Observations made by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of a special type of supernovae contributed to research on the expansion of the universe that today was honored with the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Hubble Space Telescope Contributes to Nobel Prize in Physics
Rosette Nebula
CREDIT: Josh Knutson / www.daemongpf.blogspot.com
NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Prepares to Study Martian Soil
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity cut a wheel scuff mark into a wind-formed ripple at the "Rocknest" site to give researchers a better opportunity to examine the particle-size distribution of the material forming the ripple. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Curiosity rover is in a position on Mars where scientists and engineers can begin preparing the rover to take its first scoop of soil for analysis.
Curiosity is the centerpiece of the two-year Mars Science Laboratory mission. The rover's ability to put soil samples into analytical instruments is central to assessing whether its present location on Mars, called Gale Crater, ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. Mineral analysis can reveal past environmental conditions. Chemical analysis can check for ingredients necessary for life.
"We now have reached an important phase that will get the first solid samples into the analytical instruments in about two weeks," said Mission Manager Michael Watkins of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Curiosity has been so well-behaved that we have made great progress during the first two months of the mission."
'Rocknest' From Sol 52 Location
This patch of windblown sand and dust downhill from a cluster of dark rocks is the "Rocknest" site, which has been selected as the likely location for first use of the scoop on the arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. This view is a mosaic of images taken by the telephoto right-eye camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the 52nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Sept. 28, 2012), four sols before the rover arrived at Rocknest. The Rocknest patch is about 8 feet by 16 feet (1.5 meters by 5 meters).
Scientists white-balanced the color in this view to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Alien Comet Cloud Spotted Around Faraway Star
Artist’s conception of the view towards the young star Beta Pictoris from the outer edge of its disk. This disk of dust and gas orbiting the star is produced by collisions between and evaporation of asteroids and comets. The star is about 63 light-years from Earth.
CREDIT: NASA/FUSE/Lynette Cook
Answer to Question 93
A93: Vikram Sarabhai.
| Dr. Vikram Sarabhai | |
| Born | 12 August 1919 Ahmedabad, India |
|---|---|
| Died | 30 December 1971 (aged 52) Halcyon Castle, Kovalam inThiruvananthapuram, Kerala,India |
| Residence | India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Indian Space Research Organisation Physical Research Laboratory |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor | Sir C. V. Raman |
| Known for | Indian space program Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad |
| Notable awards | Padma Bhushan (1966) Padma Vibhushan(posthumously) (1972) |
| Spouse | Mrinalini Sarabhai |
Source: wikipedia.org
Thursday, October 4, 2012
China's First Woman in Space: Q&A with Astronaut Liu Yang
China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, an Air Force major, salutes to reporters during a press conference on the eve of her June 16, 2012 launch with two crewmates on the Shenzhou 9 mission to the Tiangong 1 space lab.
CREDIT: China Ministry of National Defense
NASA astronomers measure universe's expansion
NASA astronomers were able to make the most precise measurement yet of the Hubble constant, or the rate at which our universe is stretching apart.
The Hubble constant is named after astronomer Edwin P. Hubble who astonished the world in the 1920s by confirming our universe has been expanding since it exploded 13.7 billion years ago. Astronomers used the Spitzer space telescope to measure the constant.
The newly refined value for the Hubble constant is 74.32.1 km per second per megaparsec. A megaparsec is roughly 3 million light years, Xinhua reported Wednesday.
In the late 1990s, astronomers discovered the expansion is accelerating, or speeding up over time. Determining the expansion rate is critical for understanding the age and size of the universe.
Unlike NASA's Hubble space telescope, which views the cosmos in visible light, Spitzer took advantage of long-wavelength infrared light to make its new measurement.
Twin black holes discovered in ancient cluster of Milky Way
In an unexpected finding, astronomers have discovered two dense black holes inside an ancient cluster of stars in the Milky Way.
Research describes the detection of two black holes that are about 10 to 20 times heavier than Sun in the globular cluster named M22.
Black holes, so dense that even light can't escape them, are what is left when a massive star reaches the end of its life and collapses in on itself.
Dr James Miller-Jones, from the Curtin University node of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), said the discovery of two black holes in the same cluster was a complete surprise.
