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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Cassini beams back 1st Images from new Orbit

    December 8, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

    This collage of images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn’s northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

    Scenes include Saturn’s hexagon-shaped jet stream. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has sent to Earth its first views of Saturn’s atmosphere since beginning the latest phase of its mission. The new images show scenes from high above Saturn’s northern hemisphere. Cassini began its new mission phase, called its Ring-Grazing Orbits, on Nov. 30. Each of these weeklong orbits – 20 in all – carries the spacecraft high above Saturn’s northern hemisphere before sending it skimming past the outer edges of the planet’s main rings.

    Cassini’s imaging cameras acquired these latest views on Dec...

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    Saturn’s Bulging Core implies Moons Younger than thought

    December 8, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Saturn and moons. A quintet of Saturn's moons come together in this portrait from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Janus is seen on the far left, Pandora orbits near the middle, Enceladus appears above the center, and Rhea and Mimas are seen on the right side. A quintet of Saturn's moons come together in the Cassini spacecraft's field of view for this portrait. Janus (179 kilometers, or 111 miles across) is on the far left. Pandora (81 kilometers, or 50 miles across) orbits between the A ring and the thin F ring near the middle of the image. Brightly reflective Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles across) appears above the center of the image. Saturn's second largest moon, Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), is bisected by the right edge of the image. The smaller moon Mimas (396 kilometers, or 246 miles across) can be seen beyond Rhea also on the right side of the image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

    Saturn and moons. A quintet of Saturn’s moons come together in this portrait from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Janus is seen on the far left, Pandora orbits near the middle, Enceladus appears above the center, and Rhea and Mimas are seen on the right side. A quintet of Saturn’s moons come together in the Cassini spacecraft’s field of view for this portrait. Janus (179 kilometers, or 111 miles across) is on the far left. Pandora (81 kilometers, or 50 miles across) orbits between the A ring and the thin F ring near the middle of the image. Brightly reflective Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles across) appears above the center of the image. Saturn’s second largest moon, Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), is bisected by the right edge of the image...

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    To Mars in 70 days: NASA finally releases its paper on controversial EM Drive Propulsion system

    December 7, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Astronomy/Space

    EM Drive in forward thrust configuration. (NASA Photo)

    EM Drive in forward thrust configuration. (NASA Photo)

    After months of speculation and rumor, NASA has finally released its long-awaited research paper, published in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ peer-reviewed Journal of Propulsion and Power. If the electromagnetic technology proves sound, it could radically change the way humans travel in space, opening up the possibility of journeys to Mars in just 70 days. But there is no shortage of skeptics who are adamant that the drive is more science fiction than science fact. Critics are quick to point out that the drive violates one of the fundamental laws of physics, namely: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction...

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    Second-Generation Stars identified, giving clues about their Predecessors

    December 7, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The figure shows a sub-population of ancient stars, called Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars. These stars contain 100 to 1,000,000 times LESS iron (and other heavy elements) than the Sun, but 10 to 10,000 times MORE carbon, relative to iron. The unusual chemical compositions of these stars provides clues to their birth environments, and the nature of the stars in which the carbon formed. In the figure, A(C) is the absolute amount of carbon, while the horizontal axis represents the ratio of iron, relative to hydrogen, compared with the same ratio in the Sun. Credit: University of Notre Dame

    The figure shows a sub-population of ancient stars, called Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars. These stars contain 100 to 1,000,000 times LESS iron (and other heavy elements) than the Sun, but 10 to 10,000 times MORE carbon, relative to iron. The unusual chemical compositions of these stars provides clues to their birth environments, and the nature of the stars in which the carbon formed. In the figure, A(C) is the absolute amount of carbon, while the horizontal axis represents the ratio of iron, relative to hydrogen, compared with the same ratio in the Sun. Credit: University of Notre Dame

    University of Notre Dame astronomers have identified what they believe to be the second generation of stars, shedding light on the nature of the universe’s first stars...

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