The Sky Tonight

January 25, 2018

A new 'atmospheric disequilibrium' could help detect life on other planets

Seattle WA (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
As NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and other new giant telescopes come online they will need novel strategies to look for evidence of life on other planets. A University of Washington study has found a simple approach to look for life that might be more promising than just looking for oxygen. The paper, published Jan. 24 in Science Advances, offers a new recipe for providing evidence that a distant planet harbors life. "This idea of looking for atmospheric oxygen as a biosignature has been ... read more

CubeSats for hunting secrets in lunar darkness
Paris (ESA) Jan 25, 2018
Imagine sending a spacecraft the size of an airline cabin bag to the Moon - what would you have it do? ESA issued that challenge to European teams last year, and two winners have now been chosen. ... more

Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson shows. Nelson was the ... more

Johns Hopkins scientist proposes new limit on the definition of a planet
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Pluto hogs the spotlight in the continuing scientific debate over what is and what is not a planet, but a less conspicuous argument rages on about the planetary status of massive objects outside our ... more

Chasing dark matter with the oldest stars in the Milky Way
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Just how quickly is the dark matter near Earth zipping around? The speed of dark matter has far-reaching consequences for modern astrophysical research, but this fundamental property has eluded rese ... more

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TRAPPIST-1 System Planets Potentially Habitable
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
wo exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system have been identified as most likely to be habitable, a paper by PSI Senior Scientist Amy Barr says. The TRAPPIST-1 system has been of great interest to o ... more

Russia at work on new station, lunar trips: says top rocket scientist
Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 24, 2018
Russia is set to spend the next decade working on a potential new station that might be built if the International Space Station (ISS) project is terminated, as well as a spacecraft capable of makin ... more

Asteroid to pass by Earth in Feb.
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
A half-mile-wide asteroid is scheduled to make a close pass by Earth next month. ... more

Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth February 4
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 23, 2018
Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make a close approach to Earth on Feb. 4, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. PST (4:30 p.m. EST / 21:30 UTC). At the time of closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times th ... more

Titan topographic map unearths cookie-cutter holes in moon's surface
Ithaca NY (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Using the now-complete Cassini data set, Cornell University astronomers have created a new global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan that has opened new windows into understanding its liquid flo ... more

Cassini finds Titan has 'sea level' like Earth
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 19, 2018
Saturn's moon Titan may be nearly a billion miles away from Earth, but a recently published paper based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveals a new way this distant world and our own are ee ... more

Extremely bright and fast light emission
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 11, 2018
An international team of researchers from ETH Zurich, IBM Research Zurich, Empa and four American research institutions have found the explanation for why a class of nanocrystals that has been inten ... more

Smartphones come in handy for the rare cosmic particles search

Meteoritic stardust unlocks timing of supernova dust formation
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Dust is everywhere - not just in your attic or under your bed, but also in outer space. To astronomers, dust can be a nuisance by blocking the light of distant stars, or it can be a tool to study th ... more

North, east, south, west: The many faces of Abell 1758
Munich, Germany (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Resembling a swarm of flickering fireflies, this beautiful galaxy cluster glows intensely in the dark cosmos, accompanied by the myriad bright lights of foreground stars and swirling spiral galaxies ... more

Neutron-star merger yields new puzzle for astrophysicists
Montreal, Canada (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
The afterglow from the distant neutron-star merger detected last August has continued to brighten - much to the surprise of astrophysicists studying the aftermath of the massive collision that took ... more

A New Cosmic Accelerator: Turbulent Strong Electromagnetic Fields
Thessaloniki, Greece (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
An important scientific discovery was made by the Aristotle University research team dealing with plasma astrophysics and high energy astrophysics, composed of the professor at the Physics Departmen ... more

Odd behavior of star reveals lonely black hole hiding in giant star cluster
Munich, Germany (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Astronomers using ESO's MUSE instrument on the Very Large Telescope in Chile have discovered a star in the cluster NGC 3201 that is behaving very strangely. It appears to be orbiting an invisible bl ... more

NASA team studies middle-aged sun by tracking motion of Mercury
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Like the waistband of a couch potato in midlife, the orbits of planets in our solar system are expanding. It happens because the Sun's gravitational grip gradually weakens as our star ages and loses ... more

NASA, USGS confirm Michigan meteorite strike
Washington (UPI) Jan 17, 2018
Both NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have confirmed that a meteorite entered Earth's atmosphere above southeastern Michigan on Tuesday night. ... more

