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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Modeling offers new Perspective on how Pluto’s ‘Icy heart’ came to be

    December 1, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Pluto, shown here in the front of this false-color image, has a bright ice-covered 'heart.' The left, roughly oval lobe is the basin provisionally named Sputnik Planitia. Sputnik Planitia appears directly opposite Pluto's moon, Charon (back). Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

    Pluto, shown here in the front of this false-color image, has a bright ice-covered ‘heart.’ The left, roughly oval lobe is the basin provisionally named Sputnik Planitia. Sputnik Planitia appears directly opposite Pluto’s moon, Charon (back). Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

    Heart’s location and Charon’s existence led to heart’s formation. Pluto’s “icy heart” is a bright, two-lobed feature on its surface that has attracted researchers ever since its discovery by the NASA New Horizons team in 2015. Of particular interest is the heart’s western lobe, informally named Sputnik Planitia, a deep basin containing 3 kinds of ices – frozen nitrogen, methane and CO — and appearing opposite Charon, Pluto’s tidally locked moon...

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    New design of Neutron Spectrometer being tested for Manned Spaceflight

    November 30, 2016, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    The Fast Neutron Spectrometer with a cover removed to show the circuitry inside. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Alabama Huntsville

    The Fast Neutron Spectrometer with a cover removed to show the circuitry inside. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Alabama Huntsville

    The Fast Neutron Spectrometer (FNS) is now aboard the International Space Station. Neutrons contribute to crew radiation exposure and must be measured to assess exposure levels. The FNS, developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Johnson Space Center (JSC), uses a new instrument design that can significantly improve the reliability of identifying neutrons in the mixed radiation field found in deep space. The MSFC principle investigator and team lead is Mark Christl. The NASA JSC project manager is Catherine Mcleod and the technical lead is Eddie Semones at NASA JSC.

    “Our technique improves upon the well-establish ‘capture-gated’ method...

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    First Signs of Weird Quantum Property of Empty Space?

    November 30, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This artist's view shows how the light coming from the surface of a strongly magnetic neutron star (left) becomes linearly polarised as it travels through the vacuum of space close to the star on its way to the observer on Earth (right). The polarisation of the observed light in the extremely strong magnetic field suggests that the empty space around the neutron star is subject to a quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence, a prediction of quantum electrodynamics (QED). The magnetic and electric field directions of the light rays are shown by the red and blue lines. Model simulations by Roberto Taverna (University of Padua, Italy) and Denis Gonzalez Caniulef (UCL/MSSL, UK) show how these align along a preferred direction as the light passes through the region around the neutron star. As they become aligned the light becomes polarised, and this polarisation can be detected by sensitive instruments on Earth. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

    This artist’s view shows how the light coming from the surface of a strongly magnetic neutron star (left) becomes linearly polarised as it travels through the vacuum of space close to the star on its way to the observer on Earth (right). The polarisation of the observed light in the extremely strong magnetic field suggests that the empty space around the neutron star is subject to a quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence, a prediction of quantum electrodynamics (QED). The magnetic and electric field directions of the light rays are shown by the red and blue lines. Model simulations by Roberto Taverna (University of Padua, Italy) and Denis Gonzalez Caniulef (UCL/MSSL, UK) show how these align along a preferred direction as the light passes through the region around the neutron star...

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    Timing the Shadow of a potentially Habitable Extrasolar Planet paves the way to search for Alien Life

    November 29, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    K2-3dAbstract

    This collage summarizes the research. Using the Okayama 188-cm Reflector Telescope and the observational instrument MuSCAT (See real photo on the bottom left.), researchers succeeded in observing the extrasolar planet K2-3d, which is about the same size and temperature as the Earth, pass in front of its host star blocking some of the light coming from the star (See artistic visualization at the top.), making it appear to dim (See real data on the bottom right.).(credit: NAOJ)

    NAOJ, University of Tokyo, and Astrobiology Center among others havve observed the transit of a potentially Earth-like extrasolar planet, K2-3d using the MuSCAT instrument on the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory 188-cm telescope...

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