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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Astronomers find Exoplanet Atmosphere Free of Clouds

    May 8, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    WASP-18b is a 'hot Jupiter' located 325 light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA/GSFC

    WASP-18b is a ‘hot Jupiter’ located 325 light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA/GSFC

    An international team of astronomers, led by Dr Nikolay Nikolov from the University of Exeter, have found that the atmosphere of the ‘hot Saturn’ WASP-96b is cloud-free. Using Europe’s 8.2m Very Large Telescope in Chile, the team studied the atmosphere of WASP-96b when the planet passed in front of its host-star. This enabled the team to measure the decrease of starlight caused by the planet and its atmosphere, and thereby determine the planet’s atmospheric composition.

    Just like an individual’s fingerprints are unique, atoms and molecules have a unique spectral characteristic that can be used to detect their presence in celestial objects...

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    What Will Happen when our Sun Dies?

    May 7, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Abell 39, the 39th entry in a catalog of large nebulae discovered by George Abell in 1966, is a beautiful example of a planetary nebula. It was chosen for study by George Jacoby (WIYN Observatory), Gary Ferland (University of Kentucky), and Kirk Korista (Western Michigan University) because of its beautiful and rare spherical symmetry. This picture was taken at the WIYN Observatory's 3.5-m (138-inch) telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ, in 1997 through a blue-green filter that isolates the light emitted by oxygen atoms in the nebula at a wavelength of 500.7 nanometers. The nebula has a diameter of about five light-years, and the thickness of the spherical shell is about a third of a light-year. The nebula itself is roughly 7,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Hercules. Credit: T.A.Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOAO/AURA/NSF) and B.A.Wolpa (NOAO/AURA/NSF) WIYN

    Abell 39, the 39th entry in a catalog of large nebulae discovered by George Abell in 1966, is a beautiful example of a planetary nebula. It was chosen for study by George Jacoby (WIYN Observatory), Gary Ferland (University of Kentucky), and Kirk Korista (Western Michigan University) because of its beautiful and rare spherical symmetry. This picture was taken at the WIYN Observatory’s 3.5-m (138-inch) telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ, in 1997 through a blue-green filter that isolates the light emitted by oxygen atoms in the nebula at a wavelength of 500.7 nanometers. The nebula has a diameter of about five light-years, and the thickness of the spherical shell is about a third of a light-year...

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    May the forest be with you: GEDI moves toward Launch to Space station

    May 7, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Gedi mission

    The Jedi knights may help protect a galaxy far, far away, but our GEDI will help us study and understand forest changes right here on Earth. Credits: NASA

    A first-of-its-kind laser instrument designed to map the world’s forests in 3D is moving toward an earlier launch to the International Space Station than previously expected. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation – or GEDI, pronounced like “Jedi,” of Star Wars fame – instrument is undergoing final integration and testing this spring and summer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The instrument is expected to launch aboard SpaceX’s 16th commercial resupply services mission, targeted for late 2018. GEDI is being led by the University of Maryland, College Park; the instrument is being built at NASA Goddard.

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    Microbes Living in a Toxic Volcanic Lake could hold clues to possible Life on Mars

    May 4, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Biology/Biotechnology

    Sarah Black, who recently completed her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at CU Boulder, collects water samples from Laguna Caliente. Credit: Brian Hynek

    Sarah Black, who recently completed her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at CU Boulder, collects water samples from Laguna Caliente. Credit: Brian Hynek

    Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered microbes living in a toxic volcanic lake that may rank as one of the harshest environments on Earth. Their findings, published recently online, could guide scientists looking for signs of ancient life on Mars. The team, led by CU Boulder Associate Professor Brian Hynek, braved second-degree burns, sulfuric acid fumes and the threat of eruptions to collect samples of water from the aptly-named Laguna Caliente. Nestled in Costa Rica’s Poás Volcano, this body of water is 10 million times more acidic than tap water and can reach near boiling temperatures...

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