmed speculation that even more of its science projects would be cut or delayed in an attempt to keep President Bush's 'vision for space' alive. On 3 November, Griffin told a US House Committee that NASA is US$3-5 billion short on funds to finish the space shuttle programme through to its retirement in 2010. Such shortfalls mean NASA has had to get its priorities in order and make some serious cuts to close part of this funding gap.
'Cloudshine' may reveal secrets of star birth
(Nov 7, 2005)
Astronomers have discovered a new way to probe dark clouds of gas and dust in space, shedding light on the mysterious conditions that nurture star birth. Stars condense from giant clouds of molecular gas and dust that float through space. But these stellar wombs are difficult to study because they are barely visible at optical wavelengths. And other methods that probe their structure are not very precise – for example, estimating how much dust they contain by how red the stars behind them appear. Now, two researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., have imaged the clouds' structure at a resolution 50 times better than previous techniques.
Volcanoes ruled out for Martian methane
(Nov 6, 2005)
New observations of the Martian atmosphere show no trace of sulphurous fumes. The finding rules out active volcanoes as the source of the Red Planet's mysterious methane, but fails to resolve the question of where the methane comes from. Methane breaks down when exposed to sunlight, so its discovery in the Martian atmosphere two years ago meant that something on the planet was continually producing more of the gas. Most astronomers suspected its presence was the result of a geological process, while a few suggested the methane was the signature of past or present life.
Neutron star found where a black hole was expected
(Nov 4, 2005)
A very massive star collapsed to form a neutron star and not a black hole as anticipated, according to new results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This discovery shows that nature has a harder time making black holes than previously thought. Scientists found this neutron star – a dense whirling ball of neutrons about 12 miles in diameter – in an extremely young star cluster. Astronomers were able to use well-determined properties of other stars in the cluster to deduce that the parent star of this neutron star was at least 40 times the mass of the sun.
Read more. Source: Spaceflight Now/Chandra X-ray Center
Asteroid encounter postponed
(Nov 4, 2005)
The planned touchdown on an asteroid by a space probe has been postponed. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency said it had received an "anomalous signal" from the craft shortly before it was due to make its descent. The Hayabusa spacecraft was launched in May 2003 on a mission to find out more about the raw materials that made up the early Solar System. On Friday, it was due to land a robot on the surface of asteroid Itokawa.
Burned-up meteors add to Martian atmosphere
(Nov 4, 2005)
A previously unknown layer has been detected in the atmosphere of Mars, which scientists believe is created when meteors burn up high above the planet's surface. Scientists in Germany and the US found the new layer between 65 and 110 kilometres above the Martian surface. It constitutes a third part of the planet's ionosphere – a region of ionized particles – and lies just beneath two layers already known to exist. The new layer was detected all around the planet in 10 out of 120 observations, and was not spotted during 20 night-time measurements Martian night.
Scientists see light that may be from first objects in Universe
(Nov 3, 2005)
Scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope say they have detected light that may be from the earliest objects in the universe. If confirmed, the observation provides a glimpse of an era more than 13 billion years ago when, after the fading embers of the theorized Big Bang gave way to millions of years of pervasive darkness, the universe came alive. This light could be from the very first stars or perhaps from hot gas falling into the first black holes. The science team, based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., describes the observation as seeing the glow of a distant city at night from an airplane. The light is too distant and feeble to resolve individual objects. (Image: artist's concept)
Astronomers zoom in on galaxy’s glittering heart
(Nov 3, 2005)
Astronomers have obtained the closest glimpse yet of the supermassive black hole thought to lurk at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way. They focused on radio emissions around the black hole over an area equal in width to the distance between the Earth and the Sun (1 astronomical unit). Zhi-Qiang Shen of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in China and colleagues in the US examined the radio source at the centre of our galaxy, known as Sagittarius A. They used a network of 10 radio telescopes spanning 5000 miles, known as the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA). The radio source is thought to mark the location of a titanic black hole that is guzzling surrounding light and matter.
Archaeologists in northern China have reportedly found one of the world's oldest observatories. The remains, discovered near the city of Linfen in Shanxi province, are thought to be about 4,100 years old. Wang Shouguan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told state media that the discovery would help the study of ancient astronomy. Chinese astronomers are thought to have made some of the earliest recorded observations of the stars.
NASA decline to deflect asteroid - for now
(Nov 1, 2005)
NASA will not mount a mission to deflect an asteroid with a slender chance of hitting Earth until further radar measurements are taken to determine whether the object is a true threat. Currently, NASA estimates that asteroid Apophis (previously known as 2004 MN4) has a 1 in 5500 chance of hitting Earth in 2036. That depends on whether the asteroid sneaks through a 600-metre-wide region during its close swing past Earth in 2029. If it threads through that keyhole, its orbit could be perturbed, possibly putting it on a collision course with Earth in 2036. But until radar observations of the asteroid are taken in 2013, it will remain unclear where Apophis is headed.
NASA's Hubble reveals possible new moons around Pluto
(Nov 1, 2005)
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to view the ninth planet in our solar system, astronomers discovered Pluto may have not one, but three moons. If confirmed, the discovery of the two new moons could offer insights into the nature and evolution of the Pluto system; Kuiper Belt Objects with satellite systems; and the early Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a vast region of icy, rocky bodies beyond Neptune’s orbit. "If, as our new Hubble images indicate, Pluto has not one, but two or three moons, it will become the first body in the Kuiper Belt known to have more than one satellite," said Hal Weaver of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
