The Sky Tonight

January 03, 2014

Chang'e-3 satellite payload APXS obtained its first spectrum of lunar regolith
Beijing, China (SPX) Jan 03, 2014
The Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), carried by the Yutu rover of the Chang'e-3 satellite got its first X-ray fluorescence spectrum of lunar regolith around the landing site on December 25, 2013. An initial analysis indicates that eight major rock-forming elements (Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Cr and Fe) and at least 3 minor elements (Sr, Y and Zr) of the Moon can be identified in this spectrum. Besides, the energy resolution of AXS is estimated to be about 135 @5.9keV, which dem ... read more

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NASA's Hubble Sees Cloudy Super-Worlds With Chance for More Clouds Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have characterized the atmospheres of two of the most common type of planets in the Milky Way galaxy and found both may be blanketed with clouds. ... more		Two Solar Flares Say Goodbye 2013 and Welcome 2014 The sun ushered out 2013 and welcomed 2014 with two mid-level flares on Dec. 31, 2013 and Jan. 1, 2014. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pas ... more		First Asteroid Discovered in 2014 Has Little Impact Early Wednesday morning January 1st, while New Year's 2014 celebrations were still underway in the United States, the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, AZ, collected a single track of observations wi ... more
				Watch the 2014 Quadrantid Meteor Shower Live on Ustream Peaking in the wee hours of Jan. 3, a little-known meteor shower named after an extinct constellation, the Quadranids, will present an excellent chance for hardy souls to start the year off with som ... more		New Studies Give Strong Boost to Binary-Star Formation Theory Using the new capabilities of the upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), scientists have discovered previously-unseen binary companions to a pair of very young protostars. The discovery giv ... more

Dawn passes halfway mark to Ceres Now more than halfway through its journey from protoplanet Vesta to dwarf planet Ceres, Dawn is continuing to use its advanced ion propulsion system to reshape its orbit around the sun. Now that the ... more		Sun 'flips upside down' while reversing magnetic poles The sun has undergone a "complete field reversal," with its north and south poles changing places as it marks the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. "A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, litera ... more		Denmark closes airspace to civilian drones amid rise in sightings Top diplomats of North Korea, China agree to oppose 'hegemonism' What is the high seas treaty?		Researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world Weather forecasters on exoplanet GJ 1214b would have an easy job. Today's forecast: cloudy. Tomorrow: overcast. Extended outlook: more clouds. A team of scientists led by researchers in the De ... more
				Chang'e 3 Lander and Rover From Above Chang'e 3 landed on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) just east of a 450 m diameter impact crater on 14 December 2013. Soon after landing, a small rover named Yutu (or Jade Rabbit in English) was deployed ... more		Russian Anti-Gravity Observation Satellite Delayed Until 2015 A Russian satellite to study anti-gravity forces by observing clusters of galaxies has been delayed until 2015 due to problems with a German-built telescope, a science official said Thursday. ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures From Space Environment

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Hubble Eyes Galaxy as Flat as a Pancake Located some 25 million light-years away, this new Hubble image shows spiral galaxy ESO 373-8. Together with at least seven of its galactic neighbors, this galaxy is a member of the NGC 2997 group. ... more		Russian dark energy satellite's launch pushed back to 2015 A Russian satellite to study dark energy forces by observing galaxies has been delayed due to problems with a German-built telescope, a science official said. ... more		The first animals on Earth may have been sea sponges, study suggests Wildfire-induced thunderstorms recreated in Earth system models for first time Fengyun satellite strengthens China global weather forecasting capacity		New computer memory can hold data 20 years without power Researchers in Singapore say they've developed new computer memory that can store more data and keep it intact 20 times longer than current magnetic memory. ... more
				Birth of black hole kills the radio star Astronomers led by a Curtin University researcher have discovered a new population of exploding stars that "switch off" their radio transmissions before collapsing into a Black Hole. These exp ... more		Starless Cloud Cores Reveal Why Some Stars Are Bigger Than Others Massive stars - those at least 8 times the mass of our Sun - present an intriguing mystery: how do they grow so large when the vast majority of stars in the Milky Way are considerably smaller? ... more

The Sounds of New Horizons

On the Path to Pluto, 5 AU and Closing

SwRI study finds that Pluto satellites' orbital ballet may hint of long-ago collisions

Oil and metal munching microbes dominate deep sandstone formations

Think you know what alien life may look like? Be careful!

Hard rock life

NASA's Hubble Sees Cloudy Super-Worlds With Chance for More Clouds

Researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world

Using an Atmosphere to Weigh a Planet

More than 1,000 chosen for one-way Mars reality-TV mission

'Mars One' will reveal if there is life outside Earth

Mars One mission: big work ahead

	SDO Shows the Sun's Rainbow of Wavelengths Telescopes help distant objects appear bigger, but this is only one of their advantages. Telescopes can also collect light in ranges that our eyes alone cannot see, providing scientists ways of obse ... more		Britain's Met Office to begin offering space weather forecasts Britain's weather service said it will begin providing early warnings of solar storms that can disrupt satellites, radio communications and power grids. ... more		China's moon rover "sleeps" through lunar night The moon rover and lander of China's Chang'e 3 lunar probe mission will "sleep" during the lunar night, enduring extreme low temperatures on the lunar surface. According to Wu Fenglei of the B ... more		Dwarf Planet Ceres - 'A Game Changer in the Solar System' In March of 2015, NASA's Dawn mission will arrive at the dwarf planet Ceres, the first of the smaller class of planets to be discovered and the closest to Earth. Ceres, which orbits the Sun in the a ... more

NASA ISRO radar satellite beams first Earth images from space

India plans mega-dam to counter China water fears

Breakthrough in UAV swarm intelligence as SRI redefines topology mapping

Scientific data lost at alarming rate		Electron 'antenna' tunes in to physics beyond Higgs		Ultrafast heating of water - This pot boils faster than you can watch it		Using an Atmosphere to Weigh a Planet		Solar activity not a key cause of climate change
Electron's shapeliness throws a curve at supersymmetry		The Rise and Fall of Galactic Cities		How hypergravity impacts electric arcs		Powerful ancient explosions explain new class of supernovae		Massive stars mark out Milky Way's 'missing' arms

NASA Releases New Earthrise Simulation Video

Will the Moon be carved-up?

Leaner Fourier transforms

Liftoff for ESA's billion-star surveyor

NASA's Asteroid Hunter Spacecraft Returns First Images after Reactivation

Most Chang'e-3 science tools activated

Dawn Creates Guide to Vesta's Hidden Attractions

Oracle to buy cloud firm for $1.5 bn

Supernovae hundreds of times brighter than normal observed

SMA Reveals Giant Star Cluster in the Making

What happens to ISON's remains?

Gaia Mission Could Help Map Exoplanets

Astrium has finalised preparation of Gaia, the star mapper of the Milky Way

Swift satellite catches 100,000 new cosmic X-ray sources

First detection of a predicted unseen exoplanet

Oil and metal munching microbes dominate deep sandstone formations

NASA creates 'rainbow' movie of the sun based on temperature

Study: 'Missing' arms of our Milky Way galaxy are actually there

'Approximate' computers could do tasks not requiring exact answers

Organics Preserved in Ancient Meteorite-Formed Glass

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