Applications now open for the Space Debris Training Course
Paris (ESA) Jan 18, 2018
Space debris is a hazard to our satellites and spacecraft as well as a contributor to near-Earth space pollution. To help raise awareness of this issue, ESA's Education Office is organising the firs ... more

Viruses are everywhere, maybe even in space
Portland OR (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Viruses are the most abundant and one of the least understood biological entities on Earth. They might also exist in space, but as of yet scientists have done almost no research into this possibilit ... more

Rutgers scientists discover 'Legos of life'
New Brunswick NJ (SPX) Jan 24, 2018
Rutgers scientists have found the "Legos of life" - four core chemical structures that can be stacked together to build the myriad proteins inside every organism - after smashing and dissecting near ... more

How we created a mini 'gamma ray burst' in the lab for the first time

NRL improves optical efficiency in nanophotonic devices
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 23, 2018
A team of physicists, headed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), have demonstrated the means to improve the optical loss characteristics and transmission efficiency of hexagonal boron nitri ... more

Scientists unveil world's most powerful tractor beam
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018
For the first time, scientists have developed a tractor beam capable for levitating objects larger than an acoustic wavelength. Scientists believe the breakthrough could pave the way for tractor beams powerful enough to levitate humans. ... more

New record at ultracold neutron source in Mainz
Mainz, Germany (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Some ten years ago, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) entered a new field of research by starting to generate ultracold neutrons (UCN) for use in fundamental research in physics. Now that th ... more

Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

Spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson shows. Nelson was the lead author of a laboratory study of the photopolarimetric properties of bright particles that explain unusual negative polarization behavior at low phase angles observed for decades in association wi ... more

+ JUICE ground control gets green light to start development

+ New Year 2019 offers new horizons at MU69 flyby

+ Study explains why Jupiter's jet stream reverses course on a predictable schedule

+ New Horizons Corrects Its Course in the Kuiper Belt

+ Does New Horizons' Next Target Have a Moon?

+ Juno probes the depths of Jupiter's Great Red Spot

+ Wrapping up 2017 one year out from MU69

A new 'atmospheric disequilibrium' could help detect life on other planets
Seattle WA (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

As NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and other new giant telescopes come online they will need novel strategies to look for evidence of life on other planets. A University of Washington study has found a simple approach to look for life that might be more promising than just looking for oxygen. The paper, published Jan. 24 in Science Advances, offers a new recipe for providing evidence tha ... more

+ Johns Hopkins scientist proposes new limit on the definition of a planet

+ TRAPPIST-1 System Planets Potentially Habitable

+ Viruses are everywhere, maybe even in space

+ Rutgers scientists discover 'Legos of life'

+ NASA study shows disk patterns can self-generate

+ Hubble finds substellar objects in the Orion Nebula

+ Ingredients for life revealed in meteorites that fell to Earth

European-Russian space mission steps up the search for life on Mars
Moscowm Russia (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

In 2013, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos - the Russian governmental body responsible for space research - agreed to cooperate on ExoMars, the first joint interplanetary mission between ESA and Russia. This project now involves scientists from 29 research organizations, including MIPT and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is the leading contributor of ... more

+ Crater Neukum named after Mars Express founder

+ New technique for finding life on Mars

+ Mystery Solved for Mega-Avalanches in Tibet - and Perhaps on Mars

+ Opportunity gets dust cleaning and passes 45 kilometers of driving

+ NASA's Next Mars Lander Spreads its Solar Wings

+ Next Mars Analog mission will help improve efficiency and reduce dust exposure

+ Dust storms linked to gas escape from Mars atmosphere

Russia at work on new station, lunar trips: says top rocket scientist
Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 24, 2018

Russia is set to spend the next decade working on a potential new station that might be built if the International Space Station (ISS) project is terminated, as well as a spacecraft capable of making trips to the Moon, General Designer of Russia's Manned Programs Yevgeny Mikrin said Tuesday. The ISS participants have agreed to maintain the program until 2024, but it is unclear what will ha ... more

+ CubeSats for hunting secrets in lunar darkness

+ Russian company declassifies 1973 report on Lunokhod-2 lunar rover

+ Possible Lava Tube Skylights Discovered Near the North Pole of the Moon

+ Funding runs dry for Indian Google X Prize lunar team

+ Astronauts: Trump's proposed Lunar mission will take time

+ China Prepares for Breakthrough Chang'e 4 Moon Landing in 2018

+ China solicits messages to be sent to moon

Chasing dark matter with the oldest stars in the Milky Way
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

