The Sky Tonight

November 06, 2014

Peering into Planetary Atmospheres
Laurel MD (SPX) Nov 06, 2014
Pluto is the foremost member of a large population of mysterious icy bodies - called Kuiper Belt Objects - that reside far beyond the orbit of Neptune. In the 1970s and 1980s, Voyagers 1 and 2 explored the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) and their intricate systems of rings and moons, but Pluto was out of reach for a visit by either spacecraft. New Horizons will fill this missing chapter in space exploration during its close encounter the planet and its five known moons in ... read more

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How to Land on a Comet Generally speaking, space missions fall into one of three categories: difficult, more difficult, and ridiculously difficult. Flybys are difficult. A spaceship travels hundreds of millions of m ... more		UCLA astronomers solve puzzle about bizarre object at the center of our galaxy For years, astronomers have been puzzled by a bizarre object in the center of the Milky Way that was believed to be a hydrogen gas cloud headed toward our galaxy's enormous black hole. Having studie ... more		ESA space ferry moves ISS to avoid debris The International Space Station was threatened by space debris last week but ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle saved the day by firing its thrusters to push the orbital outpost and its six occupants ... more
				String field theory could be the foundation of quantum mechanics Two USC researchers have proposed a link between string field theory and quantum mechanics that could open the door to using string field theory - or a broader version of it, called M-theory - as th ... more		Fireball lights up Japanese skies On the same night that at least two fireball events caught the attention of skywatchers in the United States, residents of western Japan spotted a bright green flash of light experts say was a burning chunk of asteroid intercepted by Earth's atmosphere. ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

NASA Team Advances Next-Generation 3D-Imaging Lidar Building, fixing, and refueling space-based assets or rendezvousing with a comet or asteroid will require a robotic vehicle and a super-precise, high-resolution 3-D imaging lidar that will generate ... more		Farewell 'J', hello Agilkia The site where Rosetta's Philae lander is scheduled to touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November now has a name: Agilkia. The landing site, previously known as 'Site J', is named ... more		Greenland truce or Trump win? Davos "framework" pauses tariffs but not the takeover boasts Greenlanders doubtful over Trump resolution EU says ready to sign defence and security pact with India		To Agilkia... and beyond: Comet landing site is named Will space historians one day say "Agilkia" with the same awe as they utter "Tranquility Base," where in 1969 Man first walked on the Moon? ... more
				Fireball lit up the sky across Midwest and East Coast Monday night Dozens of skywatchers - including some armed with video cameras - reported seeing a bright fireball streak across the skyline on Monday evening. The American Meteor Society fielded more than 300 reports from across the Midwest and East Coast. ... more		Life Can Survive on Much Less Water Than You Might Think "Follow the water" has long been the mantra of our scientific search for alien life in the Solar System and beyond. We continue seeking conditions where water can remain liquid either on a world's s ... more

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

Planetary Atmospheres a Key to Assessing Possibilities for Life A planetary atmosphere is a delicate thing. On Earth, we are familiar with the ozone hole - a tear in our upper atmosphere caused by human-created chemicals that thin away the ozone. Threats to an a ... more		NASA-Funded Sounding Rocket to Gather 1,500 Sun Images in 5 Minutes A sounding rocket outfitted with technology to gather 1,500 images of the sun over its five-minute mission is preparing to launch in early November 2014. Capturing five images per second, the ... more		Trump vows to relaunch Egypt-Ethiopia talks on dam row China's birth rate falls to lowest on record Chile police arrest suspect over deadly wildfires		Solving the mystery of life by exploring Churyumov-Gerasimenko Within a few days, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will drop a tiny lander called Philae onto the surface of a mysterious comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: a huge chunk of ice and org ... more
China gears up for lunar mission after round-trip success The head of China's lunar probe program has called for a thorough analysis of data collected from the test lunar orbiter, which returned Saturday, to speed up work on Chang'e-5, the star of the 2017 ... more		NASA Reveals Mysteries of 'Interstellar' Space The new Paramount film "Interstellar" imagines a future where astronauts must find a new planet suitable for human life after climate change destroys the Earth's ability to sustain us. Multiple NASA ... more		How a giant impact formed asteroid Vesta's 'belt' When NASA's Dawn spacecraft visited the asteroid Vesta in 2011, it showed that deep grooves that circle the asteroid's equator like a cosmic belt were probably caused by a massive impact on Vesta's ... more		China examines the three stages of lunar test run China's experimental lunar orbiter, which blasted off just over a week ago, entered the moon's orbit as part of an eight-day mission. The trial run paves the way for a mission in 2017 to collect lun ... more

	VLTI detects exozodiacal light Using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in near-infrared light [1], the team of astronomers observed 92 nearby stars to probe exozodiacal light from hot dust close to their habitable zo ... more		Hubble Sees a Galaxy on the Edge This spectacular image was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The bright streak slicing across the frame is an edge-on view of galaxy NGC 4762, and ... more

Quantum transport method reads open quantum states

Scientists uncover new quantum state that could power future technologies

Early universe dark matter born red hot before cooling

Sussex physicists find simple solution for quantum technology challenge		The Peres conjecture is false!		Planet-forming Lifeline Discovered in a Binary Star System		Griffith scientists propose existence and interaction of parallel worlds		Yale finds a planet that won't stick to a schedule
Hubble Sees 'Ghost Light' From Dead Galaxies		Laser experiments mimic cosmic explosions and planetary cores		Tremendously bright pulsar may be 1 of many		Richard Binzel on NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission		Steering ESA satellites clear of space debris

Planet-forming lifeline discovered in a binary star system

Cassini Sees Sunny Seas on Titan

Physicists Closer to Understanding Balance of Matter, Antimatter

Can the wave function of an electron be divided and trapped?

Burning passion: Chinese rich pay sky-high meteorite prices

New insights into the physics of space weather

Here's Looking at You: Spooky Shadow Gives Jupiter a Giant Eye

NASA's LRO Spacecraft Captures Images of LADEE's Impact Crater

New evidence for an exotic, predicted superconducting state

Spotlighting the sun

Experiment provides route to macroscopic high-mass superpositions

NASA Identifies Ice Cloud Above Cruising Altitude on Titan

Hubble Views the Whirling Disk of NGC 4526

MAVEN Ultraviolet Image of Comet Siding Spring's Hydrogen Coma

NASA opens library of cosmic audio to the public

Illusions in the Cosmic Clouds

First time-lapse images of exploding fireball from a 'nova' star

From the mouths of young fireballs

Rosetta: the ambition to turn science fiction into science fact

Georgia State astronomers image the exploding fireball stage of a nova

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