Source: NASA Science
Simulation of the PHA.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA has just released a new count of asteroids that come close to the orbit of Earth and could survive entry through our planet's atmosphere. The data, gathered by an infrared space telescope named WISE, reveal important new information about the origin and make-up of these potentially hazardous space rocks.(read more)
Source: ESO Photo Release eso122
The peculiar galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128).
Image credits: ESO.
The strange galaxy Centaurus A is pictured in a new image from the European Southern Observatory. With a total exposure time of more than 50 hours this is probably the deepest view of this peculiar and spectacular object ever created. The image was produced by the Wide Field Imager of the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.(learn more)
Source: NASA Press Release
Star shedding loads of dust (orange dot at upper left).
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Images from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) reveal an old star in the throes of a fiery outburst and spraying the cosmos with dust. The findings offer a rare, real-timelook at the process by which stars like our sun seed the universe with building blocks for other stars, planets and even life.
The star, catalogued as WISE J180956.27-330500.2, was discovered in images taken during the WISE survey in 2010, the most detailed infrared survey to date of the entire celestial sky. It stood out from other objects because it glowed brightly with infrared light. When compared to images taken more than 20 years ago, astronomers found the star was 100 times brighter.
"We were not searching specifically for this phenomenon, but because WISE scanned the whole sky, we can find such unique objects," said Poshak Gandhi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), lead author of a new paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Results indicate the star recently exploded with copious amounts of fresh dust, equivalent in mass to our planet Earth. The star is heating the dust and causing it to glow with infrared light.
"Observing this period of explosive change while it is actually ongoing is very rare," said co-author Issei Yamamura of JAXA. "These dust eruptions probably occur only once every 10,000 years in the lives of old stars, and they are thought to last less than a few hundred years each time. It's the blink of an eye in cosmological terms."
The aging star is in the "red giant" phase of its life. Our own sun will expand into a red giant in about 5 billion years. When a star begins to run out of fuel, it cools and expands. As the star puffs up, it sheds layers of gas that cool and congeal into tiny dust particles. This is one of the main ways dust is recycled in our universe, making its way from older stars to newborn solar systems. The other way, in which the heaviest of elements are made, is through the deathly explosions, or supernovae, of the most massive stars.
"It's an intriguing glimpse into the cosmic recycling program," said Bill Danchi, WISE program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Evolved stars, which this one appears to be, contribute about 50 percent of the particles that make up humans."
Astronomers know of one other star currently pumping out massive amounts of dust. Called Sakurai's Object, this star is farther along in the aging process than the one discovered recently by WISE.
After Poshak and his team discovered the unusual, dusty star with WISE, they went back to look for it in previous infrared all-sky surveys. The object was not seen at all by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), which flew in 1983, but shows up brightly in images taken as part of the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) in 1998.
Poshak and his colleagues calculated the star appears to have brightened dramatically since 1983. The WISE data show the dust has continued to evolve over time, with the star now hidden behind a very thick veil. The team plans to follow up with space and ground-based telescopes to confirm its nature and to better understand how older stars recycle dust back into the cosmos.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., manages and operates WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The spacecraft was put into hibernation mode after it scanned the entire sky twice, completing its main objectives. The principal investigator for WISE, Edward Wright, is at the University of California, Los Angeles. The mission was selected competitively under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah. The spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
The IRAS mission was a collaborative effort between NASA (JPL), the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The 2MASS mission was a joint effort between Caltech, the University of Massachusetts and NASA (JPL). Data are archived at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech.
For more information about WISE, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/wise
Submitted by Laura Abati
The Galileian School of Higher Education is the possibility for some excellent students, selected by admission tests, to live in a very stimulating contest. Tutors, seminars, special internal courses, cultural exchanges, computer facilities should promote their personal and cultural better formation.
The goal is to allow, following the example of Galileo, an integrated learning method in order to form a highly qualified international group.
The School, is inspired by Galileo who was not only great Astronomer and mathematician, but also a fine philosopher and a man of literature, has beside a scientific group and a humanist.
The location is in an old noble building in the town of Padua. Students can live there (single rooms) and all the facilities are FREE.