Just how quickly is the dark matter near Earth zipping around? The speed of dark matter has far-reaching consequences for modern astrophysical research, but this fundamental property has eluded researchers for years. In a paper published Jan. 22 in the journal Physical Review Letters, an international team of astrophysicists provided the first clue: The solution to this mystery, it turns o ... more

+ SOFIA Helps Unravel Mysteries of the Birth of Colossal Suns

+ Neutron-star merger yields new puzzle for astrophysicists

+ Most Powerful Dutch Supercomputer Boosts New Radio Telescope

+ Meteoritic stardust unlocks timing of supernova dust formation

+ North, east, south, west: The many faces of Abell 1758

+ Smartphones come in handy for the rare cosmic particles search

+ A New Cosmic Accelerator: Turbulent Strong Electromagnetic Fields

NASA GOLD Mission to image Earth's interface to space
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

On Jan. 25, 2018, NASA launches Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, a hosted payload aboard SES-14, a commercial communications satellite. GOLD will investigate the dynamic intermingling of space and Earth's uppermost atmosphere - and is the first NASA science mission to fly an instrument as a commercially hosted payload. Space is not completely empty: It's teeming wit ... more

+ Nutrients and warming massively increase methane emissions from lakes

+ First ICEYE-X1 Radar Image from Space Published

+ Satellites paint a detailed picture of maritime activity

+ 'First Light' images from CERES FM6 Earth-observing instrument

+ UW researcher leads study of first quantifiable observation of cloud seeding

+ Himawari-8 data simulation allows 10-min updates of rain and flood predictions

+ Earth-i launches prototype of world's first full-colour, full-motion video satellite constellation

NASA, USGS confirm Michigan meteorite strike
Washington (UPI) Jan 17, 2018

Both NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have confirmed that a meteorite entered Earth's atmosphere above southeastern Michigan on Tuesday night. The meteorite created a fiery streak seen as far away as New York City, as well as a loud boom heard by many in the Detroit area. Eyewitness accounts suggest the meteor moved northwest across the suburbs of Detroit. The event was captur ... more

+ Asteroid to pass by Earth in Feb.

+ Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Safely Past Earth February 4

+ Study identifies processes of rock formed by meteors or nuclear blasts

+ NASA's newly renamed Swift mission spies a comet slowdown

+ NASA image showcases Ceres mountain named for Kwanzaa

+ Development on muon beam analysis of organic matter in samples from space

+ Arecibo radar returns with asteroid Phaethon images

Magnetic coil springs accelerate particles on the Sun
Gottingen, Germany (SPX) Jan 12, 2018

Why does the Sun sometimes accelerate preferentially helium-3 and iron into space? Researchers have for the first time observed helical solar flares as a source. In April and July 2014, the Sun emitted three jets of energetic particles into space, that were quite exceptional: the particle streams contained such high amounts of iron and helium-3, a rare variety of helium, as have been obser ... more

+ Sounding rockets study space x-ray emissions and create polar mesospheric cloud

+ Eclipse megamovie projects seeks public's help analyzing 50,000 photos

+ Special star is a Rosetta Stone for understanding the sun's variability and climate effect

+ August eclipse left a wake in ionosphere, researchers reveal

+ Report Highlights Social and Economic Impacts of Space Weather

+ Eclipse 2017: Science from the Moon's Shadow

+ Space weather, EarthScope, and protecting the national electrical grid

Yang Liwei looks back at China's first manned space mission
Beijing (XNA) Jan 24, 2018

Yang Liwei felt everything vibrating violently. Experiencing acceleration of gravity at 8G, he thought his body was about to be torn apart. He couldn't move. He couldn't see. "I thought I'd die in that 26 seconds," China's first taikonaut Yang told Xinhua, revealing details of the country's first manned space mission, Shenzhou-5, in 2003. Yang, 53, said that low frequency resonance o ... more

+ China to launch first student satellite for scientific education

+ Space agency to pick those with the right stuff

+ China to select astronauts for its space station

+ No space for China's stay-at-home taikonauts

+ China Focus: The making of heroes - the women and men of China's space program

+ Backgrounder: China's six manned space missions

+ Scientist reveals what is so special about Chines's next moon mission

Chasing dark matter with the oldest stars in the Milky Way
Princeton NJ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

