Elizabeth Howell, Author at Universe Today

July 9, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Something In Big Dipper ‘Blob’ Is Sending Out Cosmic Rays, Study Says

A map of cosmic ray concentrations in the northern sky, showing a "hotspot" (red) in the location of the Big Dipper. Credit: K. Kawata, University of Tokyo Institute for Cosmic Ray Research

Behind the Big Dipper is something pumping out a lot of extremely high-energy cosmic rays, a new study says. And as astronomers try to learn more about the nature of these emanations — maybe black holes, maybe supernovas — newer work hints that it could be related to how the universe is structured.

It appears that the particles come from spots in the cosmos where matter is densely packed, such as in “superclusters” of galaxies, the researchers stated, adding this is promising progress for tracking down the source of the cosmic rays.

“This puts us closer to finding out the sources – but no cigar yet,” stated University of Utah physicist Gordon Thomson, co-principal investigator for the Telescope Array that performed the observations. “All we see is a blob in the sky, and inside this blob there is all sorts of stuff – various types of objects – that could be the source,” he added. “Now we know where to look.”

The study examined the highest-energy cosmic rays that are about 57 billion billion electron volts (5.7 times 10 to the 19th power), picking that type because it is the least affected by magnetic field lines in space. As cosmic rays interact with the magnetic field lines, it changes their direction and thus makes it harder for researchers to figure out where they came from.

Astrophoto: Ursa Major and Big Dipper Among the Red Clouds by Rajat Sahu — Ursa Major and Big Dipper Among the Red Clouds. Credit: Rajat Sahu

Scientists used a set of 500 detectors called the Telescope Array, which is densely packed in a 3/4 mile (1.2 kilometer) square grid in the desert area of Millard County, Utah. The array recorded 72 cosmic rays between May 11, 2008 and May 4, 2013, with 19 of those coming from the “hotspot” — a circle 40 degrees in diameter taking up 6% of the sky. (Researchers are hoping for funding for an expansion to probe this area in more detail.)

It’s possible the hotspot could be a fluke, but not very possible, the researchers added: there’s a 1.4 in 10,000 chance. And they’re keeping themselves open to many types of sources: “Besides active galactic nuclei and gamma ray emitters, possible sources include noisy radio galaxies, shock waves from colliding galaxies and even some exotic hypothetical sources such as the decay of so-called ‘cosmic strings’ or of massive particles left over from the big bang that formed the universe 13.8 billion years ago,” the researchers stated.

Cosmic rays were first discovered in 1912 and are believed to be hydrogen nuclei or the centers of nuclei from heavier elements like iron or oxygen. The highest-energy ones in the study may come from protons alone, but that’s not clear yet.

The paper is available in preprint version on Arxiv, and has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Source: University of Utah

July 9, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

The Waters Of Mars: New Map Shows Something Unexpected

A portion of a 2014 Mars map showing the area east of Hellas basin, at midsoutherly latitudes. Credit: USGS

Where did the water on Mars come from, and where did it go? This plot (sort of) formed the basis of one of the best Doctor Who episodes of the modern era, but in all seriousness, it is also driving scientists to examine the Red Planet over and over again.

This means revisiting older information with newer data to see if everything still matches up. From time to time, it doesn’t. The latest example came when scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey created a map of the canyon systems of Waikato Vallis and Reull Vallis, which are in the midsoutherly latitudes of Mars.

They previously believed the canyons were connected, but updating the data from an understanding based on 1980s Viking data revealed a different story.

“These canyons are believed to have formed when underground water was released from plains materials to the surface, causing the ground to collapse. The water could have been stored within the plains in localized aquifers or as ice, which could have melted due to the heat from nearby volcanoes,” the U.S. Geological Survey stated.

Part of the floor of Reull Vallis, a valley east of Hellas Basin on Mars. Picture taken by Mars Global Surveyor. Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

But the newer data — looking at information from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, Mars Global Surveyor — revealed the canyons are quite separate, demarcated by a zone called Eridania Planitia in between.

“Careful estimates of the ages of the canyons and the plains reveal a sequence of events starting with the water released from Waikato Vallis, which would have been stored for a time in the plains as a shallow lake. As Reull Vallis was forming separately, the canyon breached a crater rim that was holding back the water in the lake; the lake drained gradually, which can be seen by many smaller channels incised on the floor of Reull Vallis.”

The map was co-produced by Scott Mest and David Crown, who are both of the Planetary Science Institute. You can view the entire map and related materials here.

