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    Category Astronomy/Space

    A New Spin on Star-forming Galaxies

    December 15, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Regular spiral galaxies, such as the 'whirlpool galaxy' on the left, form far fewer stars than the clumpy galaxy on the right. The blue regions have the least star-forming gas and red-yellow regions have the most. Credit: Dr Danail Obreschkow, ICRAR. Image uses data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

    Regular spiral galaxies, such as the ‘whirlpool galaxy’ on the left, form far fewer stars than the clumpy galaxy on the right. The blue regions have the least star-forming gas and red-yellow regions have the most. Credit: Dr Danail Obreschkow, ICRAR. Image uses data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

    Australian researchers have discovered why some galaxies are “clumpy” rather than spiral in shape – and it appears low spin is to blame. The finding challenges an earlier theory that high levels of gas cause clumpy galaxies and sheds light on the conditions that brought about the birth of most of the stars in the Universe.

    Dr Danail Obreschkow from ICRAR, said 10B years ago the Universe was full of clumpy galaxies but these developed into more regular objects as they evolved...

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    Hubble reveals Diversity of Exoplanet Atmosphere: Largest ever comparative study solves Missing Water mystery

    December 14, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Hubble reveals diversity of exoplanet atmosphere

    Artist’s impression of the ten hot Jupiter exoplanets studied by David Sing and his colleagues. From top left to to lower left these planets are WASP-12b, WASP-6b, WASP-31b, WASP-39b, HD 189733b, HAT-P-12b, WASP-17b, WASP-19b, HAT-P-1b and HD 209458b. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

    Astronomers have used Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescope to study the atmospheres of 10 hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets in detail, the largest number of such planets ever studied. The team was able to discover why some of these worlds seem to have less water than expected—a long-standing mystery.

    To date, astronomers have discovered nearly 2000 planets orbiting other stars. Some are known as hot Jupiters, hot, gaseous planets with characteristics similar to those of Jupiter...

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    Japan Asteroid Probe enters ‘Target Orbit’ in Space Quest

    December 14, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Earlier this month the unmanned explorer, Hayabusa 2, passed by Earth to harness the planet's gravitational pull in a bid to swi

    Earlier this month the unmanned explorer, Hayabusa 2, passed by Earth to harness the planet’s gravitational pull in a bid to switch its orbital path to continue toward tiny Ryugu asteroid Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-12-japan-asteroid-probe-orbit-space.html#jCp

    It is is on its way to rendezvousing with a far away asteroid, in a quest to study the origin of the solar system, authorities said Monday. Earlier this month the unmanned explorer, Hayabusa 2, passed by Earth to harness the planet’s gravitational pull in a bid to switch its orbital path to continue toward tiny Ryugu asteroid.

    “The Hayabusa 2… entered the target orbit to travel to the asteroid,” Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement.
    Hayabusa 2 was launched a year ago aboard Japan’s main H-IIA rock...

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    NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has begun an up-close investigation of Dark sand dunes

    December 13, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    NASA Mars Rover Curiosity reaches sand dunes

    The rippled surface of the first Martian sand dune ever studied up close fills this view of “High Dune” from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Curiosity rover. This site is part of the “Bagnold Dunes” field along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp. The dunes are active, migrating up to about one yard or meter per year. The component images of this mosaic view were taken on Nov. 27, 2015, during the 1,176th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars. The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. The annotated version includes superimposed scale bars of 30 centimeters (1 foot) in the foreground and 100 centimeters (3.3 feet) in the middle distance...

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