Universe Today

June 14, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Massive Star Dies Twice

Kaboom kaboom. That’s what an international team of astronomers saw when they tracked the death of one of the most massive stars that can exist.

Japanese supernova hunter, Koichi Itagaki, first discovered an exploding star in the galaxy UGC4904 back in 2004. It flared briefly and then faded away over the course of 10 days. Two years later, he discovered another supernova in exactly the same location.

Subsequent observations with larger telescopes confirmed that the supernova, named SN2006jc, did indeed happen at exactly the same location as the previous detonation. The 2004 event must have just been a large outburst, similar to what was seen on Eta-Carinae back in the 1850s.

The researchers think this kind of event could actually be more common than previously believed. A new survey called Pan-STARRS may check up on previous supernova events to see if there’s any new activity.

Original Source: Queen’s University Belfast News Release

June 14, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Computer Glitch Hits the Station Hard

Computers on board the International Space Station crashed this morning, shutting down its orientation, water and oxygen supply. The 10 astronauts on board both the station and the visiting space shuttle Atlantis are in no immediate risk, but the glitch could push back Atlantis’ mission a day or more.

The Russian-built computer controlling these services went down for unknown reasons over the night. Officials in the US and Russia think it might have been caused by something electrical, and not a computer software problem. Flight controllers in Moscow were able to regain partial communications with the computer, and some of their functionality was brought back online.

The crew got quite a scare for a few hours, though. A malfunctioning fire alarm went off in the Russian Zarya module, but there was no indication of fire or smoke in the module.

In the worst-case scenario, the three crewmembers of the space station will have to evacuate, returning to Earth early, but the station has a 56-day oxygen supply left, so there’s no panic.

Atlantis has been using its thrusters to keep the station oriented until the problem can be solved.

Original Source: NASA Status report

June 14, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Sorry Pluto, Eris is Bigger

For those of you hoping that Pluto the dwarf planet would get its full planethood status restored again, the news isn’t looking good. The most recent observations peg the newly discovered dwarf planet Eris as being 27% more massive. And if Pluto is a planet again, shouldn’t the even larger Eris get to be a planet too? Should we have 8 planets, or 10 or 20? Oh, it’s madness.

The latest observations were made by discoverer Mike Brown and his planet hunting team. They made detailed observations using the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory, and concluded that Eris has a density of about two grams per cubic centimetre; a mixture of ice and rock that matches the density of Pluto. Since its diameter is 2,400 km (1,500 miles), that pushes it above the mass of Pluto.

And Eris is much colder. Since it’s 97 astronomical units (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) away from the Sun, its average temperatures hover around -240 degrees Celsius (-400 degrees Fahrenheit). During its elliptical orbit, the dwarf planet can sweep in getting as close as 38 astronomical units.

Researchers think the planet is covered in a layer of methane that seeped out from inside the planet and then froze on the surface. This methane has then undergone a chemical transformation in the solar radiation, turning yellowish. The planet also has a moon, 150-km (93-mile) diameter Dysnomia. It orbits Eris every 16 days.

Original Source: Caltech News Release

Here are some interesting Pluto facts.

June 14, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Astrosphere for June 14, 2007

Before we proceed with this week’s astrosphere, I’d like to draw your attention to the Carnival of Space #7, held over at Pamela’s Starstryder blog. Many many great stories, from blogs you should check out.

Today’s astrophoto from the Bad Astronomy/Universe Today forum comes from forum member Paul Campbell. Normally he’s shooting from behind a telescope, but this time he captured the Moon, Venus and the Pleiades star cluster, all in one image.

Emily Lakdawalla from the Planetary Society has some cool information on Saturn’s tiny moon Atlas.

Ever wonder how much time you’ve lost or gained from time dilation due to your relativistic movements? Not much, but you can calculate it. Thanks to Stuart for the link.

Do entangled particles communicate through time travel? Maybe, maybe not, but concerned citizens on the Internet raised the cash to continue research on a idea that was considered crazy. I love this kind of thing.

June 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Two More of Saturn’s Moons are Blasting Out Particles

One of Cassini’s greatest discoveries has been the ice geysers pouring out of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It appears, that this icy moon isn’t alone. Two other Saturnian moons are generating great gouts of icy particles too, suggesting that they might be active geologically.

In addition to the particles tracked back to Enceladus, Cassini’s instruments picked up a stream of particles that originated from Tethys and Dione.

Future flybys are planned for Tethys and Dione, so Cassini will be able to get a closer look in the future. Until then, researchers will have to go back and take another look at the data gathered when the spacecraft made its flybys in 2005.

