The Sky Tonight

October 14, 2015

SwRI-led study finds comet tail may shed light on solar wind heating
Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 14, 2015
We can't see the wind, but we can learn about it by observing things that are being blown about. And by studying changes in a comet's bright tail of gas and ions, scientists are on the trail to solving two big mysteries about the solar wind, the supersonic outflow of electrically charged gas from the Sun's million-degree upper atmosphere or corona. A team of scientists led by the heliophysics group at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has used observations of Comet Encke's tail using NASA's Sola ... read more

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Cassini Begins Series of Flybys of Enceladus NASA's Cassini spacecraft will wrap up its time in the region of Saturn's large, icy moons with a series of three close encounters with Enceladus starting Wednesday, Oct. 14. Images are expected to ... more		Planetary portrait captures new changes in Jupiter's Great Red Spot Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have produced new maps of Jupiter - the first in a series of annual portraits of the solar system's outer planets. Collecting these yearly images - ess ... more		Listening to the Extragalactic Radio CHANG-ES, the "Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies, an EVLA Survey" project, brings together scientists from all over the globe in order to investigate the occurrence and origin of radio halos, to pr ... more
				Airbus DS ready to start testing exoplanet tracker CHEOPS Airbus Defence and Space has finished building the structural model for ESA's CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite), Europe's first mission to search for exoplanetary transits by performing ul ... more		A quantum simulator of impossible physics The researchers in the two groups have succeeded in getting a trapped atom to imitate behaviours that contradict its own fundamental laws, thus taking elements of science fiction to the microscopic ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

Mercury featuring prominently in October skies Mercury is set to join the planetary party being held in the predawn sky. For the last couple weeks, Mars, Jupiter and Venus have been congregating in the Northern Hemisphere's morning sky. ... more		Planetary Data System Releases Final Raw MESSENGER Dataset Data collected during MESSENGER's 43rd through 49th months in orbit around Mercury were released to the public by NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS), the network of nodes that archives and distribut ... more		Trump to U.N.: 'Your countries are going to hell' Taiwan running out of time for satellite communications, space chief tells AFP US lawmaker warns of military 'misunderstanding' risk with China		Hubble Telescope Spots Mysterious Space Objects Scientists from the Paris Observatory have discovered mysterious undulating objects on space photos made with the Hubble space telescope and ESO's Very Large Telescope, scientific magazine Nature wr ... more
				Scientists produce shortest electron bunches ever by surfing plasma waves The shortest electron bunches ever produced have emerged in research by scientists at the University of Strathclyde. The bunches were produced by focusing a high-power laser pulse into a supersonic ... more		Double the (quantum) fun A single-electron transistor (SET) is an electrical device that takes advantage of a strange quantum phenomenon called tunneling to transport single electrons across a thin insulator. The device ser ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

Exoplanet Anniversary: From Zero to Thousands in 20 Years October 6 marks the 20th anniversary of the first discovery of a planet orbiting a sun-like, or "normal," star beyond our solar system. The planet, called 51 Pegasi b, belongs to a class of planets ... more		LISA Pathfinder takes a major step closer to launch The LISA Pathfinder deep-space science payload for Arianespace's next mission with its Vega launcher has been delivered to South America for an early December liftoff from the Spaceport. LISA ... more		Toxic homes a lasting legacy of Los Angeles fires 'Greatest con job ever': Trump trashes climate science at UN Turkey facing worst drought in over 50 years		Where to look for life Powerful telescopes are coming soon. Where exactly shall we point them? Astronomers with the University of Washington's Virtual Planetary Laboratory have created a way to compare and rank exoplanets ... more
Mysterious ripples found racing through planet-forming disc Using images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered never-before-seen structures within a dusty disc surrounding a nearby star. The fast ... more		More students earning statistics degrees - but not enough Statistics is one of the fastest-growing degrees in the U.S., but the growth may not be enough to satisfy the high demand for statisticians in technology, consumer products, health care, government, ... more		Physicists shrink particle accelerator An interdisciplinary team of researchers has built the first prototype of a miniature particle accelerator that uses terahertz radiation instead of radio frequency structures. A single accelerator m ... more		Laser-wielding physicists seize control of atoms' behavior Physicists have wondered in recent years if they could control how atoms interact using light. Now they know that they can, by demonstrating games of quantum billiards with unusual new rules. ... more

	Lunar Pox The pockmarked landscape captured in this image from ESA's SMART-1 mission is the surface of our Moon. Some of the many craters scattered across the lunar surface are clearly visible, records of the ... more		Scientists present, discuss latest data from experiments smashing nuclei Scientists intent on unraveling the mystery of the force that binds the building blocks of visible matter are gathered in Kobe, Japan, this week to present and discuss the latest results from "ultra ... more

How quantum computers can be validated when solving unsolvable problems

Neutrinovoltaic master formula published as pathway to scalable clean energy

Boeing defense workers reject deal to end strike

Scientists produce status check on quantum teleportation		AIDA Double Mission to Divert Didymos Asteroid's Didymoon		Japanese, Canadian win Nobel Physics Prize		Where to Search for Life? 'Habitability Index' Devised as a Guide		World's largest atom smashers produce world's smallest droplets
Johns Hopkins research on infant universe takes step forward		Peeking into our galaxy's stellar nursery		The golden anniversary of black-hole singularity		Southampton researchers find a new way to weigh a star		A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies

Explosions and plasma jets associated with sunspot formation revealed

Asteroids found to be the moon's main 'water supply'

SwRI awarded NASA contract to develop Jupiter Trojan asteroid mission

Space startup confirms plans for robotic moon landings

Searching for Orphan Stars Amid Starbirth Fireworks

Rosetta's First Peek at the Comet's Dark Side

Dawn Turns Eight

Dawn Team Shares New Maps and Insights about Ceres

The Most Stable Source of Light in the World

How do atoms alter during a supernova explosion?

ASU-led partnership engages citizens in NASA's Asteroid Initiative

New precise particle measurement improves subatomic tool

Lockheed's Space Fence Program Completes Critical Design Review

Dark energy probe involving U-M reaches critical milestone

A twist for control of orbital angular momentum of neutron waves

New method to better understand atomic nuclei

Frustrated magnets point towards new memory

Earth-class planets likely have protective magnetic fields, aiding life

Russian scientist hope to get rocket fuel, water, oxygen from Lunar ice

Study adds to evidence that viruses are alive

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