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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Mineralogy of Potential Lunar Exploration Site

    March 2, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A new study shows four distinct compositional regions within and around the Moon's largest impact basin. The findings could help guide future exploration of the basin. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

    A new study shows four distinct compositional regions within and around the Moon’s largest impact basin. The findings could help guide future exploration of the basin. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

    Scientists have long wanted to retrieve rock samples from the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin, and a new study could be helpful in locating an ideal landing site. A detailed study of a giant impact crater on the Moon’s far side could provide a roadmap for future lunar explorers.

    The study, by planetary scientists from Brown University, maps the mineralogy of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, a gash in the lunar surface with a diameter of ~2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles)...

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    Search for 1st Stars uncovers ‘Dark Matter’

    March 1, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Pattern of radio waves on the sky caused by the combination of radiation from the first stars and the effect of dark matter. Blue regions are those where the dark matter cooled down the ordinary matter most strongly. If a similar pattern is detected with new radio telescopes over the next few years, this will confirm that the first stars have revealed the dark matter. Credit: Prof. Rennan Barkana.

    Pattern of radio waves on the sky caused by the combination of radiation from the first stars and the effect of dark matter. Blue regions are those where the dark matter cooled down the ordinary matter most strongly. If a similar pattern is detected with new radio telescopes over the next few years, this will confirm that the first stars have revealed the dark matter. Credit: Prof. Rennan Barkana.

    Discovery offers first direct proof that dark matter exists and that it is made up of low-mass particles. A team of astronomers led by Prof...

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    Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe.

    March 1, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A timeline of the universe, updated to show when the first stars emerged. This updated timeline of the universe reflects the recent discovery that the first stars emerged by 180 million years after the Big Bang. The research behind this timeline was conducted by Judd Bowman of Arizona State University and his colleagues, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Credit: N.R.Fuller, National Science Foundation

    A timeline of the universe, updated to show when the first stars emerged. This updated timeline of the universe reflects the recent discovery that the first stars emerged by 180 million years after the Big Bang. The research behind this timeline was conducted by Judd Bowman of Arizona State University and his colleagues, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Credit: N.R.Fuller, National Science Foundation

    Within 180 million years of the Big Bang, Stars were Born. After 12 years of experimental effort, a team of scientists, led by Arizona State University astronomer Judd Bowman, has detected the fingerprints of the earliest stars in the universe...

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    How the Moon formed inside a Vaporized Earth Synestia

    March 1, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This artist's rendering shows the hot, molten Moon emerging from a synestia, a giant spinning donut of vaporized rock that formed when planet-sized objects collided. The synestia is in the process of condensing to form the Earth. This new model for the Moon's origin answers outstanding questions about how the Moon's composition compares to that of Earth. Credit: Image by Sarah Stewart/UC Davis based on NASA rendering.

    This artist’s rendering shows the hot, molten Moon emerging from a synestia, a giant spinning donut of vaporized rock that formed when planet-sized objects collided. The synestia is in the process of condensing to form the Earth. This new model for the Moon’s origin answers outstanding questions about how the Moon’s composition compares to that of Earth. Credit: Image by Sarah Stewart/UC Davis based on NASA rendering.

    A new explanation for the Moon’s origin has it forming inside the Earth when our planet was a seething, spinning cloud of vaporized rock, called a synestia. The new model led by researchers at the University of California, Davis and Harvard University resolves several problems in lunar formation...

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