Original Source: ESA News Release

June 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Life’s Building Blocks Can Survive a Supernova

Here’s a cool photograph of supernova remnant N132D. It’s actually a composite image, made up of pictures gathered by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The remnant is located approximately 163,000 light-years away in the neighbouring galaxy: the Large Magellanic Cloud.

An interesting discovery in this research is that one of life’s building blocks, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), seem to survive the supernova explosion. These carbon and hydrogen compounds are true space survivors; they’re found in comets, in star-forming regions and planetary disks, and now… in supernovae.

Original Source: Chandra News Release

June 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

More Evidence for an Ancient Ocean on Mars

Planetary geologists have been puzzled by a strange paradox on Mars. Images of the planet show several shorelines where there much have once been ancient oceans on the Red Planet. But these shorelines vary in elevation by kilometres in some cases. How could the height of these shores change by such an amount?

Researchers think they have the answer: the planet tumbled in the past.

Just like the Earth, Mars is wider around its equator than it is from pole to pole. At some point, several billion years ago, when the planet still had an ocean, it experienced a redistribution in its mass. Perhaps this came from a series of volcanic eruptions, such as the ones that created the Tharsis Bulge and Olympus Mons. This additional mass caused the planet to rebalance its spin, shifting its pole 50 degrees away from its position.

Parts of the planet which were once at the poles were moved closer to the equator, and vice versa. This could explain the dramatically shifting sea levels. And then when the oceans disappeared, absorbed into the Martian interior, or blown away by the solar wind, the poles shifted again to their current position.

The research, carried out by scientists from UC Berkeley is published in the most current edition of the journal Nature.

Original Source: UC Berkeley News Release

June 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

ExoMars Rover on Track for 2013 Launch

There are only two rovers operating on the surface of Mars right now, but over the next few years, the Red Planet is going to be crawling with robots from Earth. From NASA, we’ll see the Mars Phoenix Lander, and the Mars Science Laboratory, but one of the most interesting missions occurs in 2013 with the European ExoMars mission. This week, its funding agencies renewed their commitment to the mission, and amazingly, encouraged designers to think even bigger.

On the surface, the ExoMars rover looks similar to NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers, with a six-wheeled design and outstretched solar wings. It also has a set of cameras on a raised boom, giving it the ability to look around. It will be equipped with a suite of scientific instruments designed to search for life on the surface of Mars.

Project teams were recently given the authorization to design a version of the rover with a weight of 205 kg (450 pounds); so massive that it can only be launched on a heavy-lift vehicle like the Ariane 5 rocket. This is a larger, and much more expensive version than what was originally approved by the space agency’s members in 2005.

If all goes well, ExoMars will arrive on the surface of Mars in September, 2014, landing with a vented airbag system similar to what was used by Spirit and Opportunity. Unlike the Mars rovers, which were looking for past evidence of water, ExoMars is primarily looking for life, with a suite of instruments designed to detect the chemical traces of life in the Martian soil.

Here’s a link to the ExoMars homepage.

Original Source: STFC News Release

June 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Hidden Planet Disturbs a Ring of Dust

You can’t see it, but there’s a Neptune-sized planet hidden in a ring of dust around the star Fomalhaut. At least, this is according to new research from the University of Rochester. A recent photograph taken by Hubble shows that this ring around Fomalhaut is slightly off-centre, and nobody knew why, until now.

Protoplanetary rings have been discovered around many newly forming stars. As the star matures, its powerful solar wind kicks in, blowing out all the remaining dust and gas that helped form the planets. In the case of Fomalhaut, this ring is elliptical, with the parent star off to one side.

To give the ring this elliptical shape, researcher Alice Quillen determined that a Neptune-sized planet must be tucked up right against the inner side of this ring. Its gravity is tossing dust in the area out of orbit. How this planet got into an elliptical orbit is a bit of a mystery, though. Usually planets form in nice circular disks, which translate to circular orbits.

Original Source: University of Rochester News Release

June 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Three Gorges Dam from Space

When it’s finally completed in 2009, China’s Three Gorges Dam will be a colossal man made structure. But even partially completed, it’s already a dramatic change to the region; it’s even visible from space with the unaided eye. NASA’s space satellites have been tracking the construction since it began in 1994, and NASA has released an animation that shows both the dam today, and the changes over time.

The Yangtze River is the third largest river in the world, reaching 6,200 km (3,900 miles) across China. The river is prone to flooding, and overflows its banks every 10 years or so. The dam is designed to control this flooding, protecting inhabitants down river, as well as producing a tremendous amount of electricity.

When it’s fully operational, the dam will produce 20 times the electricity of the Hoover Dam, and allow huge freighters to travel into the Chinese interior, delivering supplies and retrieving manufactured goods.

The construction of the dam has also had a serious impact on the local environment, flooding out residents, changing rainfall patterns, and concentrating pollution.

Original Source: NASA News Release