The Sky Tonight

January 04, 2013

'Black Beauty' could yield Martian secrets
Washington (AFP) Jan 4, 2013
A fist-sized meteorite nicknamed "Black Beauty" could unlock vital clues to the evolution of Mars from the warm and wet place it once was to its current cold and dry state, NASA said Thursday. Discovered in Morocco's Sahara Desert in 2011, the 11-ounce (320-gram) space rock contains 10 times more water than other Martian meteorites and could be the first ever to have originated on the planet's surface or crust. After more than a year of intensive study, a team of US scientists determined the met ... read more

Previous Issues

Jan 01

Dec 31

Dec 28

Billions and Billions of Planets Look up at the night sky and you'll see stars, sure. But you're also seeing planets-billions and billions of them. At least. That's the conclusion of a new study by astronomers at the California Ins ... more		Vesta: Giant impacts delivered carbon The protoplanet Vesta has been witness to an eventful past: images taken by the framing camera onboard NASA's space probe Dawn show two enormous craters in the southern hemisphere. The images ... more		A Vast Rotating Disk Of Dwarf Galaxies Surrounding The Andromeda Galaxy A new study of our nearest giant cosmic neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, shows that more than half of its small, dwarf galaxy companions are aligned in a giant disk that appears to rotate around the ... more
				Surprise Pancake Structure in Andromeda Galaxy Upends Galactic Understanding Astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii and W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii have been amazed to find a group of dwarf galaxies moving in unison in the vicinit ... more		NASA, Penn State give New Year's gift of space images A large new collection of space photos taken at wavelengths that are invisible to the human eye and blocked by Earth's atmosphere has been released as a New Year's gift to the people of Earth by NAS ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Researchers Identify Water Rich Meteorite Linked To Mars Crust NASA-funded researchers analyzing a small meteorite that may be the first discovered from the Martian surface or crust have found it contains 10 times more water than other Martian meteorites from u ... more		Magnetic fields created before the first stars Magnets have practically become everyday objects. Earlier on, however, the universe consisted only of nonmagnetic elements and particles. Just how the magnetic forces came into existence has been re ... more		EU 'must respond' to Russia's 'hybrid warfare': von der Leyen Russia says missile strike kills three in Belgorod region: governor Trump unlikely to win Nobel Peace Prize, but who will?		Galactic geysers fuelled by star stuff Enormous outflows of charged particles from the centre of our Galaxy, stretching more than halfway across the sky and moving at supersonic speeds, have been detected and mapped with CSIRO's 64-m Par ... more
				Dawn races into 2013 on target for Ceres Dawn concludes 2012 almost 13,000 times farther from Vesta than it began the year. At that time, it was in its lowest orbit, circling the alien world at an average altitude of only 210 kilometers (1 ... more		Quadrantids Create Year's First Meteor Shower Tonight (Jan. 2-3) is the peak of the 2013 Quadrantid meteor shower. Best viewing will be in the northern hemisphere, but the shower can be seen at latitudes north of 51 degrees south. Meteor rates ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Our Galaxy's "geysers" are towers of power "Monster" outflows of charged particles from the centre of our Galaxy, stretching more than halfway across the sky, have been detected and mapped with CSIRO's 64-m Parkes radio telescope. The outflo ... more		Bochum physicist calculates field strengths in the early universe Magnets have practically become everyday objects. Earlier on, however, the universe consisted only of nonmagnetic elements and particles. Just how the magnetic forces came into existence has been re ... more		No peace: Trump's smoldering Nobel obsession Virtual Jesus? People of faith divided as AI enters religion New species of poisonous frog discovered in Amazon; Snakebite surge as Bangladesh hit by floods		ALMA Shows How Young Star and Planets Grow Simultaneously Astronomers have used the ALMA telescope to get their first glimpse of a fascinating stage of star formation in which planets forming around a young star are helping the star itself continue to grow ... more
				Super-Tiger Stalks Cosmic Rays In Antarctica Grade-school science teachers sometimes hand out "mystery boxes" containing ramps, barriers and a loose marble. By rotating the boxes and feeling the marble hang up or drop, the students try to dedu ... more		ALMA Sheds Light on Planet-Forming Gas Streams Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have seen a key stage in the birth of giant planets for the first time. Vast streams of gas are flowing across ... more

Halfway Between Uranus and Neptune, New Horizons Cruises On

Dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere

Keck Observations Bring Weather Of Uranus Into Sharp Focus

ASI, ISRO hold planetary science workshop

The toughest animal on Earth...and in space!

Cave dwelling nettle discovered in China

Billions and Billions of Planets

ALMA Sheds Light on Planet-Forming Gas Streams

A stray planet

'Black Beauty' could yield Martian secrets

'Spiky' rovers could explore martian moon

ARCA will test the parachutes for the ExoMars spacecraft

	ASI, ISRO hold planetary science workshop The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) in association with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) organized a planetary science workshop on Dec 27 and 28, here. Astro-biologist, cosmologi ... more		Comet heads our way for celestial show in 2013 A newly discovered comet could be the celestial spectacle of a century and light up the skies as bright as a full moon in 2013, its Russian discoverers say. ... more		Hubble Eyes a Wanderer Dancing the Dance of Stars and Space The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides us this week with a spectacular image of the bright star-forming ring that surrounds the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. In this image, the l ... more		The toughest animal on Earth...and in space! An animal that can live without water, resist extreme temperatures and strong radiation, and has survived the vacuum of space; that is a basic description of a Tardigrade. More commonly called the ' ... more

Gold tops $4,000 for first time as traders pile into safe haven

Tesla shares fall on doubts that latest autos will boost sales

In Simandou mountains, Guinea prepares to cash in on iron ore

A stray planet		Clear New Year Skies for 2013		Cave dwelling nettle discovered in China		Hubble Eyes the Needle Galaxy		All Systems Go for Highest Altitude Supercomputer
Chinese scientists find evidence for speed of gravity		Russia designs manned lunar spacecraft		Sun online		US probes HP's Autonomy fraud allegations		Spiral Structure of Disk May Reveal Planets

NASA's Hubble Provides First Census of Galaxies Near Cosmic Dawn

Entering a new phase

May the force be with the atomic probe

Cassini Instrument Learns New Tricks

Meteorite triggered scientific gold rush

Science's Breakthrough of the Year: Discovery of the Higgs boson

Space Fence program moving forward

How to look young when you're not - Stars reveal the secret of aging well

Christmas Sky Show

Closest sun-like star may have planets

Quadrantids Create Year's First Meteor Shower

"All-Clear" Asteroid Will Miss Earth in 2040

New meteorite suggests that asteroid surfaces more complex than previously thought

All Systems Go for Highest Altitude Supercomputer

MIT researchers discover a new kind of magnetism

Origin of life emerged from cell membrane bioenergetics

Swansong Biospheres: The last refuges for life on the far-future Earth

The paths of photons are random - but coordinated

Meteor shower to peak early Saturday

Nearby star is good candidate for Earth-like planets

Free Newsletters - Space - Defense - Environment - Energy

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2013 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy statement