The Sky Tonight

June 22, 2016

'Space tsunami' causes the third Van Allen Belt
Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Jun 21, 2016
Earth's magnetosphere, the region of space dominated by Earth's magnetic field, protects our planet from the harsh battering of the solar wind. Like a protective shield, the magnetosphere absorbs and deflects plasma from the solar wind which originates from the Sun. When conditions are right, beautiful dancing auroral displays are generated. But when the solar wind is most violent, extreme space weather storms can create intense radiation in the Van Allen belts and drive electrical currents which ... read more

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Ultrasharp Image Uncovers Shocking Lives of Young Stars The world's most advanced adaptive optics system reveals "shocking" details on star formation in a new image released by the Gemini Observatory. An unprecedented view from the Gemini South telescope ... more		Newborn Planet Discovered Around Young Star Planet formation is a complex and tumultuous process that remains shrouded in mystery. Astronomers have discovered more than 3,000 exoplanets-planets orbiting stars other than our Sun-however, nearl ... more		NASA's K2 Finds Newborn Exoplanet Around Young Star Astronomers have discovered the youngest fully formed exoplanet ever detected. The discovery was made using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope and its extended K2 mission, as well as the W. M. Keck Obser ... more
				Astrophysicists release new study of one of the first stars No one has yet observed the first stars that formed in the Milky Way. In all likelihood, they will never be directly observed, because the first stars are massive, ending their lives only a few mill ... more		"Electric Wind" Can Strip Earth-Like Planets of Oceans and Atmospheres Venus has an "electric wind" strong enough to remove the components of water from its upper atmosphere, which may have played a significant role in stripping Earth's twin planet of its oceans, accor ... more

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

Exoplanet Mission Completes Design Milestone Twinkle has completed a key preliminary design milestone. The results of the payload study demonstrate that Twinkle's instruments will be able to achieve the mission's science objectives. Twinkle's ... more		ALMA Observes Most Distant Stellar Oxygen Ever Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), detected a clear signal from oxygen in a galaxy located 13.1 billion light-years away from us. This is the most distant oxy ... more		U.S. defense in free fall Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact Brazil, Chile sign defense agreement		Breaking out: How black hole jets punch out of their galaxies A simulation of the powerful jets generated by supermassive black holes at the centers of the largest galaxies explains why some burst forth as bright beacons visible across the universe, while othe ... more
				Unexpected excess of giant planets in star cluster An international team of astronomers have found that there are far more planets of the hot Jupiter type than expected in a cluster of stars called Messier 67. This surprising result was obtained usi ... more		A Young Super-Neptune Offers Clues to the Origin of Close-In Exoplanets A team of astronomers has confirmed the existence of a young planet, only 11 million years old, that orbits very close to its star (at 0.05 AU), with an orbital period of 5.4 days. Approximately 5 t ... more

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

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

Swift Satellite Used to Chase Colliding Black Holes Scientists from the University of Leicester have revealed they have been involved in the search of the distant universe for the counterpart to a second gravitational wave source. This week the ... more		Life's first handshake: Chiral molecule detected in interstellar space Like a pair of human hands, certain organic molecules have mirror-image versions of themselves, a chemical property known as chirality. These so-called "handed" molecules are essential for biology a ... 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		Scientists detect second pair of colliding black holes The new window onto the universe just opened a little bit wider. For the second time in history, an international team of scientists and engineers, including Northwestern University astrophysicists ... more
Gravitational Waves Spotted Again On 26 December 2015, scientists from the LIGO and Virgo collaborations received an unexpected Christmas gift when the Advanced LIGO detectors recorded a new gravitational wave signal, three months a ... more		Gluttonous Star May Hold Clues to Planet Formation In 1936, the young star FU Orionis began gobbling material from its surrounding disk of gas and dust with a sudden voraciousness. During a three-month binge, as matter turned into energy, the star b ... more		San Francisco State University astronomer helps discover giant planet orbiting 2 suns San Francisco State University astronomer Stephen Kane is among a team of researchers who have discovered a new planet that orbits two suns simultaneously. The discovery was announced at a meeting o ... more		Prebiotic molecule detected in interstellar cloud Chiral molecules - compounds that come in otherwise identical mirror image variations, like a pair of human hands - are crucial to life as we know it. Living things are selective about which "handed ... more

	World's fastest supercomputer powered by Chinese chip technology The reign of American-made semiconductors may be over. China recently unveiled the world's fastest supercomputer. Unlike China's previous supercomputers, this one is powered by Chinese chip technology. ... more		Digitalization of analog data reveals past space weather patterns If you're about to throw out old data on bulky paper, hold your horses. A Japanese team have digitalized magnetogram recordings taken before direct observations by satellites became available. The a ... 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

New Index Ranks Dark Night Communities		The Search for Our Own Alien Life		Parkes telescope detects key feature of life outside our solar system		Let there be light		Researchers refine method for detecting quantum entanglement
Physicists measured something new in the radioactive decay of neutrons		Physicists deploy magnetic vortex to control electron spin		Discovery of gold nanocluster 'double' hints at other shape changing particles		Largest crowdsource astronomy network helps confirm discovery of 'Tatooine' planet		Largest, Widest Orbit "Tatooine" Bolsters Planet Formation Theories

Juno Spacecraft to Risk Jupiter's Fireworks for Science

Sites selected for world's largest gamma-ray detector

First Detection of Methyl Alcohol in a Planet-forming Disc

Did gravitational wave detector find dark matter

Natural quasicrystals may be the result of collisions between objects in the asteroid belt

Planetary Resources and Luxembourg partner to advance space resource industry

Life's origins may result from low-energy electron reactions in space

High-Tech Telescope for Dangerous Asteroids Detection Launched in Russia

NASA's Juno spacecraft nears rendezvous with Jupiter

Small Asteroid Is Earth's Constant Companion

Clouds, haze cause astronomers to overestimate size of exoplanets

Nano 'hall of mirrors' causes molecules to mix with light

UChicago physicists first to see behavior of quantum materials in curved space

Planet-Devouring Star Reveals Possible Limestone Crumbs

New Gravitational-Wave Finder Scores Again

New planet is largest discovered that orbits 2 suns

Failed star creates its own spotlight in the universe

Smaller Stars Pack Big X-ray Punch for Would-Be Planets

Gamers Tackle Virtual Asteroid Sampling Mission

Unknown alien rock found in Swedish quarry

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