Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Uranus Bland? Nope, It’s A Stormy Planet With Interesting Insides

A composite image of Uranus in two infrared bands, showing the planet and its ring system. Picture taken by the Keck II telescope and released in 2007. Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory (Marcos van Dam)

Sometimes first impressions are poor ones. When the Voyager 2 spacecraft whizzed by Uranus in 1986, the close-up view of the gas giant revealed what appeared to a be a relatively featureless ball. By that point, scientists were used to seeing bright colors and bands on Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus wasn’t quite deemed uninteresting, but the lack of activity was something that was usually remarked upon when describing the planet.

Fast-forward 28 years and we are learning that Uranus is a more complex world than imagined at the time. Two new studies, discussed at an American Astronomical Society meeting today, show that Uranus is a stormy place and also that the images from Voyager 2 had more interesting information than previously believed.

Showing the value of going over old data, University of Arizona astronomer Erich Karkoschka reprocessed old images of Voyager 2 data — including stacking 1,600 pictures on top of each other.

He found elements of Uranus’ atmosphere that reveals the southern hemisphere moves differently than other regions in fellow gas giants. Since only the top 1% of the atmosphere is easily observable from orbit, scientists try to make inferences about the 99% that lie underneath by looking at how the upper atmosphere behaves.

“Some of these features probably are convective clouds caused by updraft and condensation. Some of the brighter features look like clouds that extend over hundreds of kilometers,” he stated in a press release.

Voyager 2. Credit: NASA
Voyager 2. Credit: NASA

“The unusual rotation of high southern latitudes of Uranus is probably due to an unusual feature in the interior of Uranus,” he added. “While the nature of the feature and its interaction with the atmosphere are not yet known, the fact that I found this unusual rotation offers new possibilities to learn about the interior of a giant planet.”

It’s difficult to get more information about the inner atmosphere without sending down a probe, but other methods of getting a bit of information include using radio (which shows magnetic field rotation) or gravitational fields. The university stated that Karkoschka’s work could help improve models of Uranus’ interior.

So that was Uranus three decades ago. What about today? Turns out that storms are popping up on Uranus that are so large that for the first time, amateur astronomers can track them from Earth. A separate study on Uranus shows the planet is “incredibly active”, and what’s more, it took place at an unexpected time.

Summer happened in 2007 when the Sun shone on its equator, which should have produced more heat and stormy weather at the time. (Uranus has no internal heat source, so the Sun is believed to be the primary driver of energy on the planet.) However, a team led by Imke de Pater, chair of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, spotted eight big storms in the northern hemisphere while looking at the planet with the Keck Telescope on Aug. 5 and 6.

Infrared images of Uranus showing storms at 1.6 and 2.2 microns obtained Aug. 6, 2014 by the 10-meter Keck telescope. Credit: Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley) & Keck Observatory images.
Infrared images of Uranus showing storms at 1.6 and 2.2 microns obtained Aug. 6, 2014 by the 10-meter Keck telescope. Credit: Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley) & Keck Observatory images.

Keck’s eye revealed a big, bright storm that represented 30% of light reflected by the planet at a wavelength of 2.2 microns, which provides information about clouds below the tropopause. Amateurs, meanwhile, spotted a storm of a different sort. Between September and October, several observations were reported of a storm at 1.6 microns, deeper in the atmosphere.

“The colors and morphology of this [latter] cloud complex suggests that the storm may be tied to a vortex in the deeper atmosphere similar to two large cloud complexes seen during the equinox,” stated Larry Sromovsky, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

What is causing the storms now is still unknown, but the team continues to watch the Uranian weather to see what will happen next. Results from both studies were presented at the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Tucson, Arizona today. Plans for publication and whether the research was peer-reviewed were not disclosed in press releases concerning the findings.

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Virgin Galactic Crash Survivor Didn’t Know Re-Entry System Was Turned On Prematurely

NTSB investigators are seen making their initial inspection of debris from the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. The debris field stresses over a fiver mile range in the Mojave desert. (Credit: Getty Images)

The surviving co-pilot of the Virgin Galactic crash was unaware that SpaceShipTwo’s re-entry system was unlocked prematurely during the flight test, according to an update from the National Transportation Safety Board.

In an interview with investigators, the board said Peter Siebold provided testimony that was consistent with other information gathered so far since the crash. The incident, which killed fellow co-pilot Mike Alsbury when the craft plunged into the Mojave desert, took place Oct. 31.

“The NTSB operations and human performance investigators interviewed the surviving pilot on Friday. According to the pilot, he was unaware that the feather system had been unlocked early by the copilot,” read an update on the board’s website.

