Universe Today

October 30, 2013April 26, 2016 by Elizabeth Howell

New Dark Matter Detector Draws A Blank In First Test Round

Dark Energy — The Hubble Space Telescope image of the inner regions of the lensing cluster Abell 1689 that is 2.2 billion light?years away. Light from distant background galaxies is bent by the concentrated dark matter in the cluster (shown in the blue overlay) to produce the plethora of arcs and arclets that were in turn used to constrain dark energy. Image courtesy of NASA?ESA, Jullo (JPL), Natarajan (Yale), Kneib (LAM)

We keep saying dark matter is so very hard to find. Astronomers say they can see its effects — such as gravitational lensing, or an amazing bendy feat of light that takes place when a massive galaxy brings forward light from other galaxies behind it. But defining what the heck that matter is, is proving elusive. And considering it makes up most of the universe’s matter, it would be great to know what dark matter looks like.

A new experiment — billed as the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world — spent three months searching for evidence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which may be the basis of dark matter. So far, nothing, but researchers emphasized they have only just started work.

“Now that we understand the instrument and its backgrounds, we will continue to take data, testing for more and more elusive candidates for dark matter,” stated physicist Dan McKinsey of Yale University, who is one of the collaborators on the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector.

A view of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter detector. Shown are photomultiplier tubes that can ferret out single photons of light. Signals from these photons told physicists that they had not yet found Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) Credit: Matthew Kapust / South Dakota Science and Technology Authority

LUX operates a mile (1.6 kilometers) beneath the Earth in the state-owned Sanford Underground Research Facility, which is located in South Dakota. The underground location is perfect for this kind of work because there is little interference from cosmic ray particles.

“At the heart of the experiment is a six-foot-tall titanium tank filled with almost a third of a ton of liquid xenon, cooled to minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit. If a WIMP strikes a xenon atom it recoils from other xenon atoms and emits photons (light) and electrons. The electrons are drawn upward by an electrical field and interact with a thin layer of xenon gas at the top of the tank, releasing more photons,” stated the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which leads operations at Sanford.

“Light detectors in the top and bottom of the tank are each capable of detecting a single photon, so the locations of the two photon signals – one at the collision point, the other at the top of the tank – can be pinpointed to within a few millimeters. The energy of the interaction can be precisely measured from the brightness of the signals.”

The densest regions of the dark matter cosmic web host massive clusters of galaxies. Credit: Van Waerbeke, Heymans, and CFHTLens collaboration.

LUX’s sensitivity for low-mass WIMPs is more than 20 times better than other detectors. That said, the detector was unable to confirm possible hints of WIMPs found in other experiments.

“Three candidate low-mass WIMP events recently reported in ultra-cold silicon detectors would have produced more than 1,600 events in LUX’s much larger detector, or one every 80 minutes in the recent run,” the laboratory added.

Don’t touch that dial yet, however. LUX plans to do more searching in the next two years. Also, the Sanford Lab is proposing an even more sensitive LUX-ZEPLIN experiment that would be 1,000 times more sensitive than LUX. No word yet on when LUX-ZEPLIN will get off the ground, however.

Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

October 30, 2013December 23, 2015 by Jason Major

Catastrophic Impacts Made Life on Earth Possible

According to a new study, meteors may be less dangerous than we thought, thanks to Earth's atmosphere. Credit: David A Aguilar (CfA).

How did life on Earth originally develop from random organic compounds into living, evolving cells? It may have relied on impacts by enormous meteorites and comets — the same sort of catastrophic events that helped bring an end to the dinosaurs’ reign 65 million years ago. In fact, ancient impact craters might be precisely where life was able to develop on an otherwise hostile primordial Earth.

This is the hypothesis proposed by Sankar Chaterjee, Horn Professor of Geosciences and the curator of paleontology at the Museum of Texas Tech University.

“This is bigger than finding any dinosaur. This is what we’ve all searched for – the Holy Grail of science,” Chatterjee said.

Our planet wasn’t always the life-friendly “blue marble” that we know and love today. At one point early in its history it was anything but hospitable to life as we know it.

