The Sky Tonight

September 29, 2016

Rosetta spacecraft headed for comet suicide crash
Darmstadt, Germany (AFP) Sep 29, 2016
Europe's pioneering spacecraft Rosetta headed for a suicide crash Friday with the comet it has stalked for two years, nearing the end of an audacious quest to unravel the Solar System's mysteries. Sent by ground controllers on a leisurely, 14-hour freefall, Rosetta launched into a last-gasp spurt of science-gathering on the 19-kilometre (12-mile) journey to its icy comet tomb. "Next stop #67P!" the European Space Agency (ESA) tweeted, using a shortened version of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasime ... read more

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New research undermines 'RNA world' of early evolution Did RNA evolve DNA, or did the two emerge simultaneously? Until recently, most scientists suggested the former, but new research undermines the theory, inspiring a team of scientists to suggest a second, alternative RNA-DNA origin story. ... more		NASA-Funded Sounding Rocket Solves One Cosmic Mystery, Reveals Another In the last century, humans realized that space is filled with types of light we can't see - from infrared signals released by hot stars and galaxies, to the cosmic microwave background that comes f ... more		Construction of Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector Moves Forward LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ), a next-generation dark matter detector that will be at least 100 times more sensitive than its predecessor, has cleared another approval milestone and is on schedule to begin its de ... more
				Moon and Mars on a plane Who wouldn't want to run an experiment in lunar or martian gravity? ESA is offering European researchers the chance to test their theories on aircraft flights that offer 20 seconds of reduced gravit ... more		NASA's Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check Its science instruments have been powered on, and NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft continues on its journey to an asteroid. The spacecraft has passed its initial instrument check with flying colors as i ... more

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

Astronomers discover dizzying spin of the Milky Way Halo Astronomers at the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) discovered for the first time that the hot gas in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy is spinning in the s ... more		How to Merge Two Black Holes in a Simple Way If we had to choose the most important and newsworthy piece of science news for 2016, the discovery of gravitational waves would have every chance of winning first prize. The two signals that have b ... 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		New Low-Mass Objects Could Help Refine Planetary Evolution When a star is young, it is often still surrounded by a primordial rotating disk of gas and dust, from which planets can form. Astronomers like to find such disks because they might be able to catch ... more
				Planet Mercury Found to Be Tectonically Active Images acquired by NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft show geologic features that indicate Mercury is likely still contracting today, joining ... more		Cosmic Dust Demystified by British Researchers The solar system is a dusty environment, with trillions of cosmic dust particles left behind by comets and asteroids that orbit the sun. All this dust forms a relatively dense cloud through which th ... 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

Hubble spots possible water plumes erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have imaged what may be water vapor plumes erupting off the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. This finding bolsters other Hubble observations suggesti ... more		Rosetta: The end of a space odyssey Europe's trailblazing deep-space comet exploration for clues to the origins of the Solar System ends Friday with the Rosetta orbiter joining robot lab Philae on the iceball's dusty surface for eternity. ... 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		Rosetta: How to end the fairytale Once upon a time, two intrepid space adventurers called Rosetta and Philae set out from Earth to explore a comet far, far away. ... more
Messenger probe images fault scarps on Mercury's surface Like Earth, Mercury is tectonically active. As evidenced by images captured by NASA's Messenger probe, Mercury's surface is host to fault scarps. ... more		Cosmology Safe as Universe Has No Sense of Direction The universe is expanding uniformly according to research led by UCL which reports that space isn't stretching in a preferred direction or spinning. The new study, published in Physical Review Lette ... more		Yoyager's Golden Record not just for aliens anymore Flagrantly ignoring the warning of renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking, the Voyager spacecraft is on a multi-decade journey through interstellar space carrying 12-inch golden records containing the ... more		ALMA uncovers "golden age" of galaxy formation in new Deep Field An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has explored the same distant corner of the universe first revealed in the iconic image of the Hubb ... more

	NASA to reveal 'surprising' activity on Jupiter's moon There's something going on beneath the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. But what? ... 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

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

Fujitsu to supply Super-Kamiokande Experiment with new computers		Universe is without direction, astronomers say		Galactic Fireworks Illuminate Monster Hydrogen Blob		Hubble Finds Planet Orbiting Pair of Stars		Summer fireworks on Rosetta's comet
NASA scientists find 'impossible' cloud on Titan		Stellar activity can mimic misaligned exoplanets		JPL seeks robotic spacecraft development for Asteroid Redirect Mission		NASA's extends IRIS Space Observatory for deeper look at the Sun		Hubble Ultra Deep is deepest millimetre observation of Early Universe

Physicists reveal the role of diffusion in the early Universe

ALMA uncovers secrets of Giant Space Blob

In Rotating Galaxies normal matter precisely determines acceleration

New book links flow of time with Big Bang

RAVE complements Gaia with Fifth Data Release

Scientists teleport quantum information across four-mile cable

Introducing the Daily Minor Planet: delivering the latest asteroid news

Exploration Team Shoots for the Moon with Water-Propelled Satellite

Explaining why the universe can be transparent

Hubble spots luminous lenticular galaxy

Studies Find Echoes of Black Holes Eating Stars

Astronomers follow twin jets to the center of an active galaxy

More stable way to send light through nano-photonic fibers

Earthquakes, 'Marsquakes,' and the Possibility of Life

Cassini Begins Epic Final Year at Saturn

Gaia's billion-star map hints at treasures to come

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

Researchers explain how minor planets got their rings

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