“His description of the vehicle motion was consistent with other data sources in the investigation. He stated that he was extracted from the vehicle as a result of the break-up sequence and unbuckled from his seat at some point before the parachute deployed automatically.”

Inset: Pilot Peter Siebold of Scaled Composites. Photo of SpaceShipTwo, SS Enterprise, in flight with its tail section in the feathered position for atmospheric re-entry. (Photo Credits: Scaled Composites)
Inset: Pilot Peter Siebold of Scaled Composites. Photo of SpaceShipTwo, SS Enterprise, in flight with its tail section in the feathered position for atmospheric re-entry. (Photo Credits: Scaled Composites)

Accidents are due to a complex set of circumstances, which means the NTSB finding that the re-entry system was deployed prematurely is only a preliminary finding. The investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the crash could take anywhere from months to a year, according to multiple media reports.

Virgin was performing another in a series of high-altitude test flights in preparation for running tourists up to suborbital space early next year. A handful of ticket-holders, who made deposits of up to $250,000 each, have reportedly asked for their money back. The Richard Branson-founded company has not revealed when the first commercial flight is expected to take place.

Meanwhile, Virgin does have another version of SpaceShipTwo already under assembly right now, which is considered 95% structurally complete and 60% assembled, according to NBC News. The prototype could take to the skies before the NTSB investigation is complete, the report added.

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Gets Its Color From Sunlight, Study Suggests

Reprocessed view by Bjorn Jonsson of the Great Red Spot taken by Voyager 1 in 1979 reveals an incredible wealth of detail.

If it weren’t for the Sun, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot would be a much blander feature on the gas giant, a new study reveals. This stands apart from what most scientists think about why for why the spot looks so colorful: that there are features in the clouds that give it its distinctive shade.

The new data comes from observations with the Cassini spacecraft, combined with experiments in the lab. They conclude that the Red Spot’s immense height, combined with sunlight breaking apart the atmosphere there into certain chemicals, make the feature that red that is visible even in small telescopes.

“Our models suggest most of the Great Red Spot is actually pretty bland in color, beneath the upper cloud layer of reddish material,” said Kevin Baines, a Cassini team scientist based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, in a statement. “Under the reddish ‘sunburn’ the clouds are probably whitish or grayish.”

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a cyclone larger than two Earths. (photomontage ©Michael Carroll)
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a cyclone larger than two Earths. (photomontage ©Michael Carroll)

The lab experiments combined ammonia and acetylene gases (atmospheric components from Jupiter) with ultraviolet light (simulating what the Sun produces), which created a ruddy substance that matched observations made with the Cassini spacecraft back in 2000. They also tried breaking apart ammonium hydrosulfide, a common element in Jupiter’s high clouds, but the color produced was actually a bright green.

The Great Red Spot is a storm that has been raging on Jupiter since at least when telescopes were first used in the 1600s. Over the past few decades, its size has shrunk considerably –it’s now half of what historical measurements showed — but it is still much larger than Earth. Scientists are hoping the forthcoming Juno mission, which will arrive at Jupiter at 2016, will help learn more about what is going on.

Results were presented at the Division for Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society’s annual meeting this week in Tucson, Arizona. A press release did not disclose publication plans or if the research is peer-reviewed.

Source: NASA

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Dusty Baby Solar System Gives Clues On How Our Sun And Planets Grew Up

Artist's conception of early planetary formation from gas and dust around a young star. Outbursts from newborn and adolescent stars might drive planetary water beneath the surface of rocky worlds. Credit: NASA/NASA/JPL-Caltech

This isn’t a clone of our Solar System, but it’s close enough. Scientists eagerly scrutinized a young star system called HD 95086 to learn more about how dust belts and giant planets grow up together. This is an important finding for our own neighborhood, where the gas giants of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are also wedged between dusty areas.

“By looking at other star systems like these, we can piece together how our own Solar System came to be,” stated lead author Kate Su, an associate astronomer at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The system is about 295 light-years from Earth, and is suspected to have two dust belts: a warmer one (similar to our asteroid belt) and a cooler one (similar to the Kuiper Belt that has icy objects.) The system is host to at least one planet that is five times the mass of Jupiter, and other planets could also be hiding between the dusty lanes. This planet, called HD 95086 b, was imaged by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Observatory in 2013.

Planet HD95086 b is shown at lower left in this picture. Astronomers blocked out the light of the star (center) to image the exoplanet. The blue circle represents the equivalent orbit of Neptune in this star system. Credit: ESO/J. Rameau
Planet HD95086 b is shown at lower left in this picture. Astronomers blocked out the light of the star (center) to image the exoplanet. The blue circle represents the equivalent orbit of Neptune in this star system. Credit: ESO/J. Rameau

The next step was a comparison study with another star system called HR 8799, which also has two dusty rings and in this case, at least four planets in between. These planets have also been caught on camera. Comparing the structure of the two systems indicates that HD 95086 may have more planets lurking for astronomers to discover.