Source: Planetary Science Institute

July 8, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Cyclone Spying: 3-D Hurricane View Of Arthur Reveals Rain Towers

A 3-D view of Hurricane Arthur in July 2014, taken from instruments aboard the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory. Credit: NASA / YouTube (screenshot)

While Hurricane Arthur was still a hurricane, the new Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory flew over the storm last week and captured its structure in 3-D. This was a good test of the new satellite, which is supposed to help NASA track these Atlantic storms to better precision than before.

The joint NASA-Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency mission allowed researchers to do better forecasting because they could track the precipitation to 1,000 feet vertically and three miles horizontally (305 meters and five kilometers).

“Hurricane features pop out more. They’re sharper, there’s more clarity to the structures,” stated NASA Goddard hurricane researcher Scott Braun. “Being able to see the structures more clearly may allow for better determination of the structure of the eye wall and rainbands, thereby providing clues about the likelihood of a storm intensifying or weakening.”

For more information on the findings, check out this NASA web page.

July 8, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Voyager 1 Hears Sun Echoes Far Away, In Interstellar Space

Artist's concept of Voyager 1 in interstellar space. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Wow! Even from interstellar space, the plucky Voyager 1 can still listen in to activities from our Sun. Whenever the Sun has a large amount of activity, the waves of energy it sends out bashes into the charged gas particles or plasma surrounding the NASA spacecraft, which has been sailing away from Earth since 1977.

There have been three events so far from our Sun (which is in solar maximum), with each one confirming scientists’ findings that interstellar space is where the spacecraft is, NASA said.

“Normally, interstellar space is like a quiet lake,” stated Voyager project scientist Ed Stone of the California Institute of Technology. “But when our sun has a burst, it sends a shock wave outward that reaches Voyager about a year later. The wave causes the plasma surrounding the spacecraft to sing.”

“The tsunami wave rings the plasma like a bell,” added Stone. “While the plasma wave instrument lets us measure the frequency of this ringing, the cosmic ray instrument reveals what struck the bell — the shock wave from the Sun.”

The discovery of this wave front confirms the previous assertion that Voyager 1 is indeed in interstellar space, NASA added. Winds from the sun push against the plasma at the edge of interstellar space, making it denser (40 times denser than what was measured before Voyager reached the milestone in 2012, in fact.)

NASA’s announcement in 2013 that Voyager 1 is in interstellar space was accompanied by intense discussion about whether it is in or out of the Solar System (it still hasn’t reached the shell of the Oort Cloud that hosts comets, a milestone that won’t be possible for 300 years). Prior to the announcement, several scientific papers had also weighed in on Voyager 1’s status, with some saying it was interstellar space and some not.

Source: NASA

July 8, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Calling All Space Tweeps! In Honor of STS-135, Share Your Fave Shuttle Pics

Atlantis sits on the launch pad in July 2011 ahead of the final launch of the space shuttle program, STS-135. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Has it been three years already? The last mission of the space shuttle program launched on this day in 2011. We’ve included some of the most beautiful NASA images from the final flight of Atlantis.

But we’re also interested in publishing photos from Universe Today readers! If you attended STS-135 or any other launch of the space shuttle program, we’d like to hear from you. More details below the jump.

The mission’s major goal was to heft a multipurpose logistics module into space, as well as a bunch of spare parts that would be difficult to ship after the space shuttle retired. But it also served as a point of remembrance for the thousands of workers who constructed and maintained the shuttle, and the millions of people who watched its flights.

Where were you during that flight? What pictures did you take? Let us know in the comments and if you’d like to see your images published in a future Universe Today story, share your photos in our Flickr group. The photos must belong to you and be free to share. While this story focuses on STS-135, pictures from any shuttle launch or event are welcome. Let us know which one it was!

To kick off the memories, I’ll talk about where I was during the launch: I was on my way to a wedding in Toronto, Canada — five hours away from my hometown of Ottawa. I managed to pull into a parking lot just a few minutes before the launch sequence started.

I tried and tried to get a steady signal for video, but my phone was having none of it, so I instead “watched” the launch on Twitter. Luckily for me, friends were tweeting and sending text updates from watching television or in person, so I didn’t miss a thing. Then a couple of days later, my best friend and I both watched the NASA launch video together for the first time.

