After the terrible tsunami damage caused by the Sumatra earthquake in December 2004, scientists have been searching for strategies to predict future killer waves. A team of university scientists have shown that Global Positioning System software developed at NASA can determine within minutes if an earthquake is strong enough to generate an ocean-wide tsunami. Ground stations within a few thousand kilometres of the earthquake can actually measure their displacement using the GPS satellites. If they’ve moved enough, there’s a high risk of a tsunami.
Continue reading “GPS Can Predict Tsunamis”
Saturn’s Tiny Moon Polydeuces
We’re accustomed to seeing photographs of Saturn’s larger moons, like Titan, Dione and Enceladus. Here’s an image of one of its smallest: newly discovered Polydeuces. This moon is only 3 km (2 miles) across, and shares the same orbit as much larger Dione. Cassini took this photo on May 22, 2006 when it was approximately 73,000 kilometers (45,000 miles) away.
Continue reading “Saturn’s Tiny Moon Polydeuces”
First West Coast Delta IV Launch is Successful
A Boeing Delta IV rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Wednesday, carrying a surveillance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. This is the first time that a Delta IV has been launched from the military’s California facility; normally they launch from Florida. The satellite has been identified as NROL-22, but no other details about its function or capabilities were announced.
Continue reading “First West Coast Delta IV Launch is Successful”
Two Dust Disks Around Beta Pictoris
Detailed photographs of nearby star Beta Pictoris by the Hubble Space Telescope show that it’s circled by two disks of dust. Astronomers believe that a planet with the mass of Jupiter is using its gravity to sweep up material from the primary disk. Additional material is attracted to the planet, and is shaped into a second disk. The dust disk was first discovered by ground telescopes in 1984, and then seen by Hubble in 1995.
Continue reading “Two Dust Disks Around Beta Pictoris”
Double Vortex at Venus’ South Pole
New images from ESA’s Venus Express confirm that the cloud-covered planet has twin atmospheric vortexes at its southern pole. Previous missions to Venus saw stormy southern skies, but these images map out the shape of the double vortex in detail. High velocity winds take only 4 days to spin around Venus. This “super rotation” combines with the natural recycling of hot air to create this vortex structure. Scientists aren’t exactly sure why it’s creating a double vortex, though.
Continue reading “Double Vortex at Venus’ South Pole”
Rotating Disk Could Contain Newly Forming Planets
Astronomers from the University of St. Andrews have found evidence that a ring of dust around nearby Epsilon Eridani is rotating. The observations were made using the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA), which images the sky in the near infrared spectrum. This gives evidence to the theory that the disks of gas we see around newborn stars will eventually go on to become planets. In fact, the clumps of material tracked by the astronomers could even be newly forming planets themselves, still embedded in a vast disk of gas and dust.
Continue reading “Rotating Disk Could Contain Newly Forming Planets”
Astrophoto: Just North of Antares by Steve Crouch
When you gaze towards a clear moonless night sky, the stars appear as points of light – most are colorless. There are a few exceptions, however: Mars, Aldebaran and the star at the heart of the constellation Scorpius, Antares, can be seen to have a very slight reddish hue. Through a small telescope, star and planetary colors become more apparent but galaxies and nebulas remain un-pigmented and monochromatic. These objects begin to take on a greenish ting when viewed through very large telescopes but rarely show the rainbow of hues seen in many deep space pictures, like the one shown here.
Continue reading “Astrophoto: Just North of Antares by Steve Crouch”
Enceladus and Janus
This photograph, captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Janus. Also visible is Saturn’s F ring, including the bright core which is about 50 km wide, and contains many features of its own. Cassini took this photograph on May 21, 2006 when it was approximately 565,000 kilometers (351,000 miles) from Janus and 702,000 kilometers (436,000 miles) from Enceladus.
Continue reading “Enceladus and Janus”
Test Firing for Vega’s Second Stage
ESA’s new Vega launcher completed another milestone this week with the test firing of its Zefiro 23 second stage solid motor. The test was done at the Italian Ministry of Defence’s test centre on Sardinia. The 7.5 metre (25 foot) engine delivered more than 100 metric tonnes (220,000 pounds) of thrust, consuming its fuel in 75 seconds. Vega is designed to launch smaller payloads into lower orbits, and will serve the small satellite launch market.
Continue reading “Test Firing for Vega’s Second Stage”
Book Review: The Cosmic Landscape
When you think you have all the answers, it’s time to stretch boundaries. Physicists get to do this all the time, and their boundaries seem to have no end. Leonard Susskind in his book The Cosmic Landscape takes the reader along to share his perceptions of the ultimate boundary; the one about our universe. However, rather than stretching the boundary, it’s about the existence of a boundary itself that keeps that makes this book well strung together.
Continue reading “Book Review: The Cosmic Landscape”