“By knowing where the debris is, plus the properties of the known planet in the system, we can get an idea of what other kinds of planets can be there,” stated Sarah Morrison, a co-author of the paper and a PhD student at the University of Arizona. “We know that we should be looking for multiple planets instead of a single giant planet.”

The researchers presented their work at the Division for Planetary Science Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Tucson, Arizona. A press release did not disclose publication plans or if the work was peer-reviewed.

Source: NASA

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

‘Not All Hope Is Lost’: NASA Sun Probe Silent Now For Six Weeks

Artist's conception of one of the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft. Credit: NASA

No one knows exactly why a NASA solar probe stopped talking to Earth six weeks ago, but it’s possible the spacecraft is out of power and is drifting without a way of calling for help, the agency said in an update.

On Oct. 1, NASA suddenly lost contact with one of the two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, which are currently examining the far side of the Sun. The probes are considered crucial for solar forecasting, so the loss is a blow. While the STEREO-Behind probe has been mute since then, the agency says “not all hope is lost” for a recovery.

STEREO-Behind went silent after NASA deliberately reset the spacecraft. Along with its twin, STEREO-Ahead, in the coming years the spacecraft will need to reposition its antenna to avoid getting fried by the Sun. Also, there is a period where each spacecraft will need to work autonomously, because the Sun’s radio interference will make it difficult or impossible for communications to get through.

First complete image of the far side of the sun taken on June 1, 2011. Click image for larger version. Credit: NASA/STEREO.
First complete image of the far side of the sun taken on June 1, 2011. Click image for larger version. Credit: NASA/STEREO.

To prepare the spacecraft, NASA has been testing them out ahead of these events, which are called “solar conjunction operations.” STEREO-Ahead passed the tests and entered these operations in August, where it will remain until 2016. STEREO-Behind was supposed to go into this phase on Dec. 1. Preparations started Sept. 27, when STEREO-Behind was put into the same safe mode test that was used on STEREO-Ahead.

“One part of this test was to observe the firing of the spacecraft hard command loss timer, which resets the spacecraft if no commands are received after three days,” NASA wrote in an update. “The purpose of this is to correct any problems that might be preventing the spacecraft from receiving commands from the ground. While the spacecraft is out of contact on the far side of the Sun, this reset will occur every three days.”

The timer did fire as planned on Oct. 1, and the spacecraft reset as expected. However, the radio signal coming from STEREO-Behind wasn’t as strong as expected. Then, it disappeared altogether.

An artist's concept shows both STEREO surrounding the sun on opposite sides. Credit: NASA
An artist’s concept shows both STEREO surrounding the sun on opposite sides. Credit: NASA

While there’s not much information to work with, NASA says it does know a few things. Before the reset, information or telemetry from the spacecraft showed it was working fine. After the reset, though, they could tell the inertial measurement unit (IMU) was turned on. This is unusual, and shows that the guidance system’s star tracker hadn’t picked up its guide stars as expected.

“This is not unexpected—there have been other occasions when it took the star tracker several minutes, or even a few days, to start determining the spacecraft orientation based on star images,” NASA said.

“In fact, on Sept. 28, as part of the same test sequence, the spacecraft was reset, and it took 12 minutes for the star tracker to start providing an attitude solution. When the star tracker is ofline, the spacecraft will automatically turn on the IMU to provide rotational rate information.”

Deployment of STEREO Spacecraft Panels. Credit: 2002-Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Credit: Dr C.J.Eyles, University of Birmingham
Deployment of STEREO Spacecraft Panels. Credit: 2002-Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Credit: Dr C.J.Eyles, University of Birmingham

NASA thinks the star tracker’s struggles would explain why the radio signal wasn’t as strong as expected, because the spacecraft’s high-gain antenna wasn’t aimed at Earth properly. But there’s more — it appears one of the IMU’s laser gyroscopes isn’t working and is giving “bad data to the attitude control system”, NASA said. So now the spacecraft was facing two failures, which is tough for it to deal with, the agency added.

Did the spacecraft recognize the problem? If it did, it would have used the last backup system — five solar aspect sensors — which should have made sure the solar panels were pointed in the right direction to provide power. If not, the spacecraft might have thought it was in a roll, turned on its thrusters, and then spun itself in such a way that it could have lost sunlight power.

