The Sky Tonight

October 16, 2014

Getting To Know Super-Earths
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 16, 2014
"If you have a coin and flip it just once, what does that tell you about the odds of heads versus tails?" asks Heather Knutson, assistant professor of planetary science at Caltech. "It tells you almost nothing. It's the same with planetary systems," she says. For as long as astronomers have been looking to the skies, we have had just one planetary system-our own-to study in depth. That means we have only gotten to know a handful of possible outcomes of the planet formation process, and we cannot s ... read more

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ESA confirms the primary landing site for Rosetta ESA has given the green light for its Rosetta mission to deliver its lander, Philae, to the primary site on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November, in the first-ever attempt at a soft touchdown on ... more		Astronomers Spot Faraway Uranus-Like Planet Our view of other solar systems just got a little more familiar, with the discovery of a planet 25,000 light-years away that resembles our own Uranus. Astronomers have discovered hundreds of p ... more		Rosetta Selflessly Beams Back Comet Selfie A camera aboard the European Space Agency's Philae lander snapped this "selfie" of one of the Rosetta spacecraft's 52-foot-long (16-meter) solar arrays, with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko hovering ... more
				Slow-Growing Galaxies Offer Window to Early Universe What makes one rose bush blossom with flowers, while another remains barren? Astronomers ask a similar question of galaxies, wondering how some flourish with star formation and others barely bloom. ... more		Getting sharp images from dull detectors Observing the quantum behavior of light is a big part of Alan Migdall's research at the Joint Quantum Institute. Many of his experiments depend on observing light in the form of photons---the partic ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Europe gives green light for comet landing site The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed Wednesday its choice of the site for a historic unmanned landing next month on a comet in deep space. ... more		Leaky, Star-Forming Galaxies Help Understanding The Universe By focusing on large, star-forming galaxies in the universe, researchers at Johns Hopkins University were able to measure its radiation leaks in an effort to better understand how the universe evolv ... 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		Hubble Catches a Dusty Spiral in Virgo This magnificent new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4206, located about 70 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Virgo ... more
				Measurements on Cl-36 samples refute decay rate on distance between Earth and Sun A group of US American scientists had recently published measurement data concerning the radioactive isotope chlorine-36. The measurement values showed fluctuations according to the seasons, which t ... more		China's ailing moon rover weakening China's ailing moon rover Yutu has entered its 11th dormancy as the lunar night falls, with its functions degrading gracefully, its designer said Friday. The rover is currently in good condition and ... more

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

Moons Can Help Planets Remain Stable Long Enough for Life to Form The Moon is more than just Earth's partner in space - it may have helped stabilize Earth's orbit enough for it to become hospitable for the evolution of complex forms of life. A new study suggests t ... more		Alternative Earths Team To Join NASA Astrobiology Institute If we're looking at Mars, or planets in solar systems far, far away, how can we tell whether they support life? Researchers at the University of California, Riverside will share a $50 million grant ... 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		Russian Luna-25 Mission to Cost Billions The Luna-25 exploration mission will cost tens of billions of rubles, an official from Russian Federal Space Agency said Friday. "Let's say, we are talking tens of billions of rubles because i ... more
New Batch of Lunar Soil to be Delivered to Earth in 2023-2025 New samples of lunar soil will be delivered to Earth in 2023-2025, an official from a Russian aerospace company said Friday. "The program currently has four missions: the first demonstration l ... more		NASA Mission Finds Widespread Evidence of Young Lunar Volcanism NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has provided researchers strong evidence the moon's volcanic activity slowed gradually instead of stopping abruptly a billion years ago. Scores of dis ... more		Russia to make Moon exploration core part of space program Russia will take the Moon exploration as a core of its space program for the next decade, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said Friday. "This year Roscosmos has prepared a long-term program of d ... more		Zooming in on 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko The European Space Agency (ESA) has posted new and impressive images of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on the Rosetta blog. The images were returned by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, which arrived a ... more

	Researchers: Volcanoes on the moon recently active Data collected by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter indicates moon volcanoes were active more recently than previously thought, researchers said. ... more		NASA Prepares its Science Fleet for Oct. 19 Mars Comet Encounter NASA's extensive fleet of science assets, particularly those orbiting and roving Mars, have front row seats to image and study a once-in-a-lifetime comet flyby on Sunday, Oct. 19. Comet C/2013 A1, a ... 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

'Data smashing' could unshackle automated discovery		New frontier in error-correcting codes		Dead star shines on		NuSTAR Telescope Discovers Shockingly Bright Dead Star		First space weather forecast center opens in Britain
NASA's Hubble Maps the Temperature and Water Vapor on an Extreme Exoplanet		Failing was fun: Japan Nobel winner		New subatomic particle sheds light on fundamental force of nature		A Warm Dark Matter Search Using XMASS		UA Planetary Scientists, Japanese to Trade Hard-Rock Stories

CU-Boulder-led team study origins and evolution of life in universe

Hungry black hole eats faster than thought possible

Hubble project maps temperature, water vapor on wild exoplanet

Dark matter half what we thought

Lutetia's dark side hosts hidden crater

Zeroing in on a source of gamma rays

Arctic Bacteria Show Long Evolution in Toxic Mercury Resistance

'Blood moon' to awe sky watchers in Americas, Asia

Swarm of Tiny Spacecraft to Explore Europa's Surface with Rapid Response

NASA Selects New Science Teams for Astrobiology Research

Fundamentals of physics confirmed

'Blood moon' awes sky watchers in Americas and Asia

A Quick Look at Electron-Boson Coupling

Light Scattering on Dust Holds Clues to Habitability

NASA's Swift Mission Observes Mega Flares from a Mini Star

Titan's Swirling Polar Cloud Is Cold And Toxic

Solving the mystery of the 'man in the moon'

Space debris expert warns of increasing CubeSat collision risk

Scientists Resurrect Ancient Proteins to Learn about Primordial Life on Earth

Novel approach to magnetic measurements atom-by-atom

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