“When the Earth formed some 4.5 billion years ago, it was a sterile planet inhospitable to living organisms,” Chatterjee said. “It was a seething cauldron of erupting volcanoes, raining meteors and hot, noxious gasses. One billion years later, it was a placid, watery planet teeming with microbial life – the ancestors to all living things.”

Exactly how did this transition happen? That’s the Big Question in paleontology, and Chatterjee believes he may have found the answer lying within some of the world’s oldest and largest impact craters.

After studying the environments of the oldest known fossil-containing rocks in Greenland, Australia and South Africa, Chatterjee said these could be remnants of ancient craters and may be the very spots where life began in deep, dark and hot environments — similar to what’s found near thermal vents in today’s oceans.

Larger meteorites that created impact basins of about 350 miles in diameter inadvertently became the perfect crucibles, according to Chatterjee. These meteorites also punched through the Earth’s crust, creating volcanically driven geothermal vents. They also brought the basic building blocks of life that could be concentrated and polymerized in the crater basins.

In addition to new organic compounds — and, in the case of comets, considerable amounts of water — impacting bodies may also have brought the necessary lipids needed to help protect RNA and allow it to develop further.

“RNA molecules are very unstable. In vent environments, they would decompose quickly. Some catalysts, such as simple proteins, were necessary for primitive RNA to replicate and metabolize,” Chatterjee said. “Meteorites brought this fatty lipid material to early Earth.”

How organic compounds in crater basins were encapsulated in lipid membranes and became the first cells (Chatterjee)

Based on research in Australia by University of California professor David Deamer, the ingredients for all-important cell membranes were delivered to Earth via meteorites and existed in water-filled craters.

“This fatty lipid material floated on top of the water surface of crater basins but moved to the bottom by convection currents,” suggests Chatterjee. “At some point in this process during the course of millions of years, this fatty membrane could have encapsulated simple RNA and proteins together like a soap bubble. The RNA and protein molecules begin interacting and communicating. Eventually RNA gave way to DNA – a much more stable compound – and with the development of the genetic code, the first cells divided.”

And the rest, as they say, is history. (Well, biology really, and no small amount of chemistry and paleontology… and some astrophysics… well you get the idea.)

Chatterjee recognizes that further experiments will be needed to help support or refute this hypothesis. He will present his findings Oct. 30 during the 125th Anniversary Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado.

Source: Texas Tech news article by John Davis

October 30, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Say Goodbye to Boring Airline Safety Presentations

Image from the new Virgin American safety presentation video. Credit: Virgin Airlines.

No more falling asleep before takeoff during those boring safety presentations – at least on Virgin America Airlines. Delta Airlines previously made their safety presentation a bit more interesting (see below) but Virgin has taken the presentation to new heights, turning the video into a song and dance, literally, with the help of dance stars like Todrick Hall and Madd Chadd.

Virgin also has a competition for their next video and are looking for audition videos of the best freestyle dance moves — from ballet to breakdance. Find out how you can enter the competition and submit your video here.

October 30, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

New Space Station Instrument Raises Windy Science From The Dead

A false-color image of ocean wind speeds generated by NASA's QuikScat satellite in 1999. Fast wind speeds are shown in orange, and blue ones are slow. The white shows where the wind is blowing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Here’s a cool example of a satellite recycling project. NASA used to have a probe called QuikSCAT that took a look at ocean wind speeds — including hurricanes, storms and typhoons. After 10 years of loyal service, the satellite failed in 2009 and a full replacement looked expensive. Now, however, spare parts for QuikSCAT are going to be used on the International Space Station for a low-budget fix (which the agency says will work just fine).

The parts are old — they are from the 1990s — but incredibly, they are functional. NASA also added some newer, commercially available hardware to make ISS-RapidScat fit in the space station as well as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will bring it to orbit in early 2014.

Because this is very much a low-cost project, certain design compromises were made — like not using radiation-hardened computer chips, which is normal in scatterometers of this sort. (This type of device harmlessly sends low-energy microwaves off the Earth’s service to get the information it needs.)

