The Sky Tonight

December 20, 2014

NASA's Kepler Reborn, Makes First Exoplanet Find of New Mission
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 19, 2014
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft makes a comeback with the discovery of the first exoplanet found using its new mission - K2. The discovery was made when astronomers and engineers devised an ingenious way to repurpose Kepler for the K2 mission and continue its search of the cosmos for other worlds. "Last summer, the possibility of a scientifically productive mission for Kepler after its reaction wheel failure in its extended mission was not part of the conversation," said Paul Hertz, NASA' ... read more

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Signs of Europa Plumes Remain Elusive in Search of Cassini Data A fresh look at data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its 2001 flyby of Jupiter shows that Europa's tenuous atmosphere is even thinner than previously thought and also suggests that the ... more		XMM-Newton spots monster black hole hidden in tiny galaxy First impressions can be deceptive - astronomers have used ESA's X-ray satellite XMM-Newton to find a massive black hole hungrily feeding within a tiny dwarf galaxy, despite there being no hint of t ... more		Rosetta Orbiter to Swoop Down On Comet in February The European Space Agency's orbiting Rosetta spacecraft is expected to come within four miles (six kilometers) of the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in February of next year. The flyby w ... more
				Rosetta comet-landing is Science's 2014 breakthrough The top scientific breakthrough of 2014 was the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft's rendez-vous with a comet, the US journal Science said Thursday. ... more		'Perfect Storm' Quenching Star Formation around a Supermassive Black Hole High-energy jets powered by supermassive black holes can blast away a galaxy's star-forming fuel, resulting in so-called "red and dead" galaxies: those brimming with ancient red stars yet containing ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

NASA Satellites Measure Increase of Sun's Energy Absorbed in the Arctic NASA satellite instruments have observed a marked increase in solar radiation absorbed in the Arctic since the year 2000 - a trend that aligns with the steady decrease in Arctic sea ice during the s ... more		Surprising Theorists, Stars Within Middle-Aged Clusters Are of Similar Age A close look at the night sky reveals that stars don't like to be alone; instead, they congregate in clusters, in some cases containing as many as several million stars. Until recently, the oldest o ... 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		ESA scientists say Philae lander will wake up in 2015 The team of scientists and engineers responsible for this fall's historic comet landing are confident Philae's current slumber is only temporary. ... more
				Super-Earth spotted by ground-based telescope, a first For the first time, a ground-based telescope has observed a super-Earth alien planet passing in front of its host star. The exoplanet, roughly twice the size of Earth, is 55 Cancri e. Its host star is 55 Cancri, a Sun-like star 40 light-years away that can be spied with the naked eye in the Cancer constellation. ... more		Choreography of an electron pair Physicists are continuously advancing the control they can exert over matter. A German-Spanish team working with researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg has now b ... more

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

Fraud-proof credit cards possible with quantum physics Credit card fraud and identify theft are serious problems for consumers and industries. Though corporations and individuals work to improve safeguards, it has become increasingly difficult to protec ... more		Scientists measure speedy electrons in silicon The entire semiconductor industry, not to mention Silicon Valley, is built on the propensity of electrons in silicon to get kicked out of their atomic shells and become free. These mobile electrons ... 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		NASA is letting people name the craters of Mercury The team behind NASA's Mercury orbiter, MESSENGER, has begun a competition to name the craters of Mercury. ... more		Physicists explain puzzling particle collisions An anomaly spotted at the Large Hadron Collider has prompted scientists to reconsider a mathematical description of the underlying physics. By considering two forces that are distinct in everyday li ... more		Fermi brings deeper focus to thunderstorm gamma-rays Each day, thunderstorms around the world produce about a thousand quick bursts of gamma rays, some of the highest-energy light naturally found on Earth. By merging records of events seen by NASA's F ... more

	Moon Express testing compact lunar lander at Kennedy NASA is working with U.S. industry to develop the capabilities and cutting-edge technologies that will help send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. To achieve this goal, space travelers will need th ... more		NASA Voyager: 'Tsunami Wave' Still Flies Through Interstellar Space The "tsunami wave" that NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft began experiencing earlier this year is still propagating outward, according to new results. It is the longest-lasting shock wave that researchers ... 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

Oil-dwelling bacteria are social creatures in Earth's deep biosphere		Researchers use real data rather than theory to measure the cosmos		Interstellar Mystery Solved By Supercomputer Simulations		Observing Solar System Worlds as if They Were Distant Exoplanets		SwRI develops solar observatory for use on suborbital manned space missions
MESSENGER Data Suggest Recurring Meteor Shower on Mercury		Galactic Get-Together Has Impressive Light Display		Galactic Gathering Gives Sparkling Light Display		Interstellar Mystery Solved by Supercomputer Simulations		Researchers detect possible signal from dark matter

Researchers detect possible signal from dark matter

Astronomers spot Pluto-size objects swarming about young sun

SwRI scientists develop solar observatory for use on suborbital manned space missions

Rosetta Comet Water Different Than Earth Water

How Did Life Become Complex, And Could It Happen Beyond Earth?

The Science of Magnetic Reconnection

The Geminids meteor shower should be one of the best this year

Researchers report possible dark matter signal

Rosetta fuels debate on origin of Earth's oceans

Saturn's Moons: What a Difference a Decade Makes

UK Plans to Drill Into Moon, Explore Feasibility of Manned Base

Asteroid 2014 UR116 Represents No Threat to the Earth

NASA-funded FOXSI to Observe X-Rays From Sun

Secondary relaxation in metallic glasses key glassy physics

45-year physics mystery shows a path to quantum transistors

Finding the simple patterns in a complex world

Laser-plasma 'tabletop' particle accelerator sets record

Tennessee research offers explanation for Titan dune puzzle

World record for compact particle accelerator

Electron pairs on demand

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