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    Meteorite tells us that Mars had a Dense Atmosphere 4 billion years ago

    October 4, 2017, Categories  Uncategorized

    The figure shows how surface air pressure changed throughout Martian history. A bar at 4 billion years ago denotes a lower limit shown by this study. Constraints suggested by other studies are also shown by arrows. Credit: Image courtesy of

    The figure shows how surface air pressure changed throughout Martian history. A bar at 4 billion years ago denotes a lower limit shown by this study. Constraints suggested by other studies are also shown by arrows. Credit: Image courtesy of

    Exploration missions have suggested that Mars once had a warm climate, which sustained oceans on its surface. To keep Mars warm requires a dense atmosphere with a sufficient greenhouse effect, while the present-day Mars has a thin atmosphere whose surface pressure is only 0.006 bar, resulting in the cold climate it has today. It has been a big mystery as to when and how Mars lost its dense atmosphere.

    An old meteorite has been known to contain the ancient Martian atmosphere...

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    Venus’s turbulent atmosphere

    July 26, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1. The atmospheric superrotation at the upper clouds of Venus. While the superrotation is present in both day and night sides of Venus, it seems more uniform in the day (AKATSUKI-UVI image at 360 nm, right side), while in the night this seems to become more irregular and unpredictable (composite of Venus Express/VIRTIS images ar 3.8 μm, left). Credit: JAXA, ESA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R. Hueso (UPV/EHU) 2. Examples of new types of cloud morphology discovered on the night side of Venus thanks to Venus Express (ESA) and the infrared telescope IRTF (NASA): stationary waves (Venus Express, up-left corner), "net" patterns (IRTF, up-right), mysterious filaments (Venus Express, down-left) and dynamical instabilities (Venus Express, down-right). CREDIT ESA, NASA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R. Hueso (UPV/EHU)

    1. The atmospheric superrotation at the upper clouds of Venus. While the superrotation is present in both day and night sides of Venus, it seems more uniform in the day (AKATSUKI-UVI image at 360 nm, right side), while in the night this seems to become more irregular and unpredictable (composite of Venus Express/VIRTIS images ar 3.8 μm, left). Credit: JAXA, ESA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R. Hueso (UPV/EHU)
    2. Examples of new types of cloud morphology discovered on the night side of Venus thanks to Venus Express (ESA) and the infrared telescope IRTF (NASA): stationary waves (Venus Express, up-left corner), “net” patterns (IRTF, up-right), mysterious filaments (Venus Express, down-left) and dynamical instabilities (Venus Express, down-right).
    CREDIT: ESA, NASA, J. Peralta (JAXA) and R...

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    Small Satellite deployed from the Space Station

    January 2, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A satellite is ejected from the JAXA Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on the International Space Station.

    A satellite is ejected from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on the ISS

    A satellite was ejected from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on the International Space Station on Dec. 19, 2016. The satellite is actually 2 small satellites that, once at a safe distance from the station, separated from each other, but were still connected by a 100m-long Kevlar tether. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson helped the JAXA ground team to deploy the satellite, Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite (STARS-C). Once deployed, STARS-C will point toward Earth and use a spring system and gravitational forces to separate, pushing one satellite closer to the planet...

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    A New Look at the Galaxy-Shaping Power of Black Holes

    July 7, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Visible light and x-ray images of the Perseus cluster of galaxies

    Two images show the Perseus cluster of galaxies. The image on the left shows a close up image of active galaxy NGC 1275, the central, dominant member of the Perseus cluster (credit: Data – Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing – Al Kelly). The image on the right shows the cluster using an X-ray telescope revealing the atmosphere of plasma enveloping the whole galaxy cluster.

    Data from a now-defunct X-ray satellite is providing new insights into the complex tug-of-war between galaxies, the hot plasma that surrounds them, and the giant black holes that lurk in their centres. Launched from Japan on February 17, 2016, the Japanese space agency (JAXA) Hitomi X-ray Observatory functioned for just over a month before contact was lost and the craft disintegrated...

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