Clipmarks | tabsey's 'space' clips

Solar System Dented, Not Round

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:07:16 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: The "bottom" of the egg is flattened by a permanent clash of particles, as the outbound solar wind smashes into atomic debris hurtling in from interstellar space, the scientists theorize.
Voyager 2 also crossed the "termination shock" several times within the space of a single day, showing that the boundary is in perpetual flux, like the ebb-and-flow of a tide.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

July 2, 2008 -- Millions of textbooks depicting our solar system as spherical have got it all wrong, according to studies of data sent back from deep space by NASA's venerable probe, Voyager 2.

The sun's zone of influence -- called the heliosphere -- turns out to be seriously asymmetrical, not round, they say.

Launched in 1977 on a historic trek of the outer planets, Voyager 2 has now crossed the turbulent boundary, known as the "termination shock," where the heliosphere yields to interstellar space.

Its twin probe Voyager 1, crossed the same threshold four years earlier at a different spot some one billion miles farther from the sun.

This difference proves that the heliosphere is not even close to perfectly round, but is oblong, like an egg, according to the studies, released by the British journal Nature on Wednesday.

Tags: astronomy, is, for, stars

Earth's Cries Recorded in Space

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:08:17 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Now we will probably have some intergalactic visitor tell us to quieten down or they will put a by pass through our orbit.

Clip Source: www.space.com

Earth emits an ear-piercing series of chirps and whistles that could be heard by any aliens who might be listening, astronomers have discovered.

The sound is awful, a new recording from space reveals.

Scientists have known about the radiation since the 1970s. It is created high above the planet, where charged particles from the solar wind collide with Earth's magnetic field. It is related to the phenomenon that generates the colorful aurora, or Northern Lights.

The radio waves are blocked by the ionosphere, a charged layer atop our atmosphere, so they do not reach Earth. That's good, because the out-of-this-world radio waves are 10,000 times stronger than even the strongest military signal, the researchers said, and they would overwhelm all radio stations on the planet.

Theorists had long figured the radio waves, which were not well studied, oozed into space in an ever-widening cone, like light from a torch.

Tags: sshhhh, the, martians, will, hear, you

NASA to Attempt Historic Solar Sail Deployment

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:40:53 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: There go the science fiction topics.

Clip Source: science.nasa.gov

June 26, 2008: "Hold your hands out to the sun. What do you feel? Heat, of course. But there's pressure as well – though you've never noticed it, because it's so tiny. Over the area of your hands, it only comes to about a millionth of an ounce. But out in space, even a pressure as small as that can be important – for it's acting all the time, hour after hour, day after day. Unlike rocket fuel, it's free and unlimited. If we want to, we can use it; we can build sails to catch the radiation blowing from the sun."¹

These words were spoken not by a NASA scientist but by a fictional character – John Merton – in Arthur C. Clarke's short story The Wind from the Sun. If all goes well, Merton's prophetic words are about to become fact.

Right: An artist's concept of a sailing ship and a solar sail.

"There's a first time for everything," says Edward "Sandy" Montgomery of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

Tags: red, sails, in, the, sun

Galaxy map hints at fractal universe

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:09:14 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: At a couple of sites. I found Dawkins version easier to clip.

Clip Source: richarddawkins.net

Is the matter in the universe arranged in a fractal pattern? A new study of nearly a million galaxies suggests it is – though there are no well-accepted theories to explain why that would be so.

Cosmologists trying to reconstruct the entire history of the universe have precious few clues from which to work. One key clue is the distribution of matter throughout space, which has been sculpted for nearly 14 billion years by the competing forces of gravity and cosmic expansion. If there is a pattern in the sky, it encodes the secrets of the universe.

A lot is at stake, and the matter distribution has become a source of impassioned debate between those who say the distribution is smooth and homogeneous and those who say it is hierarchically structured and clumpy, like a fractal.

Tags: theories, are, a, good, idea

Strange Ring Found Circling Dead Star

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:40:28 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Recommend this article to astronomy tragics.

Clip Source: science.nasa.gov

May 29, 2008: NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a bizarre ring of material around the magnetic remains of a star that blasted itself to smithereens.

The stellar corpse, called SGR 1900+14, belongs to a class of objects known as magnetars. These are the cores of massive stars that blew up in supernova explosions, but unlike most other dead stars, they have tremendously strong magnetic fields.

Above: A ring around SGR 1900+14 observed by the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope. [more]

Below: A selection of rings and spheres in the Milky Way. From left to right, (1) light echoes from old supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, (2) a blast wave emerging from recent supernova 1987A, and (3) a planetary nebula named The Helix. The ring around SGR 1900+14 is like none of these things.

