The Sky Tonight

October 07, 2014

Titan's Swirling Polar Cloud Is Cold And Toxic
Paris (ESA) Oct 06, 2014
Scientists analysing data from the mission found that this giant polar vortex contains frozen particles of the toxic compound hydrogen cyanide. "The discovery suggests that the atmosphere of Titan's southern hemisphere is cooling much faster than we expected," says Remco de Kok of Leiden Observatory and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature. Unlike any other moon in the Solar System, Titan is shrouded by a dense atmosphere dom ... read more

Previous Issues

Oct 06

Oct 04

Oct 03

Oct 02

Oct 01

Solving the mystery of the 'man in the moon' New data obtained by NASA's GRAIL mission reveals that the Procellarum region on the near side of the moon - a giant basin often referred to as the "man in the moon" - likely arose not from a massiv ... more		Wild ducks take flight in open cluster Messier 11 is an open cluster, sometimes referred to as a galactic cluster, located around 6000 light-years away in the constellation of Scutum (The Shield). It was first discovered by German astron ... more		Origin of moon's 'ocean of storms' revealed Oceanus Procellarum, a vast dark patch visible on the western edge of the Moon's near side, has long been a source of mystery for planetary scientists. Some have suggested that the "ocean of storms" ... more
				Winter is coming ... to Titan's south pole Titan is unique in our solar system because of its dense nitrogen-methane atmosphere, which is very similar to Earth's in some ways, but very different in others. For example, air temperatures are a ... more		Coppery reds of upcoming lunar eclipse may be accented with turquoise Next Wednesday, Oct. 8, the full moon will turn a coppery red as a lunar eclipse becomes visible across the entirety of the United States. ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

'Man in the Moon' was born from lava - scientists A dark lunar basin that, seen from Earth, produces the "Man in the Moon" effect, was created by an outpouring of lava and not an asteroid strike, astronomers said Wednesday. ... more		NASA's Swift satellite sees small star ejecting 'super flares' Astronomers don't normally use canine clichés, but if they did, they might employ one - it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog - to describe a small but energetic red dwarf in a binary system known as DG Canum Venaticorum, or DG CVn. That's because red dwarfs like DG CVn serve a serious electromagnetic punch in a small package. ... more		India signs $7 bn deal for 97 domestically made fighter jets France doubles down on threat to build future fighter jet alone US approves $1.2 bn missile sale to Germany		Cyanide fog marks winter's onset on Saturn moon Titan A cyanide cloud formed over Titan's south pole as the strange moon of Saturn entered its seven-year winter in 2009, astronomers reported on Wednesday. ... more
				Space debris expert warns of increasing CubeSat collision risk The increasing number of small 'CubeSat' satellites being launched combined with a relaxed attitude to debris mitigation could lead to hazards for all space users unless preventative measures are ta ... more		Light Scattering on Dust Holds Clues to Habitability We are all made of dust. Dust particles can be found everywhere in space. Disks of dust and debris swirl around and condense to form stars, planets and smaller objects like comets, asteroids and dwa ... more

Startup in the Land of the Rising Sun; A Japanese Solar Venture - by Bradley L. Bartz

Scientists Resurrect Ancient Proteins to Learn about Primordial Life on Earth Geological evidence tells us that ancient Earth probably looked and felt very different from the planet we all recognize today. Billions of years ago, our world was a comparatively harsh place. Eart ... more		NASA's Swift Mission Observes Mega Flares from a Mini Star On April 23, NASA's Swift satellite detected the strongest, hottest, and longest-lasting sequence of stellar flares ever seen from a nearby red dwarf star. The initial blast from this record-setting ... more		Simulations of Exoplanet Formation May Help Inform Search for Extraterrestrial Life Ancient hot springs reveal how microbes thrived before Earth gained oxygen Framework proposed to study planetary scale impact of life		Novel approach to magnetic measurements atom-by-atom Having the possibility to measure magnetic properties of materials at atomic precision is one of the important goals of today's experimental physics. Such measurement technique would give engineers ... more
Platinum meets its match in quantum dots from coal Graphene quantum dots created at Rice University grab onto graphene platelets like barnacles attach themselves to the hull of a boat. But these dots enhance the properties of the mothership, making ... more		Nitrogen fingerprint in biomolecules could be from early sun Chemical fingerprints of the element nitrogen vary by extremes in materials from the molecules of life to the solar wind to interstellar dust. Ideas for how this great variety came about have includ ... more		Simulations Reveal An Unusual Death for Ancient Stars Certain primordial stars-those between 55,000 and 56,000 times the mass of our Sun, or solar masses-may have died unusually. In death, these objects-among the Universe's first-generation of stars-wo ... more		First dark matter results from underground China lab hosting PandaX-I Scientists across China and the United States collaborating on the PandaX search for dark matter from an underground lab in southwestern China report results from the first stage of the experiment i ... more

	Cassini Watches Mysterious Feature Evolve in Titan Sea NASA's Cassini spacecraft is monitoring the evolution of a mysterious feature in a large hydrocarbon sea on Saturn's moon Titan. The feature covers an area of about 100 square miles (260 square kilo ... more		GOCE reveals gravity dip from ice loss Although not designed to map changes in Earth's gravity over time, ESA's extraordinary satellite has shown that the ice lost from West Antarctica over the last few years has left its signature. ... more

Uranium enrichment: Why Iran refuses to step back

Redwire to Deliver Solar Array Wings for Axiom Station's First Module

Germany's Merz rejects claims he is slowing green shift

Living on the Edge: Rosetta's Lander Philae Is Set to Take the Plunge		Microsoft to tap $2-trillion Indian cloud market		Planets with Oddball Orbits Like Mercury Could Host Life		Violent Origins of Disc Galaxies Probed by ALMA		Turning the Moon into a cosmic ray detector
Space agency sets Nov 12 date for comet landing		Male-led teams more likely to get Hubble Telescope time		American Meteor Society confirms four fireball sightings		A piece of work by NUP/UPNA researchers demonstrates various ways for controlling light in the terahertz frequency range		New milestone in the search for water on distant planets

Most metal-poor star hints at universe's first supernovae

Clear skies on exo-Neptune

Managing Orbital Debris and Space Traffic

Most stars are born in clusters, some leave 'home'

Infant solar system shows signs of windy weather

Heritage of Earth's water gives rise to hopes of life on other planets

Solar explosions inside a computer

Interstellar molecules are branching out

Putting the squeeze on quantum information

Finding hints of gravitational waves in the stars

CME Week: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs

Particle detector finds hints of dark matter in space

Distant planet's atmosphere shows evidence of water vapor

Asteroid named for University of Utah makes public debut

Russia to Launch Full-Scale Moon Exploration Next Decade

Magnetic fields make the excitons go 'round

New 'star' shaped molecule breakthrough

Penn research helps uncover mechanism behind solid-solid phase transitions

Uncovering the forbidden side of molecules

Chemical bond between a superheavy element and a carbon atom established

Free Newsletters - Space - Defense - Environment - Energy

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news 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 Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.