Artist's conception of how ISS-RadScat will work. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center — Artist’s conception of how ISS-RadScat will work. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center

“If there’s an error or something because of radiation, all we have to do is reset the computer. It’s what we call a managed risk,” stated Howard Eisen, the ISS-RapidScat project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

There’s another big difference with this scatterometer mission: it’s flying in a different orbit that most. A typical mission will do a sun-synchronous orbit, making it cross the Earth’s equator at the same local time every time it orbits the planet (say, 12 p.m. local.) The ISS, however, passes over different parts of Earth at different times.

“This means the instrument will see different parts of the planet at different times of day, making measurements in the same spot within less than an hour before or after another instrument makes its own observations,” NASA stated.

A view of Hurricane Irene taken by the GOES satellite at 2:55 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 24, 2011. Credit: NASA

“These all-hour measurements will allow ISS-RapidScat to pick up the effects of the sun on ocean winds as the day progresses. In addition, the space station’s coverage over the tropics means that ISS-RapidScat will offer extra tracking of storms that may develop into hurricanes or other tropical cyclones.”

NASA plans to share information with the European MetOp ASCAT scatterometer. Between the two missions, NASA expects that about 90% of Earth’s surface will be examined at least once a day,with some parts visible several times a day.

All in all, NASA is presenting the recycling project as a boon at a time when the agency is grappling with its 2014 budget request. Instead of an estimated cost of $400 million to launch a replacement QuikSCAT, the cost of ISS-Rapidscat is expected to reach $26 million.

Source: NASA

October 30, 2013December 23, 2015 by Bob King

Four Comets Haunt the Halloween Dawn! Here’s How to See Them

No fewer than four bright-ish comets greet skywatchers an hour before the start of dawn. From upper left counterclockwise: C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, 2P/Encke, C/2012 X1 and ISON. Credits: Gerald Rhemann, Damian Peach, Gianluca Masi and Gerald Rhemann

Get your astronomical trick-or-treat bags ready. An excursion under the Halloween morning sky will allow you fill it in a hurry — with comets! We’ve known for months that ISON and 2P/Encke would flick their tails in the October dawn, but no one could predict they’d be joined by Terry Lovejoy’s recent comet discovery, C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and the obscure C/2012 X1 (LINEAR). The last surprised all of us when it suddenly brightened by more than 200 times in a matter of days. Almost overnight, a comet found on precious few observing lists became bright enough to see in binoculars. Now comet watchers the world over are losing sleep to get a glimpse of it.

Rarely are four comets this bright in the same quadrant of sky. This map shows the sky facing east about two hours before sunrise on Oct. 31. Notice that three stars are labeled "Beta". These are (from top) Beta Cancri, Beta Leonis and Beta Coma Berenices. We'll use these three stars and the planet Mars to hone in on the comets' locations in the maps below. Stellarium — Rarely are four comets this bright in the same quadrant of sky. This map shows the sky facing east about two hours before sunrise on Oct. 31. Take note of the three stars are labeled “Beta”. These are (from top) Beta Cancri, Beta Leonis and Beta Coma Berenices. We’ll use these three stars and the planet Mars to hone in on the comets’ locations in the maps below. Stellarium

Since it’s unusual to have four relatively bright comets in the same chunk of sky at the same time, you don’t want to miss this opportunity. Now that the moon has dwindled to the slightest crescent, this is THE time to hunt for these ghostly apparitions before dawn.

etailed (updated) map showing Comet Lovejoy's progress across Cancer in the coming days. It passes very close to the Beehive Cluster on Nov. 6-7. Click for a larger version you can print and use under the stars. All dates are at 6 a.m. CDT; north is up and west to the right and stars are shown to mag. 5. All closeup charts created with Chris Marriott's SkyMap software — Detailed (updated) map showing Comet Lovejoy’s progress across Cancer in the coming days. It passes very close to the Beehive Cluster on Nov. 6-7. Click for a larger version you can print and use under the stars. All dates are at 6 a.m. CDT; north is up and west to the right and stars are shown to mag. 5. All closeup charts created with Chris Marriott’s SkyMap software

Brightest of the bunch at magnitude 8 and your best bet to see in a standard pair of 50mm binoculars is Comet Lovejoy. Using the maps, look for a round, fuzzy spot with a brighter center not far from the bright star Procyon in Canis Minor. In the coming days, Lovejoy will brighten by an additional 2 to 3 magnitudes as it trucks across Cancer headed toward the Big Dipper. This is one to watch. Lovejoy will likely reach naked eye brightness by mid-November. Small telescope users can see the comet with ease but its developing gas tail is still to faint to spot visually.