A closer analysis revealed that the ring is most likely a carved-out cavity in a dust cloud -- a phenomenon that must be somewhat rare in the universe because it had not been seen before.

Tags: astronomy

Hungry, hungry black holes

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:08:32 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: The conclusion comes from a large observing campaign of the spiral galaxy M81, which is about 12 million light-years from Earth. In the center of M81 is a black hole that is about 70 million times more massive than the Sun, and generates energy and radiation as it pulls gas in the central region of the galaxy inwards at high speed.

Clip Source: www.astronomy.com

This NASA image of M81 includes X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (green), infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope (pink) and ultraviolet data from GALEX (purple). The inset shows the center of M81, a supermassive black hole that is about 70 million times more massive than the Sun. NASA/CXC/Wisconsin/D.Pooley/CfA/A.Zezas/ESA/JPL Caltech/J.Huchra et al. [View Larger Image]

The biggest black holes may feed just like the smallest ones, according to data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based telescopes. This discovery supports the implication of Einstein's relativity theory that black holes of all sizes have similar properties, and will be useful for predicting the properties of a conjectured new class of black holes.

Tags: stronomy

Key ocean mission goes into orbit

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:04:37 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A space mission that will be critical to our understanding of climate change has launched from California.

The Jason-2 satellite will become the primary means of measuring the shape of the world's oceans, taking readings with an accuracy of better than 4cm.

Its data will track not only sea level rise but reveal how the great mass of waters are moving around the globe.

This information will be fundamental in helping weather and climate agencies make better forecasts.

Jason-2 will provide a topographic map of 95% of the Earth's ice-free oceans every 10 days. Although we think of our seas as being flat, they are actually marked by "hills" and "valleys", where the highs and lows may be as much as two metres apart.

How Jason-2 will probe the oceans

Elevation is a key parameter for oceanographers. Just as surface air pressure reveals what the atmosphere is doing above, so ocean height will betray details about the behaviour of water down below.

Tags: oceans, rise, for, air

Surprisingly Rapid Changes In Earth’s Core Discovered

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:43:47 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Worth a read - the whole article, that is

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Ørsted magnetometer measurements form the base for the latest International Geomagnetic Reference Field, the IGRF2000. A graphical representation of the total magnetic field strength at the Earth's surface inferred from the IGRF2000 is shown below. The blueish-black range of colors represents a field strength above the mean field at the surface and the reddish-yellow range a field strength below the mean field. (Credit: Image courtesy of Danish Meteorological Institute)

ScienceDaily (June 20, 2008) — The movements in the liquid part of the Earth’s core are changing surprisingly quickly, and this affects the Earth’s magnetic field, according to new research from DTU Space.

“What is so surprising is that rapid, almost sudden, changes take place in the Earth’s magnetic field. This suggests that similar sudden changes take place in the movement of the liquid metal deep inside the Earth which is the reason for the Earth’s magnetic field,” Nils Olsen explains.

Tags: earth

Global Telescope has 10x's the Resolution of the Hubble

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:32:45 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico joined a project called Electronic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (e-VLBI), which can make temporary radio telescopes that rival the size of the Earth, spanning North America, South America, Europe and Africa.

The e-VLBI's size gives it 10 times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing the array to image objects - like the bright 'afterglow' formed when a high-speed jet of matter from a gamma-ray burst slams into its surroundings, that just look like points to individual radio telescopes, according to Chris Salter of Arecibo. Now, with the e-VLBI, the data is sent via fiber optic cables to produce real-time images of celestial objects. That allows astronomers to easily plan follow-up observations for rapidly changing phenomena, such as supernovae.

Tags: astronomy, is, out, of, th......................

GPS Inaccurate During Space Storms

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:29:23 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: So don't you be driving around in the ionosphere. You could get lost.

Clip Source: www.space.com

In bad weather, it can be hard to tell where you are. It turns out that your GPS unit may not be entirely sure, either, if the weather in space is bad.

It is now known that space weather -- specifically electrical disturbances in our planet's ionosphere -- can throw off the accuracy of GPS units appreciably. Scientists are working to remedy the situation.

The ionosphere is the layer of the atmosphere extending upward from a height of about 60 miles. Its tenuous gas is electrically charged enough to affect radio signals.

GPS units calculate their locations by analyzing signals from a dedicated group of satellites, but those signals can be delayed or distorted while passing through the ionosphere, explained Anthea Coster, an atmospheric scientist at MIT. If there's no sunspot activity, the average inaccuracy is about 16 feet (5 meters) for civilian handheld or car GPS units that only use one radio frequency. (Fancier versions use two frequencies, which can cancel out many inaccuracies.)