The conditions and results are very good in the university and inners courses ( media Marks >- 27/30 , single examination>-24/30)
Each year 24 students are admitted. Up to now there are only Italian students but the new actual director , prof. Cesare Barbieri, will be glad to receive also some European students.
The GS has been active for 6 years but isn't spreadly known. Teachers should tell their students about this unique opportunity.
The main points that have to be fulfilled by the applicant is the he/she must be/have :
TheGalilean School offers
Attention: The APPLICATION DEADLINE is September, 2012.
Link:
Galileian School of Higher Education
Source: ESO Photo Release eso1218
The star cluster NGC 6604 and its surroundings.
Image credits: ESO
The star cluster NGC 6604 is shown in this new image taken by the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. It is often overlooked in favour of its more prominent neighbour, the Eagle Nebula (also known as Messier 16), that lies a mere wingspan away. But the framing of this picture, which places the star cluster in a landscape of surrounding gas and dust clouds, shows what a beautiful object NGC 6604 is in its own right. (read more)
Source: ESA
Olympus Mons colour-coded according to height from white (highest) to blue (lowest).
Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).
Five years of Mars Express gravity mapping data are providing unique insights into what lies beneath the Red Planet’s largest volcanoes. The results show that the lava grew denser over time and that the thickness of the planet's rigid outer layers varies across the Tharsis region.(read more)
Source: NASA Press Release
The Sombrero galaxy is not simply a regular flat disk galaxy of stars as previously believed.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
While some galaxies are rotund and others are slender disks like our spiral Milky Way, new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that the Sombrero galaxy is both. The galaxy, which is a round, elliptical with a thin disk embedded inside, is one of the first known to exhibit characteristics of the two different types. The findings will lead to a better understanding of galaxy evolution, a topic still poorly understood.
"The Sombrero is more complex than previously thought," said Dimitri Gadotti of the European Southern Observatory in Chile and lead author of a new paper on the findings appearing in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. "The only way to understand all we know about this galaxy is to think of it as two galaxies, one inside the other."
The Sombrero galaxy, also known as NGC 4594, is located 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. From our viewpoint on Earth, we can see the thin edge of its flat disk and a central bulge of stars, making it resemble a wide-brimmed hat. Astronomers do not know whether the Sombrero's disk is shaped like a ring or a spiral, but agree it belongs to the disk class.
"Spitzer is helping to unravel secrets behind an object that has been imaged thousands of times," said Sean Carey of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. "It is intriguing Spitzer can read the fossil record of events that occurred billions of years ago within this beautiful and archetypal galaxy."
Spitzer captures a different view of the galaxy than visible-light telescopes. In visible views, the galaxy appears to be immersed in a glowing halo, which scientists had thought was relatively light and small. With Spitzer's infrared vision, a different view emerges. Spitzer sees old stars through the dust and reveals the halo has the right size and mass to be a giant elliptical galaxy.
While it is tempting to think the giant elliptical swallowed a spiral disk, astronomers say this is highly unlikely because that process would have destroyed the disk structure. Instead, one scenario they propose is that a giant elliptical galaxy was inundated with gas more than nine billion years ago. Early in our universe, networks of gas clouds were common, and they sometimes fed growing galaxies, causing them to bulk up. The gas would have been pulled into the galaxy by gravity, falling into orbit around the center and spinning out into a flat disk. Stars would have formed from the gas in the disk.
"This poses all sorts of questions," said Rubén Sánchez-Janssen from the European Southern Observatory, co-author of the study. "How did such a large disk take shape and survive inside such a massive elliptical? How unusual is such a formation process?"
Researchers say the answers could help them piece together how other galaxies evolve. Another galaxy, called Centaurus A, appears also to be an elliptical galaxy with a disk inside it. But its disk does not contain many stars. Astronomers speculate that Centaurus A could be at an earlier stage of evolution than the Sombrero and might
eventually look similar.
The findings also answer a mystery about the number of globular clusters in the Sombrero galaxy. Globular clusters are spherical nuggets of old stars. Ellipticals typically have a few thousand, while spirals contain a few hundred. The Sombrero has almost 2,000, a number that makes sense now but had puzzled astronomers when they thought it was only a disk galaxy.
