The Sky Tonight

April 15, 2013

Comet to Make Close Flyby of Red Planet in October 2014
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 15, 2013
New observations of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) have allowed NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. to further refine the comet's orbit. Based on data through April 7, 2013, the latest orbital plot places the comet's closest approach to Mars slightly closer than previous estimates, at about 68,000 miles (110,000 kilometers). At the same time, the new data set now significantly reduces the probability the comet will impact the Red Planet, from ... read more

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Where are the Best Windows Into Europa's Interior? The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa exposes material churned up from inside the moon and also material resulting from matter and energy coming from above. If you want to learn about the deep saltwa ... more		Can One Buy the Right to Name a Planet? In the light of recent events, where the possibility of buying the rights to name exoplanets has been advertised, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) wishes to inform the public that such sch ... more		Ice Cloud Heralds Fall at Titan's South Pole An ice cloud taking shape over Titan's south pole is the latest sign that the change of seasons is setting off a cascade of radical changes in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Made from an u ... more
				A Ghostly Green Bubble This intriguing new picture from ESO's Very Large Telescope shows the glowing green planetary nebula IC 1295 surrounding a dim and dying star located about 3300 light-years away in the constellation ... more		Discovery of a Blue Supergiant Star Born in the Wild A duo of astronomers, Dr. Youichi Ohyama (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica or ASIAA, Taiwan) and Dr. Ananda Hota (UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in the Basic Sciences or CBS, I ... more

Space Exploration Auction - April 18 - Dallas, Texas

Blame it on the Rain (from Saturn's Rings) A new study tracks the "rain" of charged water particles into the atmosphere of Saturn and finds there is more of it and it falls across larger areas of the planet than previously thought. The ... more		Chicago museum displays fragments of meteor that exploded over Russia Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History says it has obtained 234 pieces of the meteorite that slammed into Russia's Urals region in February. ... more		Revolutionising the Skies: How Helsing's CA-1 Europa Drone Could Transform Autonomous Warfare Lockheed Martin Sikorsky unveils scalable Nomad drone family for autonomous long-range missions Firefly Aerospace to Acquire SciTec in $855M Deal Expanding National Security Portfolio		Beer Cans For Deep Space The recent announcement of a NASA plan to drag an asteroid into lunar orbit with a robot spacecraft, then stage a crewed astronaut expedition to explore it, has stunned many boffins. The plan is hig ... more
				UA Helps Lead U.S. Exploration of Asteroids Scientists at the University of Arizona welcome President Barack Obama's NASA budget proposal, rolled out this week, and specifically its focus on gaining a better understanding of asteroids that co ... more		NASA's Asteroid Initiative Benefits From Rich History NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and expl ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Solar systems for home and business installations

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Suzaku 'Post-mortem' Yields Insight into Kepler's Supernova An exploding star observed in 1604 by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler held a greater fraction of heavy elements than the sun, according to an analysis of X-ray observations from the Japan-led ... more		Retired Star Found With Planets And Debris Disc ESA's Herschel space observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt - produced by colliding comets or asteroids - orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system. After bil ... more		Deep-sea mining poses new threat to sharks, rays and ghost sharks Hydropower emerges as Southeast Asia's hidden force in driving down carbon emissions An Aussie tycoon bets billions on cleaning up iron ore giant		Characterizing The Lunar Radiation Environment The radiation environment near the Moon could be damaging to humans and electronics on future missions. To characterize this potentially hazardous environment, the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the ... more
				The Space Cowboys are Back You can't make this stuff up! The latest idea from NASA sounds like a "space western." In this case one cowboy, played by a robotic spacecraft, is sent to lasso a small asteroid and bring it back to ... more		The Great Exoplanet Debate At the 2012 Astrobiology Science Conference, Astrobiology Magazine hosted a plenary session titled: "Expanding the Habitable Zone: The Hunt for Exoplanets Now and Into the Future." Originally formul ... more

'Vulcan' wins Pluto moon name vote

Public to vote on names for Pluto moons

The PI's Perspective: The Seven-Year Itch

Power behind primordial soup discovered

University of Tennessee professor discovers how microbes survive at bare minimum

Where Life Could Thrive: Interview With John Grotzinger

Can One Buy the Right to Name a Planet?

Retired Star Found With Planets And Debris Disc

The Great Exoplanet Debate

NASA spacecraft may have spotted pieces of Soviet spacecraft on Mars

Opportunity For A Quiet Period for Next Three Weeks

Accurate pointing by Curiosity

	More Treasures from Asteroids The recent announcement of a potential NASA plan to robotically capture an asteroid, transport it to lunar orbit and use it as a target for a human expedition is amazing. Admittedly, it sounds ... more		Scientists to Io: Your Volcanoes Are in the Wrong Place Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the Solar System, with hundreds of volcanoes, some erupting lava fountains up to 250 miles high. However, concentrations of volcanic activi ... more		Russia rekindles Moon exploration program, intends setting up first human outposts there Having on hand an impressive record of successful moon missions performed when it was the Soviet Union, Russia has set to revive a robotic moon exploration program. The country's serious intentions ... more		NASA Taps the Power of Zombie Stars in Two-in-One Instrument Neutron stars have been called the zombies of the cosmos. They shine even though they're technically dead, occasionally feeding on neighboring stars if they venture too close. Interestingly, these u ... more

Renewables overtake coal but growth slows: reports

OpenAI's Fidji Simo says AI investment frenzy 'new normal,' not bubble

Tokyo stocks hit new record as markets extend global rally

Observationally Confirmed Supernova Explosion of a Yellow Supergiant Star		A meteorite mystery from Mercury?		NASA wants to tow an asteroid to the moon: senator		Scientists propose revolutionary laser system to produce the next LHC		NASA Selects Explorer Investigations for Formulation
On wings of light		Power behind primordial soup discovered		Quantum tricks drive magnetic switching into the fast lane		Mapping the Chemistry Needed for Life at Europa		Gravity-Bending Find Leads to Kepler Meeting Einstein

Stars in NGC 602a

Collision Course? A Comet Heads for Mars

Shining light on elusive dark matter

SDSC's Gordon Supercomputer Assists in Crunching Large Hadron Collider Data

Hubble breaks record for furthest supernova

ALMA Detects Signs of Star Formation Surprisingly Close to Galaxy's Supermassive Black Hole

The Great Exoplanet Debate Part Four

What Is Behind Einstein's Turbulences?

NASA Team Investigates Complex Chemistry At Titan

Astronomers Anticipate 100 Billion Earth-Like Planets

Green Pea galaxies could help astronomers understand early universe

Astrophysicists to probe dark matter in sunny California

Shape from sound - new methods to probe the universe

Europe readies for solar storm risks

LHC upgrade could yield dark matter

Swirling Secrets

Supernova remnant 1987A continues to reveal its secrets

New Insights on How Spiral Galaxies Get Their Arms

Pre-existing mineralogy may survive lunar impacts

NOAO: Star Birth in Cepheus

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