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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Curious Tilt of the Sun traced to Undiscovered Planet

    October 21, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist’s illustration of a possible ninth planet in our solar system. A recent study has revealed that the unexpected behavior of some Kuiper belt objects could be explained by the presence of a distant, planet-sized object yet undetected in our solar system. Credit: Caltech/Robert Hurt

    Artist’s illustration of a possible ninth planet in our solar system. A recent study has revealed that the unexpected behavior of some Kuiper belt objects could be explained by the presence of a distant, planet-sized object yet undetected in our solar system. Credit: Caltech/Robert Hurt

    Planet Nine the undiscovered planet at the edge of the solar system that was predicted by the work of Caltech’s Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown in January 2016 appears to be responsible for the unusual tilt of the Sun, according to a new study. The large and distant planet may be adding a wobble to the solar system, giving the appearance that the Sun is tilted slightly...

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    ExoMars Lander Descent Data: Decoding underway

    October 21, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist impression of the Schiaparelli module after the parachute has been deployed. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

    Artist impression of the Schiaparelli module after the parachute has been deployed. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

    Essential data from ExoMars Schiaparelli lander sent to its mothership Trace Gas Orbiter, TGO during the module’s descent to the Red Planet’s surface yesterday has been downlinked to Earth and is currently being analysed by experts. Early indications from both the radio signals captured by the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), an experimental telescope array located near Pune, India, and from orbit by ESA’s Mars Express, suggested the module had successfully completed most steps of its 6-minute descent through the martian atmosphere. This included the deceleration through the atmosphere, and the parachute and heat shield deployment, for example.

    But the signals recorded by bot...

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    Possible Clouds on Pluto, next target is Reddish

    October 20, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This image shows atomic hydrogen scattering sunlight in the upper atmosphere of Mars, as seen by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission. About 400,000 observations, taken over the course of four days shortly after the spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, were used to create the image. Hydrogen is produced by the breakdown of water, which was once abundant on Mars' surface. Because hydrogen has low atomic mass and is weakly bound by gravity, it extends far from the planet (the darkened circle) and can readily escape. Credit: NASA/University of Colorado

    This image shows atomic hydrogen scattering sunlight in the upper atmosphere of Mars, as seen by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission. About 400,000 observations, taken over the course of four days shortly after the spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, were used to create the image. Hydrogen is produced by the breakdown of water, which was once abundant on Mars’ surface. Because hydrogen has low atomic mass and is weakly bound by gravity, it extends far from the planet (the darkened circle) and can readily escape. Credit: NASA/University of Colorado

    The next target for NASA’s New Horizons mission – which made a historic flight past Pluto in July 2015 – apparently bears a colorful resemblance to its famous, main destination...

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    Possible Clouds on Pluto, next target is Reddish

    October 20, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Partly Cloudy on Pluto? Pluto's present, hazy atmosphere is almost entirely free of clouds, though scientists from NASA's New Horizons mission have identified some cloud candidates after examining images taken by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager and Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera, during the spacecraft's July 2015 flight through the Pluto system. All are low-lying, isolated small features--no broad cloud decks or fields -- and while none of the features can be confirmed with stereo imaging, scientists say they are suggestive of possible, rare condensation clouds. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

    Partly Cloudy on Pluto? Pluto’s present, hazy atmosphere is almost entirely free of clouds, though scientists from NASA’s New Horizons mission have identified some cloud candidates after examining images taken by the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager and Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera, during the spacecraft’s July 2015 flight through the Pluto system. All are low-lying, isolated small features–no broad cloud decks or fields — and while none of the features can be confirmed with stereo imaging, scientists say they are suggestive of possible, rare condensation clouds. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

    The next target for NASA’s New Horizons mission – which made a historic flight past Pluto in July 2015 – apparently bears a colorful resemblance to its famous, main destination...

    Read More