All the theory up to now says that should not happen in a globular cluster that is 12 billion years old.
Pic of the DAY
Helix Nebula - Unraveling at the Seams
A dying star is throwing a cosmic tantrum in this combined image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), which NASA has lent to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In death, the star's dusty outer layers are unraveling into space, glowing from the intense ultraviolet radiation being pumped out by the hot stellar core.
This object, called the Helix nebula, lies 650 light-years away, in the constellation of Aquarius. Also known by the catalog number NGC 7293, it is a typical example of a class of objects called planetary nebulae. Discovered in the 18th century, these cosmic works of art were erroneously named for their resemblance to gas-giant planets.
Source: NASA
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Lalla
Lalla (c. 720–790 CE) was an Indian mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer who belonged to a family of astronomers. His most famous work was titled Śiṣya-dhī-vṛddhida-tantra, or "Treatise which expands the intellect of students." He is also known for having published the earliest known description of a perpetuum mobile in Śiṣyadhīvṛddhidatantra.
In his work, Lalla drew on his predecessors Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta, and Bhāskara I. In turn, he influenced later generations of astronomers, including Śrīpati, Vaṭeśvara, and Bhāskara II (who wrote a commentary on the Śiṣyadhīvṛddhidatantra).
He followed the Ārya-pakṣa or the school of Āryabhaṭa (continued by Bhāskara I), but divided the mahāyuga the traditional way, following the Brāhma-pakṣa school of Brahmagupta. Although he followed Āryabhaṭa, he did not believe in the rotation of the Earth.
His father's name was Trivikrama, and he lived in central India, possibly in the Lāṭa region in mod
Image of the Day Gallery
Mirror Inspection
Technicians and scientists check out one of the Webb telescope's first two flight mirrors on Sept. 19, 2012 in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The mirrors are going through receiving and inspection and will then be stored in the Goddard clean room until engineers are ready to assemble them onto the telescope's backplane structure that will support them.
One of the Webb’s science goals is to look back through time to when galaxies were young. To see such far-off and faint objects, Webb needs a large mirror. A telescope’s sensitivity, or how much detail it can see, is directly related to the size of the mirror area that collects light from the objects being observed. A larger area collects more light, just like a larger bucket collects more water in a rain shower than a small one.
SOURCE : NASA
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Answer to Question 91
A91: On the side of the Moon that is visible from the Earth are 30,000 visible craters. There are many more small craters there which are smaller than 1/4 of a kilometre in diameter & cannot see be seen by us.
Monday, October 1, 2012
India launches 101st space mission, looks to Mars
India marked its 101st space mission today with the launch of its heaviest communications satellite, GSAT-10, from French Guyana.
The satellite, carrying 30 communication transponders and a navigation payload, is the first of 10 missions slated for the coming year, a hectic schedule that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) hopes will have glorious finale in November 2013 with the launch of an orbiter to Mars.
India’s Red Planet mission is to be carried out without international help, highlighting the growth of the agency.
“At the moment, we plan to do it on our own,” said ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan at the agency’s headquarters here last week.
After 50 years and 100 missions, the Indian space program is growing faster than ever. India’s scientists, some NASA-trained, assembled the country’s first rocket in a village church in the 1960s. Today, India’s home-grown space program is considered one of the top six in the world.
ISRO’s budget is barely 7.5 percent the size of NASA, but it has been growing every year since the early 2000s, jumping from $591 million in 2004-05 to $1.3 billion in 2012-2013.
Expedition 33 - 34 Crew Members
Next Station Crew Preps for Launch
NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (left), Expedition 33 flight engineer and Expedition 34
commander; Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy (center) and Flight Engineer Evgeny
Tarelkin (right) clasp hands Sept. 21, 2012 in front of a Soyuz vehicle mock-up as they
wrap up two days of final qualification exams at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
in Star City, Russia.
commander; Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy (center) and Flight Engineer Evgeny
Tarelkin (right) clasp hands Sept. 21, 2012 in front of a Soyuz vehicle mock-up as they
wrap up two days of final qualification exams at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
in Star City, Russia.
The trio is scheduled to launch Oct. 23 in their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a five-month mission on the International
Space Station.
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a five-month mission on the International
Space Station.
Source: NASA
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