SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: May 2007
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Galaxy collision reveals missing matter
(May 11, 2007)
Baby galaxies growing from the debris of a galactic traffic accident
have been hiding a lot of extra matter, new observations suggest.
If so, galaxies like our own could contain vast quantities of invisible
gas that outweigh their stars and other visible material – and
these gas stores could represent some of the "missing" normal matter
astronomers have been puzzling over.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
First map of an extrasolar planet
(May 10, 2007)
For the first time, astronomers have created a rough map of a planet
orbiting a distant sun-like star, employing a technique that may one
day enable mapping of Earth-like worlds. Since the planet just charted
is a gas giant and
lacks a solid surface, the map shows cloud-top features. Using the
Spitzer infrared space telescope, astronomers detected a bright hot
spot that is offset from "high noon," where heating is greatest.
Read
more. Source: Harvard-Smithsonian |
Phoenix Mars probe prepares for launch
(May 9, 2007)
A robotic probe designed to touch and analyse Martian
water for the first time is being prepared for launch at the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida, officials said on Tuesday. The craft, known
as Phoenix,
is expected to land in the northern polar region of Mars and dig beneath
the soil. Launch is scheduled for 3 August from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Star dies in monstrous explosion
(May 8, 2007)
A massive star about 150 times the size of the Sun exploded in what
could be a long-sought new type of supernova,
NASA scientists have said. Supernovae occur when huge, mature stars
effectively run out of fuel and collapse in on themselves. But scientists
believe this one was obliterated in an explosion which blasted all
its material into space.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
NASA's Mars rover finds evidence of ancient
volcanic explosion
(May 6, 2007)
NASA's Mars
Exploration Rover Spirit has discovered evidence of an ancient
volcanic explosion at "Home Plate," a plateau of layered bedrock approximately
2 meters (6 feet) high within the "Inner Basin" of Columbia
Hills, at the rover's landing site in Gusev
Crater. This is the first explosive volcanic deposit identified
with a high degree of confidence by Spirit or its twin, Opportunity.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
European rocket powers to record
(May 5, 2007)
Europe's Ariane 5 rocket
has set a new benchmark for a commercial launch – lifting into
orbit a two-satellite payload weighing 9.4 tonnes. The immense, 50m-long
vehicle powered away from Kourou in French Guiana at 1929 local time
(2229 GMT), May 4. The Astra 1L and Galaxy 17 platforms it put in
space will deliver TV and other services to Europe and North America.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Astronomers find super-massive planet
(May 4, 2007)
Today, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
(CfA) announced that they have found the most massive known transiting
extrasolar planet. The gas giant planet, called HAT-P-2b, contains
more than eight times the mass of Jupiter, the biggest planet in our
solar system. Its powerful gravity squashes it into a ball only slightly
larger than Jupiter.
Read
more. Source: Harvard-Smithsonian |
Veteran astronaut Walter Schirra dies
(May 3, 2007)
Pioneering astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra,
the only man who flew in all three of America's first human space
projects – Mercury,
Gemini and
Apollo –
died Wednesday. He was 84. Schirra's family reported he died of natural
causes. Schirra was one of America's original seven astronauts, selected
in 1959, and was commander of the first crew to fly into space aboard
an Apollo capsule.
Read
more. Source: NASA |
Molten core may explain Mercury's magnetic
field
(May 3, 2007)
Mercury
likely has a partly molten core, a new study indicates. This molten
material may be generating the planet's weak magnetic field, whose
existence has been a puzzle since its discovery more than 30 years
ago.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
European planet hunters on brink of Earth-sized
prize
(May 3, 2007)
European planet hunters are stealing a march on their American rivals.
After last week's discovery of a "habitable" extrasolar planet the
size of five Earths – the smallest yet found – European
astronomers have had more good news. Their new space telescope, called
COROT, is proving 10
times as sensitive as expected.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Star cluster's triple baby boom puzzles
astronomers
(May 2, 2007)
Astronomers are puzzling over a strange, ancient star cluster that
hosts three generations of stars instead of the normal one. Some researchers
say it might be the remains of a small galaxy that was dismembered
by the Milky Way; if
so, it could help clarify the murky picture of our galaxy's beginnings
billions of years ago.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Spacecraft returns Jupiter images
(May 2, 2007)
NASA's New Horizons
spacecraft has returned stunning views of the Jupiter
system captured during a recent flyby. They include huge volcanic
eruptions on the surface of the Io
moon, as well as the first close-up look at a burgeoning red storm
in Jupiter's atmosphere.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Black holes may fill the universe with
seeds of life
(May 1, 2007)
New research shows that black
holes are not the ultimate destroyers that are often portrayed
in popular culture. Instead, warm gas escaping from the clutches of
enormous black holes could be one source of the chemical elements
that make life possible. Immediately after the Big
Bang, the universe contained only hydrogen and helium. Heavier
chemical elements had to be cooked up inside the first stars, then
scattered throughout space to be incorporated in next-generation stars
and their planets. Black holes may have helped to distribute those
elements across the cosmos.
Read
more. Source: Harvard-Smithsonian |
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