For more information about Spitzer, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer
As the city gears up for Dublin: City of Science 2012, we take a journey with amateur astronomer and artist Deirdre Kelleghan whose equal passion for science and art is demonstrated in her work. Deirdre is a Discover Science and Engineering Science Ambassador 2012, Vice Chair of the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies, National Co-ordinator for Astronomers Without Borders, as well as being UNAWE rep in Ireland. Deirdre will also be contributing to the Dublin City Public Libraries programme of events for Dublin: City of Science 2012.
The city on a sun drenched day. The Spire reflects and swirls the vibrant life of Dubliners mingled with mirrored clouds and the dominant blue light from our nearest star. Flower sellers petals are jollied by the brightness. Mica within the Liffey’s walls sparkle; ice cream melts down smiling faces. Celtic skin hovers in winters long lost vitamin, a gift from the sun, 93 million miles from the city. We enjoy our sophisticated fully functioning star, down here on one of the left over bits from its formation.
When we analyse light from our sun or any star we can see the arrangement of elements within its spectra. Looking into a star’s pattern of elements is like looking at the code of that star, its personal finger print, its DNA. Humans are bound together by the same elements which were created during the birth and death of stars. Our essence is ultimately recycled throughout unimaginable eons of time, black space and accreted molecular clouds.
Read More here On Life and Light full version
Source: Chandra
Image credits: NASA/CXC/UCDavis/W.Dawson et al.
The newly discovered galaxy cluster is called DLSCL J0916.2+2951 about 5200 million light years from Earth. It is similar to the Bullet Cluster, the first system in which the separation of dark and normal matter was observed, but with some important differences. The newly discovered system has been nicknamed the "Musket Ball Cluster" because the cluster collision is older and slower than the Bullet Cluster.(read more)
Source: NASA Science Casts
Source: ESA
Herschel’s image of Fomalhaut.
Image credits: ESA/Herschel/PACS/Bram Acke, KU Leuven, Belgium.
ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory has studied the dusty belt around the nearby star Fomalhaut. The dust appears to be coming from collisions that destroy up to thousands of icy comets every day. (read more)
Source: ESO Science Release eso1216
The dust ring around Formalhaut.
Image credits: Millimeter/submillimeter: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO).
Visible light image: the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
A new observatory still under construction has given astronomers a major breakthrough in understanding a nearby planetary system and provided valuable clues about how such systems form and evolve. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered that planets orbiting the star Fomalhaut must be much smaller than originally thought. This is the first published science result from ALMA in its first period of open observations for astronomers worldwide.(read more)
Source: ESA
Pit-chains in Tharsis.
Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).
The latest images released from ESA’s Mars Express reveal a series of ‘pit-chains’ on the flanks of one of the largest volcanoes in the Solar System. Depending on their origin, they might be tempting targets in the search for microbial life on the Red Planet. (read more)
When I arrived in Amsterdam some hours earlier I admired the fact that the train station was in the airport and then the bus station was in the train station in Leiden. This was joined up thinking and so was the week ahead of me.
Professor George Miley and Pedro Russo had invited me to come to Leiden University to take part in a UNAWE workshop and series of talks with other like minded individuals. It turned out to be a very eclectic mix of outreach educators all with a common affiliation too UNAWE or AWB or both. In the invited group of 59 individuals there was 26 countries represented. It was inspiring to be part of such an erudite gathering of minds and intentions.
I was particularly pleased to be asked to give a PechaKucha 20X20 presentation about my new activity for children called Action Sun. This Art/ Science activity is designed to bring the sun to Earth in real time using paper paint and energy.
A PenchaKucha talk is 20 slides with 20 seconds to speak about each slide. The slides change automatically so you have to stick to the subject and get your points across in double quick time. Twelve other PenchaKucha's followed mine from a wonderful bunch of presenters.
