The Sky Tonight

September 21, 2016

NASA scientists find 'impossible' cloud on Titan
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 21, 2016
The puzzling appearance of an ice cloud seemingly out of thin air has prompted NASA scientists to suggest that a different process than previously thought - possibly similar to one seen over Earth's poles - could be forming clouds on Saturn's moon Titan. Located in Titan's stratosphere, the cloud is made of a compound of carbon and nitrogen known as dicyanoacetylene (C4N2), an ingredient in the chemical cocktail that colors the giant moon's hazy, brownish-orange atmosphere. Decades ago, the ... read more

Previous Issues

Sep 20

Sep 19

Sep 16

Sep 15

Sep 14

New book links flow of time with Big Bang A simple question from his wife - Does physics really allow people to travel back in time? - propelled physicist Richard Muller on a quest to resolve a fundamental problem that had puzzled him throu ... more		RAVE complements Gaia with Fifth Data Release The new data release of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) is the fifth spectroscopic release of a survey of stars in the southern celestial hemisphere. It contains radial velocities for 520,781 ... more		Stellar activity can mimic misaligned exoplanets The occultation of stellar active regions during the planetary transit can lead to inaccurate estimates of the characteristics of these exoplanets, especially the spin-orbit tilt angle. This was the ... more
				Introducing the Daily Minor Planet: delivering the latest asteroid news Have you ever wondered what piece of cosmic debris is whizzing past the Earth right now? Do you crave up-to-the-minute information about asteroids large and small? Well you're in luck because today ... more		Scientists teleport quantum information across four-mile cable A pair of research teams - one in Canada and one in China - just showcased quantum teleportation across four-mile cables. The feat promises to pave the way for a quantum internet. ... more

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

Exploration Team Shoots for the Moon with Water-Propelled Satellite A satellite propelled by the Earth's most abundant natural resource? Yes, it's true. Cislunar Explorers, a team of Cornell University students guided by Mason Peck, a former senior official at NASA ... more		Explaining why the universe can be transparent Two papers published by an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside and several collaborators explain why the universe has enough energy to become transparent. The study ... more		Russia launches dozens of drones as Ukraine claims 'important success' Russian jets violate Estonian air space in 'brazen intrusion' U.S. defense in free fall		Hubble spots luminous lenticular galaxy The galaxy PGC 83677 appears as a lone bright orb in an otherwise dark and lonely corner of the universe. Recently, Hubble spotted the soft, white glow of the galaxy set against a background of faraway stars and galaxies. ... more
				Studies Find Echoes of Black Holes Eating Stars Supermassive black holes, with their immense gravitational pull, are notoriously good at clearing out their immediate surroundings by eating nearby objects. When a star passes within a certain dista ... more		Astronomers follow twin jets to the center of an active galaxy Astronomers have developed a new method for locating the heart of an active galaxy. In a new study, researchers with the Max Planck Society traced the origin of a pair of relativistic jets by measuring the magnetic field surrounding a supermassive black hole. ... more

2nd Integrated Air and Missile Defense - Securing the Complex Air Domain: Requirements for Sustainable, Global, and Reliable Solutions to Next Generation Air & Missile Threats - 28-30 September, 2016 | Washington D.C.

6th Annual Modular Construction Summit for Oil and Gas Agenda - December 7-9 - Houston

More stable way to send light through nano-photonic fibers Many phones, TVs and computers already rely on optical cables, which carry information in the form of light. But engineers have struggled to achieve stable light propagation across long distances. Thus, most optical cables require the introduction of an amplifier every so often. ... more		Earthquakes, 'Marsquakes,' and the Possibility of Life A new study shows that rocks formed by the grinding together of other rocks during earthquakes are rich in trapped hydrogen - a finding that suggests similar seismic activity on Mars may produce eno ... more		Fossil fuels harm health from 'cradle to grave': report Trash, mulch and security: All jobs for troops in Washington Rising oceans to threaten 1.5 million Australians by 2050: report		Cassini Begins Epic Final Year at Saturn After more than 12 years studying Saturn, its rings and moons, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has entered the final year of its epic voyage. The conclusion of the historic scientific odyssey is planned f ... more
Researchers explain how minor planets got their rings Scientists have determined the origin of the rings that surround a pair of minor planets orbiting between Jupiter and Neptune. ... more		Astronomers Capture Best View Ever of Disintegrating Comet Astronomers have captured the sharpest, most detailed observations of a comet breaking apart 67 million miles from Earth, using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. In a series of images taken over ... more		Astronomers observe star reborn in a flash An international team of astronomers using Hubble have been able to study stellar evolution in real time. Over a period of 30 years dramatic increases in the temperature of the star SAO 244567 have ... more		Reconciling dwarf galaxies with dark matter Dwarf galaxies are enigmas wrapped in riddles. Although they are the smallest galaxies, they represent some of the biggest mysteries about our universe. While many dwarf galaxies surround our own Mi ... more

	Fujitsu to supply Super-Kamiokande Experiment with new computers Fujitsu has received an order for an experiment-analysis system from Kamioka Observatory, part of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR) at the University of Tokyo. The system is destined for ... more		Gaia's billion-star map hints at treasures to come The first catalogue of more than a billion stars from ESA's Gaia satellite was published today - the largest all-sky survey of celestial objects to date. On its way to assembling the most deta ... more

EU to fast-track review of 2035 combustion-engine ban

Norway sovereign wealth fund drops French miner over environmental fears

EU split on 2040 climate goal ahead of UN summit

Astronomers discover 63 new quasars in early universe		ALMA locates possible birth site of icy giant planet		Proba-3: set the controls for the verge of the Sun		Mapping the Milky Way as never before		Discovery nearly doubles known quasars from the ancient universe
Electrons squeezed into 'one-dimensional' wires yield quantum effects		Dances with waves: Breakthrough in moving small objects using acoustics		Rosetta's descent towards region of active pits		Customer publishes performance evaluation of first commercial mini-synchrotron		Star system hosts hundreds of black holes

Avoiding 'traffic jam' creates impossibly bright 'lighthouse'

Rosetta catches dusty organics

NASA launches first asteroid dust-retrieval mission

NASA set to launch near-Earth asteroid mission

Proxima b Could Be a Life-Friendly Planet, Says One of the Co-Discoverers

Sulfur, Sulfur Dioxide and Graphitized Carbon Observed on Asteroid For First Time

Terzan 5 Is Like No Other Globular Cluster

First Gravitational Waves form After 10 Million Years

Recreating Our Galaxy in a Supercomputer

Massive Holes 'Punched' Through a Trail of Stars Likely Caused by Dark Matter

Small asteroid flew safely past earth this week

Titan's Dunes and Other Features Emerge in New Images

Researchers design solids that control heat with spinning superatoms

T2K CP Violation Results Help Explain Workings of Universe

New knowledge about the building blocks of life

Asteroid Mission Will Carry Student X-Ray Experiment

One Trace of Dark Matter Vanishes

OSIRIS-REx Prepared for Mapping, Sampling Mission to Asteroid Bennu

SLAC's high-speed 'electron camera' films atomic nuclei in vibrating molecules

A data-cleaning tool for building better prediction models

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.