The Sky Tonight

December 06, 2014

Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2 Completion of Critical Operation Phase
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 07, 2014
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed the completion of a sequence of the important operations for the Asteroid Exploration "Hayabusa2" mission including the deployment of the horn part of the sampler that captures samples from the asteroid's surface, the release of the locks for the launch that ratchet the gimbal that controls the direction of the ion engine, and functional verification of the three-axis stabilization controls and the ground precision orbit determination system. With ... read more

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Dawn Snaps Its Best-Yet Image of Dwarf Planet Ceres The Dawn spacecraft has delivered a glimpse of Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, in a new image taken 740,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from the dwarf planet. This is Dawn's be ... more		Star-gazing tourists flock to Africa's darkest place Not many tourist spots boast of being dark and difficult to get to, but the Namib desert is one of a number of remote "Dark Sky Reserves" drawing in stargazers for a celestial safari. ... more		Einstein documents digitization project complete Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can now explore more than 80,000 pages of documents left behind by the world's most famous physics genius, Albert Einstein. ... more
				Exploring Comets and Asteroids is an International Endeavor NASA and space agencies across the globe are opening up new possibilities for space exploration with missions to comets, asteroids, and other celestial bodies. Following NASA, European Space A ... more		Pulsars with black holes could hold the 'holy grail' of gravity The intermittent light emitted by pulsars, the most precise timekeepers in the universe, allows scientists to verify Einstein's theory of relativity, especially when these objects are paired up with ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

European astronomers spot faint asteroid European experts have spotted one of the faintest asteroids ever found - a chunk of space rock thought to be about 100 m in diameter beyond the orbit of Mars. Astronomers at the Large Binocular Tele ... more		Finding infant earths and potential life just got easier Among the billions and billions of stars in the sky, where should astronomers look for infant Earths where life might develop? New research from Cornell University's Institute for Pale Blue Dots sho ... 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		'Mirage Earth' exoplanets may have burned away chances for life Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars - easily the most common stars in the universe - are prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate stu ... more
				Stardust Not Likely to Block Planet Portraits Planet hunters received some good news recently. A new study concluded that, on average, sun-like stars aren't all that dusty. Less dust means better odds of snapping clear pictures of the stars' pl ... more		Losing air Today's atmosphere likely bears little trace of its primordial self: Geochemical evidence suggests that Earth's atmosphere may have been completely obliterated at least twice since its formation mor ... more

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

Atomic hydrogen emissions seen at record breaking distances Using the world's largest radio telescope, astronomers from Swinburne University of Technology have detected the faint signal emitted by atomic hydrogen gas in galaxies three billion light years fro ... more		Meteorite stirs life-on-Mars debate Analysis of a meteorite that fell in the Moroccan desert three years ago revives theories about life on Mars, scientists said on Tuesday. ... 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		Comet probe in race against time to crown stellar feat Europe's deep-space robot lab Philae worked against the clock Friday, attempting to drill into a comet 510 million kilometres (320 million miles) from Earth to crown a historic exploration before its battery runs out. ... more
Philae probing comet with hours left on battery Europe's probe Philae was busily conducting experiments on a comet 510 million kilometres (320 million miles) from Earth with just hours of onboard battery life left, ground control reported of signals received Friday. ... more		Philae may have clipped crater rim during comet landing New analysis suggests the history-making Philae lander may have clipped the rim of a crater during its comet landing last month, sending the washing machine-sized craft into a tumble. ... more		Carnegie Mellon Unveils Lunar Rover "Andy" Carnegie Mellon University has unveiled Andy, a four-wheeled robot designed to scramble up steep slopes and survive the temperature swings and high radiation encountered while exploring the moon's p ... more		Observing Solar System Worlds as if They Were Distant Exoplanets "It takes one to know one," as the old truism goes. When it comes to unraveling the mysteries of far-off exoplanets, the same holds true - one more reason why astronomers want to thoroughly understa ... more

	Ground-Based Detection Paves Way to Remote Sensing of Small Exoplanets Astronomers have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a ground-based telescope for the first time. The transit of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is the s ... more		Ground-based detection of exoplanets For the first time, a team of astronomers - including York University Professor Ray Jayawardhana - have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a groun ... 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

'Eye of Sauron' provides new way of measuring distances to galaxies		Van der Waals force re-measured		Particles, Waves and Ants		First harvest of research based on the final GOCE gravity model		Why we should mine the moon
Japan again delays launch of asteroid probe		JUICE mission gets green light for next stage of development		Astrobiology Acupuncture: Collecting Data from Non-Planar Surfaces		The mysterious 'action at a distance' between liquid containers		Polish astronomers spot young Stellar Bridge in the Magellanic Clouds

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World's first computer dates to 205 BCE, earlier than thought

Using supermassive black holes to measure cosmic distances

Seismo-Ionospheric effects of 'Chelyabinsk' Meteorite revealed

Asteroid Mining Could Make For Boom Times

Young Volcanoes on the Moon

How Can We Search For Life On Icy Moons Such As Europa?

ASU joins pathbreaking radio telescope project to study early universe

Hot, Super-Earths Help Track Water-Rich Atmospheres

A colorful gathering of middle-aged stars

Astrophysicist says wormholes of 'Interstellar' unlikely to exist

Rapidly Freezing Saltwater Could Provide Spark of Life on Icy Worlds

Rosetta Comet Landing in 'Thud' and 3D

DSCOVR to Observe Space Weather and Earth from Afar

Russia Preparing Joint Moon Exploration Agreement With EU

Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues to Alien Life

Subaru detects sudden appearance of galaxies in early universe

NASA Issues 'Remastered' View of Jupiter's Moon Europa

Sun's rotating magnetic field may pull lightning toward Earth

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