The Sky Tonight

May 20, 2016

How Far Away Are Our Stellar Neighbors?
Washington DC (SPX) May 20, 2016
In April 2016 the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) released a catalog of distances to over 112 thousand stars, the USNO Parallax Catalog (UPC), using ground-based observations performed with the USNO Robotic Astrometric Telescope (URAT). It is the largest such catalog since the release of the European Space Agency (ESA) Hipparcos mission Catalog in 1997. The brightest stars in the night sky are not always the nearest in space because the intrinsic brightness of stars varies over a huge range ... read more

Previous Issues

May 19

May 18

May 17

May 16

May 13

Plasma physics' giant leap For the first time, scientists are looking at real data - not computer models, but direct observation - about what is happening in the fascinating region where the Earth's magnetic field breaks and ... more		Allan Sandage's last paper unravels 100-year-old astronomical mystery Carnegie's Allan Sandage, who died in 2010, was a tremendously influential figure in the field of astronomy. His final paper, published posthumously, focuses on unraveling a surprising historical my ... more		Squeezing out mountains, mathematically, on Jupiter's moon Io Mountains aren't the first thing that hit you when you look at images of Jupiter's innermost moon, Io. But once you absorb the fact that the moon is slathered in sulfurous lava erupted from 400 acti ... more
				Scientists discover new form of light Researchers in Ireland have discovered a new form of light. Their discovery is expected to reshape scientists' understanding of light's basic nature. ... more		Hunting for Hidden Life on Worlds Orbiting Old, Red Stars All throughout the universe, there are stars in varying phases and ages. Planetary diversity suggests that around other stars, initially frozen worlds could be the size of Earth and provide habitabl ... more

Transition from Operations to Decommissioning by Preparing a Safe, Cost-Effective Shut Down and Waste Management Strategy

Other Suns Got the Right Spin Astrophysicists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have for the first time measured the rotation periods of stars in a cluster ne ... more		We'll Leave the Lights on for You Looking up at the night sky - expansive and seemingly endless, stars and constellations blinking and glimmering like jewels just out of reach - it's impossible not to wonder: Are we alone? For ... more		U.S. defense in free fall Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact Brazil, Chile sign defense agreement		What sparks one of the most explosive processes in the universe Scientists are making new discoveries about a process that causes some of the most explosive events in the universe. At the same time, they are answering questions about Earth's magnetosphere - the ... more
				Debris Alert: A Crack in the Window In recent days media coverage of space debris activity has been intense. Some commentaries are reminiscent of the hysteria in Chicken Little's report of the sky falling. Others recommend that the is ... more		Evolution: Building blocks of life Biological evolution was preceded by a long phase of chemical evolution during which precursors of biopolymers accumulated. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich chemists have discovered a ... more

Space Tech Expo - Design - Build - Test - Pasadena CA - May 24-26, 2016

The World's Largest Commercial Drone Conference and Expo - Sept 7-9 - Las Vegas

Directed Energy And Next Generation Munitions - 20-22 June - Washington DC

Europa's ocean may have an Earthlike chemical balance The ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa could have the necessary balance of chemical energy for life, even if the moon lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity, finds a new study. Europa is strongly be ... more		NASA directly observes fundamental process of nature for 1st time Like sending sensors up into a hurricane, NASA has flown four spacecraft through an invisible maelstrom in space, called magnetic reconnection. Magnetic reconnection is one of the prime drivers of s ... more		GUARDIAN Tsunami Detection Tech Catches Wave in Real Time Galileo daughter mission named Celeste to strengthen navigation resilience How quantum computers can be validated when solving unsolvable problems		Photonic billiards might be the newest game When one snooker ball hits another, both spring away from each other in an elastic manner. In the case of two photons a similar process - the elastic collision - has never been observed. Physicists ... more
ORNL demonstrates large-scale technique to produce quantum dots A method to produce significant amounts of semiconducting nanoparticles for light-emitting displays, sensors, solar panels and biomedical applications has gained momentum with a demonstration by res ... more		Scientists create 'rewritable magnetic charge ice' A team of scientists working at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and led by Northern Illinois University physicist and Argonne materials scientist Zhili Xiao has cre ... more		Physicists measure van der Waals forces of individual atoms for the first time Physicists at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the University of Basel have succeeded in measuring the very weak van der Waals forces between individual atoms for the first time. To do this, they ... more		MMS Puts Magnetic Reconnection Under the Microscope A team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has made the first direct detection of the source of magnetic reconnection. Analyzing data from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, scie ... more

	Close-up Hubble images show new details of comet Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Comet 252P/LINEAR just after a close encounter with Earth on March 21. The close proximity to the comet offered scientists new insi ... more		Manchester astronomers detect helium-3 4000 light years away A team of astronomers from The University of Manchester, together with collaborators from the Centro de Astrobiologia and the Deep Space Network, Spain and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexic ... more

Ohio State scientists advance focus on nuclear propulsion

Mixing neutrinos of colliding neutron stars changes how merger unfolds

China launches experimental satellites to enhance mobile space internet

Simons observatory will investigate the early universe		Hubble spies a spiral snowflake		Chandra movie captures expanding debris from stellar explosion		Asteroid Mining - What the Heck		Amateurs prepare big-picture perspective to support Juno
Small blue galaxy could shed new light on Big Bang, IU astronomers say		Exoplanets' Orbits Point to Planetary Migration		Star Has Four Mini-Neptunes Orbiting in Lock Step		Did Star Formation Regulation Change as the Universe Evolved		Metal Content in Early Galaxies Challenges Star Forming Theory

Spacecraft fly through magnetic phenomenon to understand space weather

How light is detected affects the atom that emits it

Dartmouth announces new way to explore mathematical universe

Nuclear physics' interdisciplinary progress

A quasiparticle collider

Synchronized planets reveal clues to planet formation

Kepler space telescope finds another 1284 exo planets

Building compact particle accelerators

Atomic force microscope reveals molecular ghosts

Exploring the mathematical universe

Intense wind found in neighborhood of a black hole

The hard knock life of Saturn's Epimetheus

Observing how microbes adapt in a spaceflight environment

When neutron stars emit gravitational waves

Comet craters - literal melting pots for life on Earth

Swept Up in the Solar Wind

Natural Causes, Not Aliens, Explain Mystery Star's Behavior

Sun's magnetic field during the grand minimum is in fact at its maximum

NASA says 1,284 new planets found by Kepler telescope

Enceladus jets: surprises in starlight

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.