Comet Encke drops below Leo and into Virgo over the next two weeks. Your guide star Beta Leo is at upper right. Click to enlarge. — *Comet Encke drops below Leo and into Virgo over the next two weeks. Your guide star Beta Leo is at upper right. Stars to mag.8. Click to enlarge.*

Comet Encke treks around the sun every 3.3 years. Sometimes it’s well placed for viewing and sometimes not. Because of its short period, dedicated comet watchers meet up with it a half dozen or more times during their lives. This apparition is a favorable one with the comet well-positioned in the east at dawn near peak brightness. Current estimates place it magnitude 7.5-8 with only the wispiest of tails. Like Lovejoy, 50mm binoculars under a dark sky should nab it.

A week before Encke reaches its peak magnitude of 6 or 7 at perihelion on Nov. 21, it chases the into the glare of morning twilight. If you want to see this comet, you’ve got about 2 weeks of viewing time left. Make sure to set up in a place with an open view to the east-southeast or you’ll find it hidden by the treeline.

Animation from images taken Oct. 25-28 of comet C/2012 X1 (LINEAR) showing its rapidly expanding coma in the wake of an eruptive event in its icy crust. Click image to animate. Credit: Gianluca Masi — Animation from images taken Oct. 25 and 28 of comet C/2012 X1 (LINEAR) showing its rapidly expanding coma in the wake of an eruptive event in its icy crust. Click image to animate. Credit: Gianluca Masi

Comet C/2012 X1 would have deprived us of a unique sight had it followed the rules. Instead, an eruption of fresh, dust-laden ices from its surface blasted into space to form a gigantic glowing sphere of material that vaulted the comet’s magnitude from a wimpy 13.5 to a vol-luminous 7.5. That’s a difference of 6 magnitudes or a brightness factor of 250 times!

Outbursts of this consequence are rare; the best example of a similar blow-out happened in 2007 when Comet 17P/Holmes cut loose and brightened by half a million times from magnitude 17 to 2.8 in just under two days.

C/2012 X1 (LINEAR) hovers low in the northeast in Coma Berenices near Beta. Because it's much further from Earth than the other 3 comets it moves more slowly across the sky. Click to enlarge. — C/2012 X1 (LINEAR) hovers low in the northeast in Coma Berenices near Beta. Because it’s much further from Earth than the other three comets, it moves more slowly across the sky. It has a close conjunction with the brilliant star Arcturus in mid-November. In this map, north is at top left and west to top right. Stars to mag. 8. Click to enlarge.

As with any explosion, the cloud of debris around C/2012 X1 continues to expand. Presently measuring a healthy ~8 arc minutes in diameter (1/4 the size of the full moon), the comet will almost certainly continue to grow and fade with time. Catch it now with binoculars and small telescopes before its veil-like coma thins to invisibility. Like Encke, X1 LINEAR requires an open eastern horizon and best viewed at the start of dawn. Make it the last comet on your observing list after Lovejoy, Encke and ISON.

Mars and several other moderately bright stars in Leo will guide us to Comet ISON in the next week or two. Click to enlarge. — *Mars and several other moderately bright stars in Leo will guide you to Comet ISON in the next week or two. Stars to mag. 10. Click to enlarge.*

Ah, ISON. Halloween morning wouldn’t be complete without a visit to this year’s the most anticipated comet.. If it can hold itself together after a searing graze of the sun on November 28, the comet will undoubtedly become a most pleasing sight during the first three weeks of December. Right now it’s a little behind schedule on brightness, but don’t let that worry you – its best days are still ahead.