The flag of Atlantis flies from the Mobile Launcher Platform that brought Atlantis to the launch pad, May 31, 2011. Below the flag are crowds of people who attended the rollout. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Randy Meyers (left) and Mitchell Bromwell of United Space Alliance, the primary industry partner for space shuttle operations, show off an American flag to crowds of people gathered for the rollout of STS-135 Atlantis on May 31, 2011. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The STS-135 crew admires the shuttle Atlantis just prior to launching July 8, 2011. From left, Rex Walheim, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Chris Ferguson. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Atlantis lifts off on the last launch of the shuttle program, STS-135, on July 8, 2011. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Space shuttle Atlantis gets ready to dock with the International Space Station on July 10, 2011 during STS-135, the last mission of the space shuttle program. It is backdropped by the Bahamas. Credit: NASA

NASA astronaut Ron Garan (who was on Expedition 28 while Atlantis was docked to the International Space Station for STS-135) adjusts his tethers early in a spacewalk July 12, 2011. Credit: NASA

The crew members of STS-135 and Expedition 28 share a meal and a selfie on July 14, 2011, marking one of the last times a shuttle crew and International Space Station crew ate together. Credit: NASA

NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, who commanded STS-135, signs a decal for his mission (the last space shuttle mission) in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Next to it is the crew patch for Expedition 28. Credit: NASA

Space shuttle Atlantis flies home in this image captured from the International Space Station. Atlantis was completing STS-135, the last mission of the shuttle program. Credit:

Atlantis touches down in the last moments of STS-135 on July 21, 2011, marking the end of the shuttle program's flights. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls — Atlantis touches down in the last moments of STS-135 on July 21, 2011, marking the end of the shuttle program’s flights. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The view from under Atlantis, looking forward, after it landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida July 21, 2011, closing out the shuttle program with STS-135. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Atlantis is placed into its permanent home -- an exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center -- which opened in 2013. Credit: NASA — Atlantis is placed into its permanent home — an exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center — which opened in 2013. Credit: NASA

July 7, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Virtual Summer Camp Alert! Maker Camp Kicks Off Today

If you’re a high school student who’s really into space, Maker Camp bills itself as a great spot for you to get involved. Every summer, the organization runs a virtual summer camp for six weeks, encouraging people to build fun things such as glowing bikes and stroboscopes.

The festivities kick off today with a field trip: “Join us for a truly stellar Hangout as we launch Maker Camp live from +New York Hall of Science. We’ll be joined by Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and the folks at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will share their dreams for the future of space exploration,” Maker Camp wrote on its event page.

You can watch the event at 2 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. UTC) below! .

Maker Camp is a collaboration of Make Magazine and Google+, and runs daily from today to Aug. 15 at 2 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. UTC). Joining is completely free and is targeted to students between ages 13 to 18; younger students can also participate as long as they have access to (and permission from) an adult’s Google+ account.

July 7, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Sketches of Saturn: Ringed Planet Dances In Raw Cassini Images

A hexagonal storm on Saturn rages in this image taken July 2, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

We space people are very lucky to get glimpses of Saturn (and other planets!) regularly through the raw images feature on a few spacecraft websites. This allows anyone to get a hold of the pictures as they come back from afar, allowing you to view them or alter them to try and see what they’re all about.

In an era where we are so used to high-definition pictures, examining these blurry, black-and-white shots feels novel. It makes the spacecraft seem like it is action somehow: catching a glimpse of a ringed planet as it swings by, for example.

Enclosed here are some of the latest gifts from the Cassini spacecraft, which is celebrating 10 years in Saturn’s system.

Part of Saturn's rings are visible in this July 2, 2014 image from the cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute — Part of Saturn’s rings are visible in this July 2, 2014 image from the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Gazing at Saturn's rings. Picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft June 30, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute — Gazing at Saturn’s rings. Picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft June 30, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

A dark shadow falls across Saturn and its rings in this raw image taken by the Cassini spacecraft July 2, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Eerie shadows play across Saturn in this Cassini image taken in June 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

July 7, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Mars ‘Sky Crane’ Revisited? Rover Prototype Drops To Ground Safely In European Tests

The "Dropter" project aims to have a mothership that carries a rover safely to the surface before flying away. Credit: Airbus Defence & Space

How do you land a machine on the Red Planet? Appears that the answer keeps changing as engineers get smarter about solving the problem.

Over the years, NASA has experimented with approaches ranging from soft landings to inflatable airbags to the famous “Sky Crane” that landed Curiosity on Mars in 2012. And in this video above, you can see the European Space Agency taking the sky crane idea a little further in prototype testing.

“Starting from scratch for the eight-month project, the Dropter team was challenged to produce vision-based navigation and hazard detection and avoidance for the dropship,” the European Space Agency stated. “It has to identify a safe landing site and height before winching down its passenger rover on a set of cables.”

As you can see in the video, the dropship flew as high as 56 feet (17 meters), began lowering the rover around 33 feet (10 meters), and then lowered the rover until the little machine touched the ground.

