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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Venus’s turbulent atmosphere

    July 26, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1. The atmospheric superrotation at the upper clouds of Venus. While the superrotation is present in both day and night sides of Venus, it seems more uniform in the day (AKATSUKI-UVI image at 360 nm, right side), while in the night this seems to become more irregular and unpredictable (composite of Venus Express/VIRTIS images ar 3.8 μm, left). Credit: JAXA, ESA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R. Hueso (UPV/EHU) 2. Examples of new types of cloud morphology discovered on the night side of Venus thanks to Venus Express (ESA) and the infrared telescope IRTF (NASA): stationary waves (Venus Express, up-left corner), "net" patterns (IRTF, up-right), mysterious filaments (Venus Express, down-left) and dynamical instabilities (Venus Express, down-right). CREDIT ESA, NASA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R. Hueso (UPV/EHU)

    1. The atmospheric superrotation at the upper clouds of Venus. While the superrotation is present in both day and night sides of Venus, it seems more uniform in the day (AKATSUKI-UVI image at 360 nm, right side), while in the night this seems to become more irregular and unpredictable (composite of Venus Express/VIRTIS images ar 3.8 μm, left). Credit: JAXA, ESA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R. Hueso (UPV/EHU)
    2. Examples of new types of cloud morphology discovered on the night side of Venus thanks to Venus Express (ESA) and the infrared telescope IRTF (NASA): stationary waves (Venus Express, up-left corner), “net” patterns (IRTF, up-right), mysterious filaments (Venus Express, down-left) and dynamical instabilities (Venus Express, down-right).
    CREDIT: ESA, NASA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R...

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    Cosmologists Produce new Maps of Dark Matter Dynamics

    July 25, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Cosmologists produce new maps of dark matter dynamics

    Slice through the celestial equator showing the radial component of the velocity field (in kilometres per second). Blue regions are falling towards us and red regions are flying away from us. Galaxies of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey main galaxy sample are overplotted. In the centre of the slice, the infalling dynamics of the Sloan Great Wall, one of the largest structure of the known universe, can be observed. Credit: University of Portsmouth

    New maps of dark matter dynamics in the Universe have been produced by a team of international cosmologists.Using advanced computer modelling techniques, the team has translated the distribution of galaxies into detailed maps of matter streams and velocities for the first time...

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    Turbulence in planetary cores excited by tides

    July 25, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    © Thomas Le Reun / Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre (IRPHE, CNRS/Aix Marseille Université/Centrale Marseille). Left: simulation of a cubic parcel located in the liquid core of a planet disturbed by tidal effects. By focusing their electronic analysis on this reduced domain, researchers have accessed regimes similar to planetary regimes. The flow takes the shape of superimposed waves that interact non-linearly until forming three-dimensional wave inertia turbulence (see vertical vorticity field in the center), by contrast with models where flow becomes larger-scale turbulence structures aligned with the axis of rotation (see vertical vorticity field on the right).

    © Thomas Le Reun / Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre (IRPHE, CNRS/Aix Marseille Université/Centrale Marseille). Left: simulation of a cubic parcel located in the liquid core of a planet disturbed by tidal effects. By focusing their electronic analysis on this reduced domain, researchers have accessed regimes similar to planetary regimes. The flow takes the shape of superimposed waves that interact non-linearly until forming three-dimensional wave inertia turbulence (see vertical vorticity field in the center), by contrast with models where flow becomes larger-scale turbulence structures aligned with the axis of rotation (see vertical vorticity field on the right).

     
    Veritable shields against high-energy particles, planets’ magnetic fields are produced by i...
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    Scientists Spy New Evidence of Water in the Moon’s Interior

    July 24, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Scientists spy new evidence of water in the moon's interior

    Evidence from ancient volcanic deposits suggests that lunar magma contained substantial amounts of water, bolstering the idea that the moon’s interior is water-rich. Credit: Olga Prilipko Huber

    A new study of satellite data finds that numerous volcanic deposits distributed across the surface of the Moon contain unusually high amounts of trapped water compared with surrounding terrains. The finding of water in these ancient deposits, which are believed to consist of glass beads formed by the explosive eruption of magma coming from the deep lunar interior, bolsters the idea that the lunar mantle is surprisingly water-rich.

    Scientists had assumed for years that the interior of the Moon had been largely depleted of water and other volatile compounds...

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