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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Newly Formed Craters Located on Mars

    September 22, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The largest crater is approximately 5.7 meters (nearly 19 feet) in diameter, while the smallest crater spans less than a meter (three feet). Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona.

    These craters hold interesting clues about the planet’s atmosphere and interior, including how it formed and evolved over time. An international team of researchers with NASA’s InSight mission located four new craters created by impacts on the surface of Mars. Using data from a seismometer and visuals acquired from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the team successfully calculated and confirmed the impact locations. This is the first time that researchers have been able to capture the dynamics of an impact on Mars...

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    First 3D renders from JunoCam data reveal ‘Frosted Cupcake’ Clouds on Jupiter

    September 22, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    First 3D renders from JunoCam data reveal “frosted cupcake” clouds on Jupiter
    Intensity data of visible light seen by a camera can be plotted as a 3D elevation landscape. This is a still from a computer animation showing a flight over such a landscape for processed, red-filtered image data collected by JunoCam, the wide-angle visible light imager of NASA’s Juno spacecraft, during its 43rd close Jupiter flyby. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt

    Animations of the relative heights of the cloud tops of Jupiter reveal delicately textured swirls and peaks that resemble the frosting on top of a cupcake. The results have been presented today by citizen scientist and professional mathematician and software developer, Gerald Eichstädt, at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada.

    The animation uses data from JunoCam, the visible...

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    Center of the Coma Cluster Explored with AstroSat

    September 21, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Center of the Coma cluster explored with AstroSat
    A Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Spitzer Space Telescope mosaic of the Coma Cluster in long-wavelength infrared (red), short-wavelength infrared (green), and visible light. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Jenkins (GSFC).

    Using India’s AstroSat spacecraft, astronomers have investigated a central field of a cluster of galaxies known as the Coma cluster. Results of the study, presented in a paper published September 13 on arXiv.org, deliver important insights into the properties and nature of this galaxy cluster.

    Galaxy clusters contain up to thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. They are the largest known gravitationally bound structures in the universe, and could serve as excellent laboratories for studying galaxy evolution and cosmology.

    At a distance of about 321 million light ...

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    Researcher Helps Identify New Evidence for Habitability in Ocean of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

    September 20, 2022, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Enceladus logo graphic
    SwRI Lead Scientist Dr. Christopher Glein contributed to new findings that phosphorus in the form of orthophosphate (e.g., HPO4-2) is likely abundant in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

    The search for extraterrestrial life has just become more interesting as a team of scientists, including Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Christopher Glein, has discovered new evidence for a key building block for life in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. New modeling indicates that Enceladus’s ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential ingredient for life.

    “Enceladus is one of the prime targets in humanity’s search for life in our solar system,” said Glein, a leading expert in extraterrestrial oceanography...

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