July 7, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

New Horizons Enters ‘Pluto-Space!’ To Celebrate, Here Are Pictures Of The Dwarf Planet

After almost nine years on the road, New Horizons is in what NASA calls “Pluto-space”! Earlier today (July 7), the spacecraft Twitter account announced New Horizons is now 29.8 Earth-sun distances (astronomical units) away from the Sun, putting it within the boundaries of Pluto’s eccentric orbit — exciting, since Pluto is the primary science target.

“Didn’t get the word? We’re farther out than Pluto’s minimum distance to the Sun. We’re in ‘Pluto-space’ now!” tweeted the New Horizons account. We’ve included some of the best Pluto pictures below, to date, to celebrate.

And while many are focused on the Pluto encounter itself, NASA is already planning for what to do next for the spacecraft. In mid-June, we reported that the Hubble Space Telescope was doing a test search for icy Kuiper Belt objects that New Horizons could possibly fly to next.

That test search was successful enough, with two objects found, that Hubble is now doing a full-blown investigation, according to an announcement last week. Hubble will begin that work in July and conclude observations in August. New Horizons is expected to fly by Pluto and its moons in July 2015.

Pluto's surface as viewed from the Hubble Space Telescope in several pictures taken in 2002 and 2003. Though the telescope is a powerful tool, the dwarf planet is so small that it is difficult to resolve its surface. Astronomers noted a bright spot (180 degrees) with an unusual abundance of carbon monoxide frost. Credit: NASA — Pluto’s surface as viewed from the Hubble Space Telescope in several pictures taken in 2002 and 2003. Though the telescope is a powerful tool, the dwarf planet is so small that it is difficult to resolve its surface. Astronomers noted a bright spot (180 degrees) with an unusual abundance of carbon monoxide frost. Credit: NASA

Pluto and its moons, most of which were discovered while New Horizons was in development and en route. Charon was found in 1978, Nix and Hydra in 2005, Kerberos in 2011 and Styz in 2012. The New Horizons mission launched in 2007. Picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA — Pluto and its moons, most of which were discovered while New Horizons was in development and en route. Charon was found in 1978, Nix and Hydra in 2005, Kerberos in 2011 and Styx in 2012. The New Horizons mission launched in 2006. Picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA

Pluto and moons Charon, Hydra and Nix (left) compared to the dwarf planet Eris and its moon Dysmonia (right). This picture was taken before Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Credit: International Astronomical Union — Pluto and moons Charon, Hydra and Nix (left) compared to the dwarf planet Eris and its moon Dysnomia (right). This picture was taken before Kerberos and Styx were discovered in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Credit: International Astronomical Union

Pluto appears as a faint white dot (see arrow) in this image taken by New Horizons in September 2006, nine months after launch. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Pluto and Charon are visible in this 2013 image from New Horizons' LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). It was the first image from the spacecraft showing Charon separated from Pluto. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute — Pluto and Charon are visible in this 2013 image from New Horizons’ LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). It was the first image from the spacecraft showing Charon separated from Pluto. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

July 4, 2014December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Cannibal Galaxy Could Show How These Huge Structures Grow

Image of the Umbrella Galaxy, combining data from the 0.5-meter BlackBird Remote Observatory Telescope and Suprime-Cam on the 8-meter Subaru Telescope. Credit: R. Jay Gabany

There’s a hungry galaxy on the loose about 62 million light-years away from us. Astronomers just revealed that the Umbrella Galaxy (NGC 4651) is busy gobbling up another galaxy, similar to how our own Milky Way Galaxy is eating the smaller Sagittarius.

“This is important because our whole concept about what galaxies are and how they grow has not been fully verified,” stated co-author Aaron Romanowsky, an astronomer at both San José State University and University of California Observatories.

“We think they are constantly consuming smaller galaxies as part of a cosmic food chain, all pulled together by a mysterious form of invisible ‘dark matter’. When a galaxy is torn apart, we sometimes get a glimpse of the hidden vista because the stripping process lights it up. That’s what occurred here.”

This type of merger and acquisition is something you often seen moving about the universe, but it’s hard to capture these images in three dimensions, scientists said. It required looking at the motions of the stream you see here to see how the smaller galaxy is being torn apart.

“Through new techniques we have been able to measure the movements of the stars in the very distant, very faint, stellar stream in the Umbrella,” stated Caroline Foster of the Australian Astronomical Observatory, who led the study. “This allows us to reconstruct the history of the system, which we couldn’t before.”

The research was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and is available in preprint version on Arxiv.

Sources: Keck Observatory and Australian Astronomical Observatory