*One of the finest pictures to date of Comet ISON by ace astrophotographer Damian Peach taken on Oct. 27.*

Of our four morning treats, Comet ISON is currently the faintest at around magnitude 9.5. Observers with binoculars in the 70-100mm range will see it under dark skies but most of us will need a 6-inch or larger scope at least until mid-November. That’s when ISON’s expected to brighten to magnitude 6, the naked eye limit. Just before it slips into the solar glare, ISON could reach 3rd magnitude around Nov. 21, normally an easy catch with the naked eye, but low altitude will hamper the view.

So open your bag wide tomorrow before dawn and keep it open the next few mornings. Trick or treat!

October 29, 2013December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

Damaged Dream Chaser Can be Fixed and Program to Move Forward with Flight Tests – Video

Left landing gear failed to deploy as private Dream Chaser spaceplane approaches runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. during first free flight landing test on Oct. 26, 2103. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp. See video below

Left landing gear tire visibly failed to deploy as private Dream Chaser spaceplane approaches runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. during first free flight landing test on Oct. 26, 2013 – in this screenshot. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.
Watch approach and landing test video below[/caption]

The privately built Dream Chaser ‘space taxi’ that was damaged after landing during its otherwise successful first ever free-flight glide test on Saturday, Oct 26, is repairable and the program will live on to see another day, says the developer Sierra Nevada Corp., (SNC).

The Dream Chaser engineering test vehicle skidded off the runway and landed sideways when its left landing gear failed to deploy at the last second during touchdown on runway 22L at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president for SNC Space Systems, at a media teleconference.

The primary goal of the Oct. 26 drop test was to see whether the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle would successfully fly free after being released by an Erickson Air-Crane from an altitude of over 12,000 feet and glide autonomously for about a minute to a touchdown on the Mojave desert landing strip.

“We had a very successful day with an unfortunate anomaly at the end of the day on one of the landing gears,” said Sirangelo.

Dream Chaser is one of three private sector manned spaceships being developed with funding from NASA’s commercial crew program known as Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative to develop a next-generation crew transportation vehicle to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station – totally lost following the space shuttle retirement.

Following helicopter release the private Dream Chaser spaceplane starts glide to runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. during first free flight landing test on Oct. 26, 2013 - in this screenshot. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp. — Following helicopter release the private Dream Chaser spaceplane starts glide to runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. during first free flight landing test on Oct. 26, 2013 – in this screenshot. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.

The unmanned approach and landing test (ALT) accomplished 99% of its objectives and was only marred by the mechanical failure of the left tire to drop down and deploy for a safe and smooth rollout.

SNC released a short 1 minute video of the test flight – see below – showing the helicopter drop, dive, glide and flare to touchdown. The failure of the landing gear to drop is clearly seen. But the video cuts away just prior to touchdown and does not show the aftermath of the skid or damage to the vehicle.

“The Dream Chaser spacecraft automated flight control system gently steered the vehicle to its intended glide slope. The vehicle adhered to the design flight trajectory throughout the flight profile. Less than a minute later, Dream Chaser smoothly flared and touched down on Edwards Air Force Base’s Runway 22L right on centerline,” said SNC in a statement with the video.

The vehicle is “repairable and flyable again,” Sirangelo noted.

More good news is that the ships interior was not damaged and the exterior can be fixed.

Dream Chaser measures about 29 feet long with a 23 foot wide wing span and is about one third the size of NASA’s space shuttle orbiters.

Since there was no pilot in the cockpit no one was injured. That also meant that no evasive action could be taken to drop the gear.

“We don’t think it’s actually going to set us back,” Sirangelo noted. “In some interesting way, it might actually accelerate it.

NASA’s commercial crew initiative aims at restoring America’s manned spaceflight access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station (ISS) – perhaps by 2017 – following the forced shutdown of the Space Shuttle program in 2011.

Until an American commercial space taxi is ready for liftoff, NASA is completely dependent on the Russian Soyuz capsule for astronaut rides to the ISS at a cost of roughly $70 million per seat.

Because Congress continues to significantly cut NASA’s budget further delays can be expected – inevitably meaning more payments to Russia and no savings for the American tax payer.

SNC was awarded $227.5 million in the current round of NASA funding and must successfully complete specified milestones, including up to five ALT drop tests to check the aerodynamic handling in order to receive payment.

This particular vehicle had been intended to fly two test flights. Further drop tests were planned with a new test vehicle to be constructed.