2. Jaya Ramchandani (India): Universe in a box
3. Grace Kimble (UK): Evaluation
4. Angela Perez (Colombia): Astronomy Clubs for Children
5. Claudio Paulo (Mozambique): Astronomy education in Mozambique
6. Cristina Olivotto (Italy/Netherlands): Space Camps for Children
7. Catalina Movileanu (Romania): UNAWE Romania
8. Premysl Velek (Belgium): Scientix
9. Eric Chisholm (Canada): Astronomy & Art projects for Children
10. Avivah Yamany Ryadi (Indonesia): Transit of Venus 2012 and Children
11. Thilina Heenatigala (Sri Lanka): UNAWE Sri Lanka
12. Mponda Sibuor (France ) Astronomy in Tanzania
13. Carla Natário (Portugal/ Netherlands): Transit of Venus 2012 UNAWE
Project Timor-Leste
To my delight Action Sun was very well received and I hope it will be part
of Dublin City of Science 2012 shortly.
The activity I have created helps groups of children to understand the sun and some of its features safely without the need for viewing the solar disc visually. I have developed both an outdoor and indoor version all of which will be extremely colourful and I hope satisfying to the children who will take part in it over the next few months.
It was an honour to hear talks given by scientists and educators who had a wealth of experience over many years in outreach. It was a joy to meet several people who were only known to me via e mail and with whom I had engaged on interesting astronomical projects. One of the most useful activities of the week for me was talking part in the evaluation working groups and meeting up with some people who were very adept at that aspect of outreach education.
One of the most uplifting experiences was seeing the vast numbers of children and young people being touched by astronomy in many ways. Professor Mark Baileys Human Orrery in Armagh, Olayinka Fagbemiro (Nigeria) with her enormous smiling childrens group in Africa. Marcello Souza's fun energetic outreach in Brazil , Mponda Sibuor beautiful work in Tanzania all stick in my mind. It was also amazing to listen to Maria Luchetti tell her story of twenty years doing creative but very practical astronomy outreach teacher training at the Rosa Sansat teacher training facility. (via translator Rosa Ros (Barcelona, Spain)
Before I left the University I recorded a piece to camera for Brazilain TV via Marcelo de Oliveira Souza and a piece to camera for 365 Days of Astronomy for UNAWE via Jaya Ramchandani . The entire experience gave me new eyes to look at both myself and others. It gave me a huge respect for outreach education being carried on in Africa and other countries with many difficulties in their everyday lives.
The group attending the workshop week were collectively delighted when Professor George Miley founder of UNAWE was presented with The Order of the Lion (the Netherlands highest honour) at the official opening of the talks at the old observatory in Leiden.
Source: ESA
InSAR image of Mount Alutu, a volcano in central Ethiopia.
Image credits: J. Biggs, University of Bristol.
The importance of global and frequent data coverage of volcanoes was highlighted in a recent article published in Science. Satellites are finding that volcanoes previously thought to be dormant are showing signs of unrest.(read more)
Source: ESO Science Release eso1214
Artist’s impression of sunset on the super-Earth world Gliese 667 Cc.
Image credits: ESO/L. Calçada.
A new result from ESO’s HARPS planet finder shows that rocky planets not much bigger than Earth are very common in the habitable zones around faint red stars. The international team estimates that there are tens of billions of such planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone, and probably about one hundred in the Sun’s immediate neighbourhood. This is the first direct measurement of the frequency of super-Earths around red dwarfs, which account for 80% of the stars in the Milky Way.(read more)
Source: ESA
Seasonal freezing patterns on land surfaces in the
northern hemisphere have varied over recent years.
Image credits: Vienna University of Technology.
Satellite are seeing changes in land surfaces in high detail at northern latitudes, indicating thawing permafrost. This releases greenhouse gases into parts of the Arctic, exacerbating the effects of climate change. (read more)
Submitted by Laura Abati
The Galileian School of Higher Education is the possibility for some excellent students, selected by admission tests, to live in a very stimulating contest. Tutors, seminars, special internal courses, cultural exchanges, computer facilities should promote their personal and cultural better formation.
The goal is to allow, following the example of Galileo, an integrated learning method in order to form a highly qualified international group.
The School, is inspired by Galileo who was not only great Astronomer and mathematician, but also a fine philosopher and a man of literature, has beside a scientific group and a humanist.
