Space In The News: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

U.S., India to Collaborate on Earth, Mars Missions


LATEST NEWS

U.S., India to Collaborate on Earth, Mars Missions
NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation signed agreements to launch a joint space mission to observe Earth and establish a pathway for joint Mars exploration missions. › Read full story

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ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

Cassini watches mysterious feature evolve in hydrocarbon sea on Saturn's moon Titan
Simulations reveal an unusual death for ancient stars
'Milky Way explorer' tours the solar system

Cassini watches mysterious feature evolve in hydrocarbon sea on Saturn's moon Titan

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 09:32 AM PDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is monitoring the evolution of a mysterious feature in a large hydrocarbon sea on Saturn's moon Titan. The feature covers an area of about 100 square miles (260 square kilometers) in Ligeia Mare, one of the largest seas on Titan. It has now been observed twice by Cassini's radar experiment, but its appearance changed between the two apparitions.

Simulations reveal an unusual death for ancient stars

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 06:05 AM PDT

Certain primordial stars -- between 55,000 and 56,000 times the mass of our sun, or solar masses -- may have died unusually. In death, these objects -- among the universe's first generation of stars -- would have exploded as supernovae and burned completely, leaving no remnant black hole behind.

'Milky Way explorer' tours the solar system

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:04 PM PDT

Imagine seeing the Sun, planets, and a myriad other objects in our Solar System as you have never seen them before -- in invisible radio light! The National Radio Astronomy Observatory released a new Solar System installment of its Milky Way Explorer.

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

Simulations reveal an unusual death for ancient stars

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 06:05 AM PDT

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

'Milky Way explorer' tours the solar system

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:04 PM PDT

ScienceDaily: Stars News

Simulations reveal an unusual death for ancient stars

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 06:05 AM PDT

Monday, September 29, 2014

Cassini Watches Mysterious Feature Evolve in Titan Sea


LATEST NEWS

Cassini Watches Mysterious Feature Evolve in Titan Sea
NASA's Cassini spacecraft is monitoring the evolution of a mysterious feature in a large hydrocarbon sea on Saturn's moon Titan. › Read full story

This message was sent to jsvideoservices.spacenews@blogger.com from:

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ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

'Milky Way explorer' tours the solar system

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:04 PM PDT

ScienceDaily: Dark Matter News

'Milky Way explorer' tours the solar system

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:04 PM PDT

Sunday, September 28, 2014

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

New molecule found in space connotes life origins

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 06:36 PM PDT

Hunting from a distance of 27,000 light years, astronomers have discovered an unusual carbon-based molecule contained within a giant gas cloud in interstellar space. The discovery suggests that the complex molecules needed for life may have their origins in interstellar space.

Turning the Moon into a cosmic ray detector

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:58 AM PDT

Scientists are to turn the Moon into a giant particle detector to help understand the origin of Ultra-High-Energy (UHE) cosmic rays -- the most energetic particles in the Universe. The origin of UHE cosmic rays is one of the great mysteries in astrophysics. Nobody knows where these extremely rare cosmic rays come from or how they get their enormous energies. Physicists detect them on Earth at a rate of less than one particle per square kilometer per century.

ScienceDaily: Stars News

New molecule found in space connotes life origins

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 06:36 PM PDT

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News

Turning the Moon into a cosmic ray detector

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:58 AM PDT

Saturday, September 27, 2014

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space
Amino acids? Interstellar molecules are branching out
A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe

Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT

Water was crucial to the rise of life on Earth and is also important to evaluating the possibility of life on other planets. Identifying the original source of Earth's water is key to understanding how life-fostering environments come into being and how likely they are to be found elsewhere. New work found that much of our solar system's water likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space.

Amino acids? Interstellar molecules are branching out

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT

Scientists have for the first time detected a carbon-bearing molecule with a 'branched' structure in interstellar space. The discovery of iso-propyl cyanide opens a new frontier in the complexity of molecules found in regions of star formation, and bodes well for the presence of amino acids, for which this branched structure is a key characteristic.

A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:21 AM PDT

Astronomers usually have to peer very far into the distance to see back in time, and view the Universe as it was when it was young. This new image of galaxy DDO 68, otherwise known as UGC 5340, was thought to offer an exception. This ragged collection of stars and gas clouds looks at first glance like a recently-formed galaxy in our own cosmic neighborhood. But, is it really as young as it looks?

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

New molecule found in space connotes life origins

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 06:36 PM PDT

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News

A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:21 AM PDT

Friday, September 26, 2014

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

A galaxy of deception: Hubble snaps what looks like a young galaxy in the local Universe

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 07:21 AM PDT

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News

Earth's water is older than the sun: Likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:12 AM PDT

Thursday, September 25, 2014

ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

Most metal-poor star hints at universe's first supernovae
Clear skies on exo-Neptune: Smallest exoplanet ever found to have water vapor
India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully inserted into orbit around Red Planet
'Univofutah': Asteroid named for University of Utah

Most metal-poor star hints at universe's first supernovae

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 10:50 AM PDT

In a new study, researchers point out that the elemental abundance of the most iron-poor star can be explained by elements ejected from supernova explosions of the universe's first stars. This reveals that massive stars, which are several tens of times more immense than the Sun, were present among the first stars.

Clear skies on exo-Neptune: Smallest exoplanet ever found to have water vapor

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 10:50 AM PDT

Astronomers have discovered clear skies and steamy water vapor on a planet outside our Solar System. The planet, known as HAT-P-11b, is about the size of Neptune, making it the smallest exoplanet ever on which water vapor has been detected.

India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully inserted into orbit around Red Planet

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 07:25 AM PDT

India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered into an orbit around the planet Mars this morning (Sept. 24, 2014) by firing its 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) along with eight smaller liquid engines. In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will be thoroughly tested in Mars orbit and the systematic observation of the planet using the spacecraft's five scientific instruments is expected to begin.

'Univofutah': Asteroid named for University of Utah

Posted: 23 Sep 2014 01:11 PM PDT

What's rocky, about a mile wide, orbits between Mars and Jupiter and poses no threat to Earth? An asteroid named "Univofutah" after the University of Utah. Discovered on Sept. 8, 2008, by a longtime Utah astronomy educator, the asteroid also known as 391795 (2008 RV77) this month was renamed Univofutah by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

Most metal-poor star hints at universe's first supernovae

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 10:50 AM PDT

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

Clear skies on exo-Neptune: Smallest exoplanet ever found to have water vapor

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 10:50 AM PDT

ScienceDaily: Stars News

Most metal-poor star hints at universe's first supernovae

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 10:50 AM PDT

Most stars are born in clusters, some leave 'home'

Posted: 24 Sep 2014 08:26 AM PDT

New modeling studies demonstrate that most of the stars we see were formed when unstable clusters of newly formed protostars broke up. These protostars are born out of rotating clouds of dust and gas, which act as nurseries for star formation. Rare clusters of multiple protostars remain stable and mature into multi-star systems. The unstable ones will eject stars until they achieve stability and end up as single or binary stars.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

JPL News - Day In Review

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

The origin of Uranus and Neptune elucidated

Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:15 AM PDT

Astronomers have just proposed a solution to the problematic chemical composition of Uranus and Neptune, thus providing clues for understanding their formation. The researchers focused on the positioning of these two outermost planets of the Solar System, and propose a new model explaining how and where they formed.