The way forward is being evaluated.

“We don’t think there is going to be any significant delay to the program as a result of this. This was meant to be a test vehicle with a limited number of flights,” Sirangelo said.

SNC and NASA have assembled a team to investigate the cause of the anomaly.

“SNC cannot release any further video at this time,” said SNC.

Dream Chaser is a reusable mini shuttle that launches from the Florida Space Coast atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and lands on the shuttle landing facility (SLF) runway at the Kennedy Space Center, like the space shuttle.

Ken Kremer

October 29, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Astrophoto: Too Many Stars to Count

A night sky over the Isle of Wight that is bright with the Milky Way and green airglow. Credit and copyright: Chad Powell.

Here’s a beautiful view of the Milky Way arching through the sky over the Isle of Wight, an island just off the south coast of England, known for having limited light pollution. This gorgeous image was taken by photographer Chad Powell. You can see more of Chad’s work on his website or his Facebook page.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

October 29, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Fluorescent and Starry: New Zinger Space Images From Chandra’s X-Ray Archives

Composite image of NGC 6946, a spiral galaxy 22 million light years from Earth. At least eight supernova have exploded in this galaxy in the past century, including three spotted by Chandra (purple). Optical data is also visible in red, yellow and cyan from the Gemini Observatory. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MSSL/R.Soria et al, Optical: AURA/Gemini OBs

You know that moment when you’re flipping through old digital pictures (on your computer or phone or whatever) and you realize there are some pretty awesome ones in there that you should share on social media? The Chandra X-Ray Observatory team also decided to plumb THEIR archive of astrophysical image magic, and came up with several beauties. Such as the one above this text.

Chandra has been in space since July 23, 1999 — yes, that’s well over 14 years ago — and is considered one of NASA’s telescopes under the “Great Observatories” programs. The other telescopes, by the way, are the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope. Hubble and Spitzer are also still active today.

Check out more from the new set of images below. There are eight all told, representing a tiny fraction of the unprocessed thousands of images available to the public in the Chandra Source Catalog.

The Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A) in X-ray, optical and infrared light. Astronomers believe they are seeing winds from large, young stars hitting cooler gas around it, possibly triggering new starbirth. X-ray data from Chandra is in purple, with optical data (red, green and blue) and infrared (orange and cyan). Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/Getman et al, Optical: DSS, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

3C353 looks a bit like a tadpole. In the center of this image is a galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole, which is transmitting energy across the expanse. Radiation is visible in X-rays from Chandra (purple) and radio from the Very Large Array (orange.) Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Tokyo Institute of Technology/J.Kataoka et al, Radio: NRAO/VLA

SNR B0049-73.6 in X-ray and infrared light. Chandra's observations (purple) revealed that the explosion seen here was likely from a star's central core collapse. Infrared data from the 2MASS survey is also visible in red, green and blue. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Drew Univ/S.Hendrick et al, Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF — SNR B0049-73.6 in X-ray and infrared light. Chandra’s observations (purple) revealed that the explosion seen here was likely from a star’s central core collapse. Infrared data from the 2MASS survey is also visible in red, green and blue. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Drew Univ/S.Hendrick et al, Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF

NGC 4945, a galaxy 13 million light years from Earth. This galaxy is similar to the Milky Way, but has a more active supermassive black hole in the center (visible in white). Chandra X-ray data is in blue, overlaid on European Space Observatory optical information. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ degli Studi Roma Tre/A.Marinucci et al, Optical: ESO/VLT & NASA/STScI

3C 397, sometimes called G41.1-0.3, is a supernova leftover that looks a little funny. It's possible that the shape comes from heated remains of the star's shell bump into cooler gas surrounding it. X-ray data from Chandra is purple, infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope is yellow, and optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey is in red, green and blue. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Manitoba/S.Safi-Harb et al, Optical: DSS, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech — 3C 397, sometimes called G41.1-0.3, is a supernova leftover that looks a little funny. It’s possible that the shape comes from heated remains of the star’s shell bump into cooler gas surrounding it. X-ray data from Chandra is purple, infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope is yellow, and optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey is in red, green and blue. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Manitoba/S.Safi-Harb et al, Optical: DSS, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NGC 3576, a nebula 9,000 light-years from Earth, in X-ray (blue) and optical data. Chandra spotted evidence of strong winds coming from young stars in the nebula. Optical data from the European Space Observatory is shown in orange and yellow. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/L.Townsley et al, Optical: ESO/2.2m telescope