The location is in an old noble building in the town of Padua. Students can live there (single rooms) and all the facilities are FREE.
The conditions and results are very good in the university and inners courses ( media Marks >- 27/30 , single examination>-24/30)
Each year 24 students are admitted. Up to now there are only Italian students but the new actual director , prof. Cesare Barbieri, will be glad to receive also some European students.
The GS has been active for 6 years but isn't spreadly known. Teachers should tell their students about this unique opportunity.
The main points that have to be fulfilled by the applicant is the he/she must be/have :
TheGalilean School offers
Attention: The APPLICATION DEADLINE is September, 2012.
Link:
Galileian School of Higher Education
Source: MESSENGER Press Release
Artist's impression of the MESSENGER Spacecraft.
Image credits: NASA /MESSENGER.
The MESSENGER team has launched a free app that brings you inside NASA’s history-making study of Mercury – the first images of the entire planet, along with the detailed data on Mercury’s surface, geologic history, thin atmosphere, and active magnetosphere that MESSENGER sends back every day.
Now available in the iTunes App Store, "MESSENGER: NASA's Mission to Mercury" brings users the latest news and pictures from the mission, as well as details on the spacecraft and science instruments, and offers access to educational programs and activities.
Circle the innermost planet aboard MESSENGER, the first mission to orbit Mercury. Examine a detailed view of the MESSENGER spacecraft and its science instruments, browse the latest news and images, or trace the spacecraft’s path over Mercury as it scans the scorched surface of the Sun’s closest planetary neighbor. Can you take the heat?
Main Features Include:
News
Get up-to-the-minute reports from the MESSENGER Web News Center and Twitter feed.
Media
Have the “Mercury Image of the Day” sent straight to your device; flip through hundreds of stunning pictures of Mercury taken by the spacecraft’s cameras; watch videos that trace MESSENGER’s 4.9-billion mile journey to Mercury that included six planetary flybys and 15 trips around the Sun.
Information
Tour the robust MESSENGER spacecraft and science payload; see what MESSENGER was designed to learn about Mercury; pick up some quick facts about the mission and its planetary target.
Tools
Follow MESSENGER as it loops around Mercury; pinpoint its location over the surface; see how much time remains in its current, 12-hour orbit.
Education (iPad only)
Use the interactive QuickMap to view areas on Mercury observed or targeted for hi-resolution observation by MESSENGER instruments, locate craters and other “named” surface features, and explore detailed global and regional images
Source: NASA Science Releases
GRAIL MoonKAM Image. Image credits: NASA/GRAIL.
One of two NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed back the first student-requested pictures of the lunar surface from its onboard camera. Fourth grade students from the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, Mont., received the honor of making the first image selections by winning a nationwide competition to rename the two spacecraft.
The image was taken by the MoonKam, or Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students. Previously named Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) A and B, the twin spacecraft are now called Ebb and Flow. Both washing-machine-sized orbiters carry a small MoonKAM camera. Over 60 student-requested images were taken aboard the Ebb spacecraft from March 15-17 and downlinked to Earth on March 20.
"MoonKAM is based on the premise that if your average picture is worth a thousand words, then a picture from lunar orbit may be worth a classroom full of engineering and science degrees," said Maria Zuber, GRAIL mission principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. "Through MoonKAM, we have an opportunity to reach out to the next generation of scientists and engineers. It is great to see things off to such a positive start."
GRAIL is NASA's first planetary mission to carry instruments fully dedicated to education and public outreach. Students will select target areas on the lunar surface and request images to study from the GRAIL MoonKAM Mission Operations Center in San Diego.
The MoonKAM program is led by Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, and her team at Sally Ride Science in collaboration with undergraduate students at the University of California in San Diego. More than 2,700 schools spanning 52 countries are using the MoonKAM cameras.
"What might seem like just a cool activity for these kids may very well have a profound impact on their futures," Ride said. "The students really are excited about MoonKAM, and that translates into an excitement about science and engineering."
To view the student-requested images, visit:
http://images.moonkam.ucsd.edu
For more information about MoonKAM, visit:
https://moonkam.ucsd.edu
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