+ SOFIA Helps Unravel Mysteries of the Birth of Colossal Suns

+ Neutron-star merger yields new puzzle for astrophysicists

+ Most Powerful Dutch Supercomputer Boosts New Radio Telescope

+ Meteoritic stardust unlocks timing of supernova dust formation

+ North, east, south, west: The many faces of Abell 1758

+ Smartphones come in handy for the rare cosmic particles search

+ A New Cosmic Accelerator: Turbulent Strong Electromagnetic Fields

Bonobos prefer jerks
Durham NC (SPX) Jan 09, 2018

Never trust anyone who is rude to a waiter, advice columnists say. For most people, acting nasty is a big turnoff. But while humans generally prefer individuals who are nice to others, a Duke University study finds bonobos are more attracted to jerks. The researchers were surprised by the findings because these African apes - our closest relatives in the animal kingdom along with chi ... more

+ Unlike people, bonobos don't 'look for the helpers'

+ Study: When the going gets tough, women are more resilient than men

+ Study redefines understanding of old age throughout human history

+ Bonobos show a preference for jerks

+ DNA offers evidence of new population of native Alaskans

+ Primordial mutation helps explain origin of some organs in vertebrates

+ Scientists show how Himalayan rivers influenced ancient Indus civilization settlements

Two US spacewalkers replace latching end of robotic arm
Miami (AFP) Jan 23, 2018

Two US astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Tuesday for a seven-hour, 24-minute spacewalk to repair the orbiting outpost's aging robotic arm, NASA said. During what NASA commentator Rob Navias described as a "textbook" spacewalk, NASA flight engineers Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle replaced a faulty latching end on the 57-foot (17-meter) Canadian-made robotic arm, c ... more

+ ASU engineer showcases NASA research for Congress

+ Orion Spacecraft Recovery Rehearsal Underway

+ Italy's First Female Astronaut: 'No Room for Conflicts in Space'

+ Looking up a century ago, a vision of the future of space exploration

+ Explorer 1: The Beginning of American Space Science

+ Columbus: 10 years a lab

+ Elementary, my dear machine intelligence

Mothers and young struggle as Arctic warms
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 23, 2018

A new study from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and partners reveals for the first time the ways in which wild weather swings and extreme icing events are negatively impacting the largest land mammal of the Earth's polar realms - the muskoxen. The paper demonstrates that while this denizen of the Arctic and other cold-adapted species have spectacular adaptations, the previously unknown effe ... more

+ Heat loss from the Earth triggers ice sheet slide towards the sea

+ Warming Arctic climate constrains life in cold-adapted mammals

+ Eocene fossil data suggest climate models may underestimate polar warming

+ Coping with climate stress in Antarctica

+ Weather anomalies accelerate the melting of sea ice

+ Methane hydrate dissociation off Spitsbergen not caused by climate change

+ New study reveals strong El Nino events cause large changes in Antarctic ice shelves

Seabed mining could destroy ecosystems
Exeter UK (SPX) Jan 25, 2018

Mining on the ocean floor could do irreversible damage to deep-sea ecosystems, says a new study of seabed mining proposals around the world. The deep sea (depths below 200m) covers about half of the Earth's surface and is home to a vast range of species. Little is known about these environments, and researchers from the University of Exeter and Greenpeace say mining could have "long-lastin ... more

+ Satellite and global model estimates vary for land water storage

+ Dutch shocked by call to ban EU electric pulse fishing

+ Global fish passage forum to include first symposium on hydropower and fish

+ Panic and blame as Cape Town braces for water shut-off

+ Feeding patterns among coastal, deep ocean sharks differ, study shows

+ Small hydroelectric dams increase globally with little research, regulations

+ Scale-eating fish adopt clever parasitic methods to survive

Scientists unveil world's most powerful tractor beam
Washington (UPI) Jan 22, 2018

For the first time, scientists have developed a tractor beam capable for levitating objects larger than an acoustic wavelength. Scientists believe the breakthrough could pave the way for tractor beams powerful enough to levitate humans. Until now, larger objects trapped in acoustic tractor beams proved unstable. Acoustic waves tend to transfer some of their rotational energy to objects, ... more

+ Students design and build augmented-reality 'sandbox' to show how gravity works

+ Next-Generation GRACE Satellites Arrive at Launch Site

+ A New Window on the Universe

+ Sierras lost water weight, grew taller during drought

+ Researchers measure magnetic moment with greatest possible precision

+ Physicists make most precise measurement ever of a proton's magnetic moment

+ Listening for gravitational waves using pulsars

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