NASA is trying to send out commands to address all of these failure possibilities, and it emphasizes that a recovery is still possible. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), for example, also lost power in 1998 when a spin put its solar panels out of reach of the Sun. However, as its orbit changed, the Sun’s light eventually fell across the panels and power was restored. The spacecraft was recovered and still works today.

Source: NASA

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

‘Naked’ Comets Could Expose Solar System’s Ancient Origin Story

Two objects with comet-like orbits flew through the solar system in 2013 and 2014, but with little to no activity on their surfaces. At left is C/2013 P2 Pan-STARRS and at right, C/2014 S3 Pan-STARRS. Credit: University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy

What’s a comet that doesn’t look like a comet? The question sounds contradictory, but astronomers believe these objects exist. As comets pass through the solar system, they bleed ice and dust as the Sun’s effects wash over their small bodies. Over time, some of the objects can keep going like ghost ships — just without the ices that used to produce a show.

There already is a class of objects called damocloids that are believed to be extinct comets, but scientists believe they have found something new with two mysterious visitors — what they call “naked” comets — from the outer Solar System.

The two objects originate from an area that astronomers term the Oort Cloud, a hypothetical collection of icy bodies that orbit as far away as 100,000 times the Earth-Sun distance (astronomical unit). Gravitational influences then kick the objects in towards the Sun and they commence orbits that can last millions of years.

When Jan Oort first proposed this concept in the 1950s, he said that some of the objects there could have only a tiny layer of ice that would immediately evaporate during the first pass in near the Sun. That’s what astronomers think they are seeing in objects C/2013 P2 Pan-STARRS and C/2014 S3 Pan-STARRS.

The familiar solar system with its 8 planets occupies a tiny space inside a large spherical shell containing trillions of comets - the Oort Cloud. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The familiar solar system with its 8 planets occupies a tiny space inside a large spherical shell containing trillions of comets – the Oort Cloud. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

“Objects on long-period orbits like this usually exhibit cometary tails, for example Comet ISON and Comet Hale Bopp, so we immediately knew this object was unusual,” stated Karen Meech, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who led the research. “I wondered if this could be the first evidence of movement of solar system building blocks from the inner solar system to the Oort Cloud.”

The automated Pan STARRS1 survey telescope found C/2013 P2 in August 2013, with astronomers remarking its orbit resembled that of a comet. But, C/2013 P2’s surface was quiet. A second look the next month with the 8-meter Gemini North telescope in Hawaii revealed a little bit of light and a dusty tail. The object stayed at about the same brightness, even when it got to its closest approach to the Sun (2.8 AU) in February 2014.

After the comet swung around the Sun and telescopes could look at it again, examinations with the Gemini North telescope found something weird: the object’s spectrum looked red. This makes it look more like a Kuiper Belt object — something that roams in shallower waters in the Solar System, beyond Neptune’s orbit — than a typical comet or asteroid.

While results were still being analyzed, in September a NASA survey found an object with curiously similar properties: C/2014 S3. When it was found, the object had already passed its closest approach to the Sun in August. But from analyzing the orbit, the scientists saw it had come to only within 2 AU. Also, the first observations showed barely a tail at all.

Distribution of Kuiper belt objects (green), along with various other outer Solar System bodies, based on data from the Minor Planet Center. [Credit: Minor Planet Center; Murray and Dermott]
Distribution of Kuiper belt objects (green), along with various other outer Solar System bodies, based on data from the Minor Planet Center. [Credit: Minor Planet Center; Murray and Dermott]
A closer examination with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope revealed a mystery: the spectrum was more blue than red, hinting at materials similar to what you would find in the inner Solar System. The team says this could be a new class of objects altogether.

“I’ll be thrilled if this object turns out to have a surface composition similar to asteroids in the inner part of the asteroid belt.  If this is the case, it will be remarkable for a body found so far out in the Solar System,” stated Meech.

“There are several models that try to explain how the planets grew in the early Solar System, and some of these predict that material formed close to the sun could have been thrown outward into the outer Solar System and Oort Cloud, where it remains today. Maybe we are finally seeing that evidence.”

Results were presented today (Nov. 10) at the Division of Planetary Sciences meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Tucson, Arizona. A press release did not say if the research is peer-reviewed, or state publication plans.

Source: University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Incredible Snow-Dragging Spaceship Landing From The Space Station

Tracks in the snow mark Expedition 41's landing from the space station Nov. 9, 2014. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Check out that landing mark! A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three people touched down safely in remote Kazakhstan late Sunday (EDT) and went for a brief sleigh ride in the snow, as you can see from the drag marks on the landscape.