G266.2-1.2 in X-ray (purple) and optical light. Chandra spotted high-energy particles shooting out from this supernova leftover. The optical data comes from the Digitized Sky Survey and is available in red, green, and blue. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Morehead State Univ/T.Pannuti et al, Optical: DSS

October 29, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Samples From Mars Could Hitch A Ride To Earth In This Box

A European Space Agency-designed container that could be used one day to bring Martian samples back to Earth. Credit: ESA-Anneke Le Floc'h

Could this be as surprising as Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates? What you’re looking at here is a container that could one day contain samples of Mars. Yup, even though a “sample return” mission is still years away, the European Space Agency is already designing a container so that when the time comes, they’ll be ready for the trip.

This 11-pound (five kilogram) container absolutely needs to keep whatever is inside protected and at a constant temperature of 14 Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius) as it journeys from the Martian surface to Earth, which takes several months at the least. And the journey won’t be an easy one, ESA says:

“First, the sample container must be landed on Mars, along with a rover to retrieve a cache of samples carefully selected by a previous mission, according to current mission scenarios,” the agency stated.

A Mars sample return mission is still quite a ways away. Credit: European Space Agency

“Then, once filled, it will be launched back up to Mars orbit. There it will remain for several days until a rendezvous spacecraft captures it … Before being returned to Earth, the container will be enclosed in another larger bio-sealed vessel to ensure perfect containment of any returned martian material. This container will then be returned to Earth for a high-speed entry.”

Why not use a parachute? Well, if the samples contain life it would be awkward if the parachute malfunctioned and the capsule scattered stuff all over Earth. That’s why it’s designed for a crash landing; it can in fact withstand forces of at least 400 times the force of gravity, tests of the capsule have revealed.

The prime contractor for this project was French company Mecano I&D. ESA emphasizes this is just a proof of concept so far, and that further refinements are expected. Plus, this little machine needs a ride to and from Mars. When do you think that will happen, and how?

Source: European Space Agency

October 29, 2013April 26, 2016 by Elizabeth Howell

‘Shockwave Of Fire’ Rained Down After Old Comet Strike On Earth, Scientists Say

Artist's conception of a comet exploding in the Earth’s atmosphere above Egypt. Credit: Terry Bakker

Speak about destruction. A comet slammed into Earth’s atmosphere 28 million years ago and basically killed everything with fire below, leaving a huge deposit of yellow silica glass in its wake, a team of astronomers say.

The evidence — a black pebble found by an Egyptian geologist within this vast tract of glass — is believed to be a part of the comet’s nucleus or heart and not just an ordinary meteorite. The team says this could be the first hard evidence, so to speak, of a comet striking Earth.

The temporary “shockwave of fire” hit 2,300 square miles (roughly 6,000 square kilometers) of Egyptian sand, turning the grains into glass. Given the area’s rich archaeological history, it’s probably not too much of a surprise that a small portion of this is visible in a brooch that belonged to ancient boy-king Tutankhamun.

A brooch that belonged to the Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamun, which reportedly contains a silica glass stone that originated from a comet explosion. Credit: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

“It’s a typical scientific euphoria when you eliminate all other options and come to the realization of what it must be,” said lead author Jan Kramers of the University of Johannesburg in a statement.

Besides silica, the cosmic blast furnace left teeny-tiny diamonds in its wake, forming from carbon. “Normally they form deep in the earth, where the pressure is high, but you can also generate very high pressure with shock. Part of the comet impacted and the shock of the impact produced the diamonds,” said Kramers.

More information on this find should be available soon when the discovery is published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The authors first discussed their find in a public lecture Oct. 10. It will be interesting to see what other scientific teams think of this hypothesis, so stay tuned for the reaction.

Source: University of the Witwartersrand, Johannesburg