The Sky Tonight

December 22, 2014

Young Red Dwarf Stars could Host Habitable Worlds
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Dec 22, 2014
Red dwarf stars, or M dwarfs, have recently been hailed as the best places to discover alien life. They are by far the most common stars in our galaxy, making up 75 percent of all stars. They are also the longest-lived-they can burn for trillions of years, far longer than the ten-billion-years lifespan of our Sun. What's more, nearly all of them may have a planet in the habitable zone. But new research now adds important nuances to their story. In a new model, Lisa Kaltenegger and Ramses M. Rami ... read more

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Contamination of Impacted Meteorites Can Happen Quickly A team of scientists has published the results of an investigative survey into the Sutter's Mill meteorite that landed in California in 2012. The results reveal that the meteorite contained a ... more		'Shooting the Moon' with Satellite Laser Ranging Laser ranging from Earth to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was a milestone in the 50-year history of satellite laser ranging. Launched in 2009 and still orbiting the moon in 2014, LRO was ... more		NASA's Chandra Weighs Most Massive Galaxy Cluster in Distant Universe A composite image shows the distant and massive galaxy cluster that is officially known as XDCP J0044.0-2033. Researchers, however, have nicknamed it "Gioiello", which is Italian for "jewel". They c ... more
				Exact Solution to Model Big Bang and Quark Gluon Plasma Unlike in mathematics, it is rare to have exact solutions to physics problems. "When they do present themselves, they are an opportunity to test the approximation schemes (algorithms) that are used ... more		The hot blue stars of Messier 47 Messier 47 is located approximately 1600 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Puppis (the poop deck of the mythological ship Argo). It was first noticed some time before 1654 by Italian a ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Kepler Proves It Can Still Find Planets To paraphrase Mark Twain, the report of the Kepler spacecraft's death was greatly exaggerated. Despite a malfunction that ended its primary mission in May 2013, Kepler is still alive and working. Th ... more		NASA's Kepler Reborn, Makes First Exoplanet Find of New Mission 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 ... more		EU states to hold talks on 'drone wall' to protect bloc Denmark military intel fails to identify source of drone flights Lithuania eases rules on shooting down drones		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

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

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 ISRO radar satellite beams first Earth images from space Morocco High Atlas whistle language strives for survival China warns Papua New Guinea over Australian defence deal		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		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		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		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

JUNO begins decade-long mission to probe neutrino mysteries

SFL Missions to Deliver Spacecraft Buses for HawkEye 360 RF Signal Detection Expansion

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Physicists explain puzzling particle collisions		Fermi brings deeper focus to thunderstorm gamma-rays		Moon Express testing compact lunar lander at Kennedy		NASA Voyager: 'Tsunami Wave' Still Flies Through Interstellar Space		Oil-dwelling bacteria are social creatures in Earth's deep biosphere
Fraud-proof credit cards possible with quantum physics		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

Scientists measure speedy electrons in silicon

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

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