The Sky Tonight

October 24, 2014

Two families of comets found around nearby star
Paris (SPX) Oct 24, 2014
Beta Pictoris is a young star located about 63 light-years from the Sun. It is only about 20 million years old and is surrounded by a huge disc of material - a very active young planetary system where gas and dust are produced by the evaporation of comets and the collisions of asteroids. Flavien Kiefer (IAP/CNRS/UPMC), lead author of the new study sets the scene: "Beta Pictoris is a very exciting target! The detailed observations of its exocomets give us clues to help understand what processes occ ... read more

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Organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere are intriguingly skewed While studying the atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan, scientists discovered intriguing zones of organic molecules unexpectedly shifted away from its north and south poles. These misaligned features ... more		NASA uses ultra-black nano-coating for solar coronagraph An emerging super-black nanotechnology that is to be tested for the first time this fall on the International Space Station will be applied to a complex, 3-D component critical for suppressing stray ... more		New lunar mission to test Chang'e-5 technology China will launch a new lunar mission this week to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return to Earth. The experimental spacecraft launche ... more
				Next Chinese mission to moon will return to Earth This week China will launch a new lunar orbiter, which, in contrast with previous space probes, will return to Earth after orbiting the Moon, China's official Xinhua news agency reports. Ye Pe ... more		NASA-led study sees Titan glowing at dusk and dawn New maps of Saturn's moon Titan reveal large patches of trace gases shining brightly near the north and south poles. These regions are curiously shifted off the poles, to the east or west, so that d ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Suomi team ward off recent space debris threat While space debris was the uncontrolled adversary in the award-winning space thriller film "Gravity," space debris, also known as "space junk," is an ongoing real-life concern for teams managing sat ... more		NASA's Fermi Satellite Finds Hints of Starquakes in Magnetar 'Storm' NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a rapid-fire "storm" of high-energy blasts from a highly magnetized neutron star, also called a magnetar, on Jan. 22, 2009. Now astronomers analyzing ... 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		POLARBEAR detects B-modes in the cosmic microwave background Cosmologists have made the most sensitive and precise measurements yet of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. The report, published in the Astrophysical Journal, marks an early succ ... more
				Cosmic rays threaten future deep-space astronaut missions Crewed missions to Mars remain an essential goal for NASA, but scientists are only now beginning to understand and characterize the radiation hazards that could make such ventures risky, concludes a ... more		POLARBEAR seeks cosmic answers in microwave polarization An international team of physicists has measured a subtle characteristic in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation that will allow them to map the large-scale structure of the ... more

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

Big Black Holes Can Block New Stars Massive black holes spewing out radio-frequency-emitting particles at near-light speed can block formation of new stars in aging galaxies, a study has found. The research provides crucial new eviden ... more		Mars Orbiter Image Shows Comet Nucleus is Small The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured views of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring while that visitor sped past Mars on Sunday (Oct. ... 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		1980s aircraft helps quantum technology take flight What does a 1980s experimental aircraft have to do with state-of-the art quantum technology? Lots, as shown by new research from the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney, and publi ... more
Partial solar eclipse to cast a shadow over the sun Thursday Due to a partial solar eclipse, most of the United States, Mexico and Canada will see the sun look like a fingernail as it sets on Thursday evening. ... more		In a first, astronomers map comets around another star Astronomers using an ultra-sensitive telescope in the Chilean desert said Wednesday they had mapped hundreds of comets orbiting a star 63 light years from Earth. ... more		'Twisted rope' clue to dangerous solar storms A "twisted rope" of magnetically-charged energy precedes solar storms that have the potential to damage satellites and electricity grids, French scientists said on Wednesday. ... more		Hubble uses gravity lense to find extremely distant galaxy Peering through a giant cosmic magnifying glass, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a tiny, faint galaxy - one of the farthest galaxies ever seen. The diminutive object is estimated to be mo ... more

	Sunset Solar Eclipse Sunsets are always pretty. One sunset this month could be out of this world. On Thursday, Oct. 23rd, the setting sun across eastern parts of the USA will be red, beautiful and ... crescent-shaped. ... more		Storms to obscure peaking meteor shower in the Northeast Astronomers say this week's annual Orionid meteor shower, which is scheduled to peak overnight Tuesday, will be one of the best in years. But for many Americans living along the Eastern Seaboard and in the Pacific Northwest, it will all be for nothing, as storms are expected to scatter clouds over much of the United States. ... 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

Rare 'baby rattle' molecules reveal new quantum properties of H2O and H2		Cooling with molecules		Hubble Finds Extremely Distant Galaxy through Cosmic Magnifying Glass		Mars Odyssey Orbiter Watches Comet Fly Near		MAVEN Studies Passing Comet and Its Effects
Cosmic jets of young stars formed by magnetic fields		Curious signal hints at dark matter		Probing the past		Discovery of the Benesov meteorites 20 years after the bolide event		Construction secrets of a galactic metropolis

First Evidence of a Hydrogen-deficient Supernova Progenitor

New light on the 'split peak' of alcohols

Microbes in deep-sea rocks eat methane, lots of it

Rare comet fly-by of Mars on Sunday

Milky Way Ransacks Nearby Dwarf Galaxies

Inside the Milky Way

Wobbling of a Saturn moon hints at what lies beneath

Messenger Images Ice Near Mercury's North Pole

Tiny "Nanoflares" Might Heat the Sun's Corona

NASA Spacecraft Provides New Information About Sun's Atmosphere

Getting To Know Super-Earths

ESA confirms the primary landing site for Rosetta

Astronomers Spot Faraway Uranus-Like Planet

Rosetta Selflessly Beams Back Comet Selfie

Slow-Growing Galaxies Offer Window to Early Universe

Dead star shines on

Getting sharp images from dull detectors

Europe gives green light for comet landing site

'Data smashing' could unshackle automated discovery

Leaky, Star-Forming Galaxies Help Understanding The Universe

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