The Sky Tonight

January 20, 2015

Dawn Delivers New Image of Ceres
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 20, 2015
As NASA's Dawn spacecraft closes in on Ceres, new images show the dwarf planet at 27 pixels across, about three times better than the calibration images taken in early December. These are the first in a series of images that will be taken for navigation purposes during the approach to Ceres. Over the next several weeks, Dawn will deliver increasingly better and better images of the dwarf planet, leading up to the spacecraft's capture into orbit around Ceres on March 6. The images will continue to ... read more

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Planets outside our solar system more hospitable to life than thought A study by astrophysicists at the University of Toronto suggests that exoplanets - planets outside our solar system - are more likely to have liquid water and be more habitable than we thought. ... more		NEOWISE: A Yearlong Look at the Sky NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft discovered and characterized 40 near-Earth objects (NEOs) in the first year after the mission was re-started in December 2013 ... more		Three nearly Earth-size planets found orbiting nearby star NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, despite being hobbled by the loss of critical guidance systems, has discovered a star with three planets only slightly larger than Earth. The outermost planet orbits i ... more
				Unexplained cosmic radio burst captured in real-time For the first time in history, a fast radio burst (FRB) was recorded in real-time. The massive (but quickly dissipating) burst of radio waves was captured by the Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia. ... more		Three-Planet System Holds Clues to Atmospheres of Earth-size Worlds Extrasolar planets are being discovered by the hundreds, but are any of these newfound worlds really like Earth? A planetary system recently discovered by the Kepler spacecraft will help resolve thi ... more

Nuclear Decommissioning Conference Europe May 2015

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

New data that fundamental physics constants underlie life-enabling universe For nearly half a century, theoretical physicists have made a series of discoveries that certain constants in fundamental physics seem extraordinarily fine-tuned to allow for the emergence of a life ... more		Galactic 'hailstorm' in the early universe Two teams of astronomers led by researchers at the University of Cambridge have looked back nearly 13 billion years, when the Universe was less than 10 percent its present age, to determine how quas ... 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		Meteorites weren't exactly the building blocks of young planets That meteorites and their collisions with early planetary masses played a predominant role in the formation of the early universe is a narrative popular among astronomers and the average high school science class. ... more
				NASA's New Horizons probe begins Pluto observations It's been nine years since the New Horizons probe left Earth, and now the craft is gearing up for its encounter with Pluto in July - the first-ever flyby of the icy cold dwarf planet. ... more		Europe comet mission deserves Nobel: space chief A European mission that made the first landing on a comet deserves the Nobel prize, the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday. ... more

Race of the electrons It is easy to measure electric current. But it is extremely hard to watch the individual electrons which make up this current. Electrons race through the metal with a speed of several million meters ... more		Rapid journey through a crystal lattice The time frames, in which electrons travel within atoms, are unfathomably short. For example, electrons excited by light change their quantum-mechanical location within mere attoseconds - an attosec ... 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		A twist on planetary origins Meteors that have crashed to Earth have long been regarded as relics of the early solar system. These craggy chunks of metal and rock are studded with chondrules - tiny, glassy, spherical grains th ... more
Shining a light on quantum dots measurement Due to their nanoscale dimensions and sensitivity to light, quantum dots are being used for a number of bioimaging applications including in vivo imaging of tumor cells, detection of biomolecules, a ... more		NameExoWorlds contest opens The first ever contest allowing members of the public to name ExoWorlds begins its first round today, offering the registered clubs and non-profit organisations the chance to nominate their favourit ... more		A year on-station for Gaia Time flies when you're mapping a billion stars! One year ago, Gaia performed its last major orbit insertion burn and was stable at 'L2' ... more		Meteorite material born in molten spray as embryo planets collided Asteroids may be a byproduct of planet formation rather than planetary building blocks, according to a recent paper in Nature. Research done at Purdue University suggests collisions of planetary emb ... more

	NASA and ESA Celebrate 10 Years Since Titan Landing Ten years ago, an explorer from Earth parachuted into the haze of an alien moon toward an uncertain fate. After a gentle descent lasting more than two hours, it landed with a thud on a frigid floodp ... more		AI helps physicists predict dangerous solar flares Though scientists do not completely understand what triggers solar flares, Stanford solar physicists Monica Bobra and Sebastien Couvidat have automated the analysis of those gigantic explosions. The ... more

JUNO begins decade-long mission to probe neutrino mysteries

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

Voyager debuts first space based multi cloud region to advance orbital data processing

Last Chance: Mercury Crater-Naming Contest Ends January 15		Service Module of Chinese Probe Enters Lunar Orbit		Unusual Light Signal Yields Clues About Elusive Black Hole Merger		Decoding the gravitational evolution of dark matter halos		Asteroid to Fly By Earth Safely on January 26
Ground-breaking research to discover new planets		Scientists say a meteorite could be responsible for Antarctic crater		Map of Mysterious Molecules Sheds New Light on Century-old Puzzle		NASA releases retro-styled travel posters for newly discovered planets		New catalyst process uses light, not metal, for rapid polymerization

Service module of China's lunar orbiter enters 127-minute orbit

Disappearance of a Cosmic Spinning Top

Novel vision of the death of massive stars

Photonic booms may help illuminate astronomical secrets

Hubble Gazes at R Sculptoris and its Hidden Companion

Map of mysterious molecules sheds light on old puzzle

Amateur astronomers capture comet Lovejoy on camera

See comet Lovejoy with the naked eye this weekend

Machines Teach Astronomers About Stars

Dawn of a strange new world

Space Debris Expert Warns About Dangers of Orbital Junk

New light shed on electron spin flips

Scientists Pinpoint Saturn With Exquisite Accuracy

Will the Real Monster Black Hole Please Stand Up?

Rosetta in 2015

CfA: Eight New Planets Found in "Goldilocks" Zone

Comet Lovejoy Glows Brightest During Mid-January

Planet-hunting satellite observes supermassive black hole

Unusual Light Signal Hints at Distant Black Hole Merger

Flashes from faster-than-light spots unveil astronomical secrets

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