The flawless landing included the Expedition 40/41 crew members of Reid Wiseman (NASA), Alexander Gerst (European Space Agency) and Maxim Suraev (Roscosmos), who spent 165 days in space, mainly living on the International Space Station. Check out some more landing pictures and video below.

Alexander Gerst, an astronaut from the European Space Agency, does a fist pump shortly after the safe Expedition 41 landing Nov. 9, 2014. Credit: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2014
Alexander Gerst, an astronaut from the European Space Agency, does a fist pump shortly after the safe Expedition 41 landing Nov. 9, 2014. Credit: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2014

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Giant Water Bubble Engulfs Video Camera On Space Station, With Hilarious Results

Expedition 40 astronauts Reid Wiseman (left) and Alexander Gerst as viewed in a water bubble surrounding a video camera on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/YouTube (screenshot)

What does the view look like from inside a water bubble? Earlier this year, astronauts on the International Space Station completely submersed a GoPro video recorder inside liquid and filmed the view — which is quite amusing.

Look below for some distorted views of then-Expedition 40 astronauts Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst … and an awesome 3-D video besides!

NASA’s goal in tasking the astronauts with this is to better understand how water behaves in space. (It’s actually quite a serious matter, as a lack of understanding of the physics was one factor leading to a dangerous water leak during a spacewalk in 2013.) In this case, the astronauts were looking at how surface tension works in microgravity.

As for that 3-D video, the agency says it is going to offer more of these from space as it gets people even closer to actually being there. Here’s a neat phenomenon: typically the higher radiation levels in space damage video cameras to the extent where they need to be replaced every 8-12 months.

A 3-D camera sent up in 2011, however, had virtually no dead pixels in the images, prompting NASA to investigate. Officials requested the camera come back to Earth on a Dragon splashdown in 2012. That’s when they discovered the way the 3-D camera is structured — with stereo images layered on top of each other — lessens the appearance of any damage.

But there’s also less damage in the first place, NASA said, because the 3-D camera doesn’t use charge-coupled imaging sensors that are susceptible to radiation. The newer system uses a metal-oxide semiconductor sensor, which doesn’t get hurt as badly. We guess that’s more argument for bringing 3-D images from the final frontier.

Source: NASA

Expedition 40 commander Steve Swanson (left) and Reid Wiseman view a water bubble surrounding a video camera on the International Space Station in summer 2014. Credit: NASA/YouTube (screenshot)
Expedition 40 commander Steve Swanson (left) and Reid Wiseman view a water bubble surrounding a video camera on the International Space Station in summer 2014. Credit: NASA/YouTube (screenshot)
Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

How Dust Lightens Up The ‘Dark Side’ Of Rosetta’s Comet

This "dark side" image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shows light backscattered from dust particles in the coma surrounding the comet, which helps scientists search for surface features. The picture was taken by the Rosetta spacecraft Sept. 29 from about 19 kilometers (12 miles). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

How do you see a side of a comet that is usually shrouded in darkness? For the plucky scientists using the Rosetta spacecraft, the answer comes down to using dust to their advantage. They’re trying to catch a glimpse of the shadowed southern side using light scattering from dust particles in anticipation of watching the comet’s activity heat up next year.

Using Rosetta’s OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) instrument, scientists are diligently mapping Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s surface features as it draws closer to the Sun. Funny enough, the shadowed side will be in full sunlight by the time the comet gets to its closest approach. This gives scientists more incentive to see what it looks like now.

The comet side is in shadow because its is not perpendicular to its orbital plane, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research stated. This means that areas of the comet can stay in shadow for months at a time. But using OSIRIS’ powerful receptors, scientists can get a few hints about what those surface features are, using dust scattering.

Playing with saturation levels in these images, scientists using the Rosetta's spacecraft imaging system are able to get more information about surface features in the image at right. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Playing with saturation levels in these images, scientists using the Rosetta’s spacecraft imaging system are able to get more information about surface features in the image at right. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

“For a normal camera, this tiny bit of scattered light would not help very much”, stated OSIRIS team member Maurizio Pajola from the University of Padua in Italy. A normal camera has eight bits per pixel of information (256 shades of gray), while OSIRIS’ 16 bits allow it to distinguish between 65,000 shades. “In this way, OSIRIS can see black surfaces darker than coal together with white spots as bright as snow in the same image,” he added.

The scientists were not specific in a press release about what they are seeing so far, but they said that in May 2015 they expect to get a lot more data very quickly — once the area goes into full sunlight.

Rosetta, a mission of the European Space Agency, has been orbiting the comet since August. Next Wednesday it will release a lander, Philae, that will attempt to make the first soft landing on a comet’s surface.

Source: Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research