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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Computer Model Explains Sustained Eruptions on Icy Moon of Saturn

    March 30, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This enhanced color view of Enceladus shows much of the southern hemisphere and includes the south polar terrain at the bottom of the image. Scientists at the University of Chicago and Princeton University have published a new study describing the process that drives and sustains this moon of Saturn's long-lived geysers. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

    This enhanced color view of Enceladus shows much of the southern hemisphere and includes the south polar terrain at the bottom of the image. Scientists at the University of Chicago and Princeton University have published a new study describing the process that drives and sustains this moon of Saturn’s long-lived geysers. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

    The Cassini spacecraft has observed geysers erupting on Saturn’s moon Enceladus since 2005, but the process that drives and sustains these eruptions has remained a mystery. Now, scientists at the Uni of Chicago and Princeton University have pinpointed a mechanism by which cyclical tidal stresses exerted by Saturn can drive Enceladus’s long-lived eruptions.

    Enceladus, which probably has an ocean underlying its icy surface, has someho...

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    Fog on Titan detected by Huygens lander

    March 29, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Fog on Titan detected by Huygens lander

    Credit: arXiv:1603.04413 [astro-ph.EP]

    Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, with its thick, dense atmosphere, is of special interest for scientists studying atmospheric features on other worlds. While the presence of fog on Titan was revealed in 2009 thanks to data provided by NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft, a new study shows that this phenomenon is also visible from ground observations conducted by the ESA Huygens lander.

    Huygens was released by the Cassini spacecraft and landed on Titan on January 14, 2005. It gathered crucial scientific data while descending through the nitrogen-dominated atmosphere for 2.5 hours and transmitted a signal for about 70 minutes after touchdown before contact was lost...

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    Oddball Planet raises questions about Origins of ‘Hot Jupiters’

    March 29, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    HD 80606 b (rendered here) stands out amid the hundreds of exoplanets discovered recently because of its highly eccentric orbit. Researchers have studied how the planet's temperature changes as it approaches, sweeps by, and moves away from its star. HD 80606 b (rendered here) stands out amid the hundreds of exoplanets discovered recently because of its highly eccentric orbit. Researchers have studied how the planet's temperature changes as it approaches, sweeps by, and moves away from its star. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers and JPL

    HD 80606 b (rendered here) stands out amid the hundreds of exoplanets discovered recently because of its highly eccentric orbit. Researchers have studied how the planet’s temperature changes as it approaches, sweeps by, and moves away from its star. HD 80606 b (rendered here) stands out amid the hundreds of exoplanets discovered recently because of its highly eccentric orbit. Researchers have studied how the planet’s temperature changes as it approaches, sweeps by, and moves away from its star. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers and JPL

    Observations of an extreme-weather planet raise questions about hot Jupiters’ origins. Scientists have observed an exoplanet by the name of HD 80606 b...

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    Searching for Life beyond earth: 1s Scientific Roadmap for European Astrobiology

    March 28, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Biology/Biotechnology

    The first scientific Roadmap for European Astrobiology was published on 21 March 2016. This strategic landmark for European astrobiology was produced through the European Commission-funded AstRoMap project (2013-2015). In putting this research roadmap document together, the 19 authors relied on the outcome and findings of the AstRoMap project as well as on wide community consultation and four disciplinary workshops organised between 2013 and 2014. The AstRoMap European Astrobiology Roadmap considers astrobiology in a wide context: it is understood as the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the context of cosmic evolution; this includes habitability in the Solar System and beyond...

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