The Sky Tonight

November 12, 2014

European probe lands on comet, fails to anchor
Darmstadt, Germany (AFP) Nov 12, 2014
Europe made history Wednesday by placing the first-ever lander on a comet - but the robot failed to anchor itself properly, raising concerns at ground control. The fridge-sized lab dubbed Philae touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a high-risk manoeuvre more than 510 million kilometres (320 million miles) from Earth, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. But instead of harpooning itself to the surface after a seven-hour descent from mothership Rosetta, early radio signals sugg ... read more

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Probe separates from orbiter, heads to comet: ESA The European probe Philae on Wednesday was on course to make the first-ever landing on a comet after separating from its mother ship, mission control said. Philae ejected at around 0835 GMT, s ... more		European Spacecraft Set to Harpoon a Comet Tomorrow Early tomorrow morning, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will deploy its comet lander, "Philae." A little over seven hours later (8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST), the experiment-laden, harpoon ... more		A close-up with a comet Even as Tom Economou approached retirement age in 1994, he began planning an instrument for the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to a comet. He still remembers the reaction of Riccardo Levi-S ... more
				Final checks for first-ever comet landing Scientists were going through a final systems checklist Tuesday for the first-ever landing on a comet, the culmination of a dream to explore the origins of the Solar System. ... more		'Target locked': Comet mission eyes Wednesday landing European scientists are gearing for the culmination of two decades' work and a 1.3-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) bet with the first-ever landing on a comet on Wednesday. ... more

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After Mars, India space chief aims for the moon India now has its sights set on low-budget missions to the moon and the sun after becoming the first country in Asia to reach Mars, the head of its space agency said Tuesday. ... more		Cassini Sails into New Ocean Adventures on Titan NASA's Cassini mission continues its adventures in extraterrestrial oceanography with new findings about the hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's moon Titan. During a flyby in August, the spacecraft sounded ... 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		Joint team reveals asteroid's size for the first time When the double asteroid Patroclus-Menoetius passed directly in front of a star on the night of Oct. 20, a team of volunteer astronomers across the U.S. was waiting. Observing the event, known ... more
				Tail discovered on long-known asteroid A two-person team of Carnegie's Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory has discovered a new active asteroid, called 62412, in the Solar System's main asteroid belt between Ma ... more		Follow the Dust to Find Planets Researchers studying what appears to be a beefed-up version of our solar system have discovered that it is encased in a halo of fine dust. The findings are based on infrared data from NASA's Spitzer ... more

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MUSE Reveals True Story Behind Galactic Crash The new MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has provided researchers with the best view yet of a spectacular cosmic crash. The new observations reveal for the first time the motion o ... more		Hubble View of Bubbly Nebula This image from Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 showcases NGC 1501, a complex planetary nebula located in the large but faint constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). Discovered b ... 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		Unusual light in dark space revealed by Los Alamos, NASA By looking at the dark spaces between visible galaxies and stars the NASA/JPL CIBER sounding rocket experiment has produced data that could redefine what constitutes a galaxy. "What was very s ... more
Baby photos of a scaled-up solar system Scientists at the University of Arizona have discovered what might be the closest thing to "baby photos" of our solar system. A young star called HD 95086 is found to have two dust belts, analogous ... more		Rosetta: The dark side of the comet Rosetta's scientific imaging system OSIRIS has caught a glimpse of the southern side of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During the past months, this side has continuously faced away from the Sun ma ... more		NASA's TESS Mission Cleared for Next Development Phase NASA has officially confirmed the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, clearing it to move forward into the development phase. This marks a significant step for the TESS mission, wh ... more		Astronomers dissect the aftermath of a Supernova In research published in the Astrophysical Journal, an Australian led team of astronomers has used radio telescopes in Australia and Chile to see inside the remains of a supernova. The superno ... more

	SwRI-led team telescope effort reveals asteroid's size for the first time When the double asteroid Patroclus-Menoetius passed directly in front of a star on the night of Oct. 20, a team of volunteer astronomers across the U.S. was waiting. Observing the event, known ... more		Fireball streaks across Texas sky Residents of San Antonio saw a bright green light streak across the sky Saturday night, making it the possible site of a meteor. ... more

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