Tags: machines, are, different

Bricks Litter Space Shuttle Launch Pad Grounds

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:32:27 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Bloody reporters. "Most of the bricks were still scattered over the ground Monday, many of them in fragments, resembling the aftermath of a volcanic eruption." So this one thinks a few thousand bricks looks like the earth has moved. Must have pretty one sided relationships.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

The Damage

June 16, 2008 -- More than two weeks after Discovery's blastoff battered the launch pad, NASA is close to nailing down its repair strategy and insists the damage can be mended in time for the next space shuttle flight.

NASA plans to send Atlantis to the launch pad at the end of August, for an early October liftoff to the Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA allowed journalists to see the damage for themselves Monday, two days after Discovery's safe return to Earth. About 5,300 of the special heat-resistant bricks broke off a wall of the flame trench during Discovery's liftoff on May 31. Some of the foot-long bricks were hurled more than 1,800 feet.

Most of the bricks were still scattered over the ground Monday, many of them in fragments, resembling the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. Traces of asbestos in the bricks and the adhesive have stalled cleanup efforts.

Tags: crap

Space Probe Ulysses Reaches End of Odyssey

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:28:06 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Well earned retirement. Off on a voyage, I suppose.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

On Its Last Leg

June 13, 2008 -- European and American scientists will bid a fond farewell on July 1 to the space probe Ulysses, which has circled the sun gathering data for 17 years, almost four times its expected lifetime.

The first major collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1990, "changed forever the way we view the sun and its effect on the surrounding space," David Southwood, ESA's director of science, said in announcing the end of mission.

Stuffed with 10 observational instruments, the 814-pound probe is the only satellite to have circled the sun's poles.

Its principle objective was to explore the boundaries and impact of the sun's sphere of influence, called the heliosphere.

One of its many findings was that the sun's magnetic fields, thrust outward by solar wind, extends into the solar system in ways that were previously not suspected.

Tags: astronomy

NASA finds new type of comet dust mineral

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:11:27 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.astronomy.com

Brownleeite is believed to have orginated from comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. This image shows Comet McNaught. Paul Mayo [View Larger Image]

NASA researchers and scientists from the United States, Germany and Japan have found a new mineral in material that likely came from a comet.

The mineral, a manganese silicide named Brownleeite, was discovered within an interplanetary dust particle, or IDP, that appears to have originated from comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. The comet originally was discovered in 1902 and reappears every 5 years. The team that made the discovery is headed by Keiko Nakamura-Messenger, a space scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"When I saw this mineral for the first time, I immediately knew this was something no one had seen before," says Nakamura-Messenger. "But it took several more months to obtain conclusive data because these mineral grains were only 1/10,000 of an inch in size."

Tags: astronomy

Ten Amazing Telescopes (1)

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:14:45 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: And that they are.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope 10: Southern African Large Telescope

SALT's large mirrors allow it to peer out at distant galactic sights.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope Nine: Keck Observatory

The dome shutters of Keck I and II top the summit of the dormant volcano Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope Eight: Great Canary Telescope

The Great Canary Telescope is located in the
Great Canary Islands.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope Seven: Very Large Telescope

The Very Large Telescope stands on the top of a leveled mountain in northern Chile. The area's low humidity and rainfall make it perfect for heavenly observation.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope Six: Large Binocular Telescope

A technician grinds a large mirror, constructed in a honeycombed fashion. The mirror became part of the LBT.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope Five: Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope has provided unparalleled images of space.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Telescope Four: Chandra X-ray Observatory

The Chandra X-ray Observatory created this image of the event horizon of a super-massive black hole. The exposure lasted two weeks.

Tags: astronomy

NASA Going to the Sun

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:32:06 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Need to visit the source to be amazed at what they plan.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Our Sun has been the focus of astronomers for many centuries, and humanity for much longer. So for the first time, NASA will be sending a mission, labeled as Solar Probe+ (Solar Probe plus) to study our star.

"We are going to visit a living, breathing star for the first time," says program scientist Lika Guhathakurta of NASA Headquarters. "This is an unexplored region of the solar system and the possibilities for discovery are off the charts."

At its closest approach, Solar Probe+ will be 7 million kilometers from the sun, witnessing the Sun at 23 times wider than what we see it from Earth. The vessel will have to withstand temperatures greater than 1400 degrees Celsius, and suffer radiation bursts that no other Earth vessel has ever encountered.

Tags: space