Space Scan

For centuries, men have wondered whether we are alone in this universe or there are other living beings similar to us in the giant cosmos. While science fictions have delved into the world of extra-terrestrials, but astronomers are yet to discover anything close to it. In a new study presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, astronomers say that they are optimist about finding a large number of earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy and even in galaxies in the vicinity of Milky Way. The evidence of the existence of a large number of Sun-like stars with discs of cosmic dust around them suggests existence of a large number of planetary systems. The cosmic dusts are rocky debris, the by-products of planets formed by collision and merging of giant rocks.

NASA’s Kepler mission due to be launched next year is expected to bring news about the undiscovered worlds. The precondition for the existence of life lies in the earth-like planets lying at the right distance from its parent star so that its surface is not too hot or too cold to support liquid water, the zone astronomer’s call the ‘Goldilock’s zone’.

If you thought that the whole concept of the Star Trek Enterprise was fascinating to watch but far too fictitious to be true, then one can safely bet that you are right for a long, long time in to the future. But if you thought the same way next time you were watching ‘Total Recall’, then you might be woefully wrong. If NASA gets its way, then very soon we will all be in training camps, making sure we understand the principles of levitation in outer space and electromagnetic radiation. Total Recall, according to NASA, is the next step in evolution.

When our human mind was still busy exploring the various fascinating aspects of the universe, new and more mysterious things outside it awaits our attention. The concepts of parallel universe and life forms existing on other planets have got their share of our interests.

However, the next big discovery on the astronomical scene is that of the massive hydrogen gas cloud which is speeding towards our galaxy — The Milky Way. This cloud of hydrogen gas is known as the Smith’s cloud, named after the scientist who first discovered it in 1963.

Till date, it was not clear as to if the cloud has emerged from the Milky Way or is coming towards it until recently, when the scientists confirmed that the latter was true. When measured with the help of the Green Bank Telescope, the cloud was found to be 11,000 light-years long and 2,500 light-years wide.

Black Holes are the most intriguing objects in space. The massive dead stars with intense gravitational force, gobbling every object that comes on its path. Detecting it would help in revealing new information about not only itself, but also will aid in testing the great theories of Physics. This is what scientists are expecting to achieve after the biggest known black hole with a mass of 18 billion Suns has been discovered.

We are at a safe distance from the giant at 3.5 billion light years away from it. It is situated at the heart of a quasar QJ287 - this intergalactic source of high-energy electromagnetic radiation is the aid to scientists to help measure the black hole. In fact, there is not a single black hole, but there are two giants — with the smaller one weighing 100 million Suns, orbiting around the larger one.

In 1990, when the Hubble space telescope was launched in space, the orbiting telescope opened a new era of cosmic information. Since then, it has been an astounding source of information with its most splendid breathtaking pictures of inner space objects and events. However, with the passing of time, Hubble’s machineries also started aging and the death knell of the telescope was heard. Nevertheless, Hubble enthusiasts had in the end succeeded in their mission of rescuing the telescope from abandonment.

The American Astronomical Society has announced in Austin, Texas that astronomers would undertake a spacewalk in August this year, to install a cosmic-origin spectrograph and replace Hubble’s wide-field camera with a more advanced third generation wide-field camera.

When we look at the star filled night sky most of us do not realize we are looking back in time. The stars, planets and other matters in the space separated from us by tens, hundreds and thousands of light years, shows the history of the cosmic objects when the light from it started to travel from it towards the earth. Hidden among the cosmic wonders is the history of the origin of the universe waiting to be unraveled to humankind. It will not be long when astronomers can actually witness the big bang and the beginning of creation of the universe.

Astrophysicists are optimistic that the new technologies will aid them in opening new vistas on the origin of the universe and its complexities. In a series of articles published in the latest edition of Science, leading astrophysicists have explained how new technologies are helping them to unravel the cosmic web theory by which the universe is held together by dark matters.

Dark matters are difficult to be traced, as they do not reflect light waves. New technologies capable of analyzing radio waves are capable of detecting these mysterious dark matters that hold galaxies together with their gravitational attraction. In 2013 James Webb Space Telescope will be launched in the space that scientists expect will help in detecting neutral hydrogen – the remnants of the ingredients from which the first stars were born.

In 2011, the European Space Agency will launch its GALA experiment by which the stars in the universe will be mapped and their motions measured. Another important discovery the astrophysicists are waiting for is the tracking of the cosmic baryons in space using high-resolution ultra-violet optics. Baryons are protons and atomic nuclei that are present in every object big or small from stars to the tiniest insect on earth. The missing baryons will help resolve all arguments on the standard cosmological model.

Source: raw story
image:many universes

Inspired by Phillip Pullman’s first volume of the classic sci-fi trilogy, ‘His Dark Materials’, the science fiction movie ‘The Golden Compass’ released this December, talked of Parallel Universe or Multiverse. This Parallel Universe concept has been debated by scientists since ages and the concept being depicted in the movie has only fueled up the arguments further.

While many scientists completely deny the existence of parallel universe, many are of the opinion that there might be some form of life co-existing with us in some other part of the universe, if not in our solar system. The scientists in favor of this ideology state that this thought is not entirely fiction, but is the inference drawn from a number of other theories on the universe.

NASA is synonymous with spacecrafts, but this time they are in news owing to one of their latest stunts in developing a Parachute. This special Parachute has been developed for aiding the spacecraft land on Mars to set up an analytical laboratory, which NASA plans to launch in 2009. The spacecraft under discussion here is being built by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

Though I would like to bring your attention not to the spacecraft but the Parachute, which is going to help this spacecraft land. Not diverting from the point that this special Parachute will help a huge spacecraft land not mere human beings, it has been made with utmost care and precision.

This huge Parachute is being tested by the Mars Science Laboratory, NASA. Built by Pioneer Aerospace, the Parachute has 80 suspension lines. It is more than 50 meters long with an opening of almost 17 meters. It large size is complimented by a large disk gap of about 3.8 meters.

In 2004, people saw comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacking into Jupiter. It was pretty cool. Now, scientists are even more excited that an asteroid speeding at 8 miles per second is on its way to hit planet Mars. Even though it is predicted that there is only 1 in 75 chances of hitting the Red Planet, this would leave a heck of a dent were it to hit.

It allows scientists to get some good data and images with that they could study better about the planet. Named 2007 WD5, the asteroid is likely to hit Mars by the end of January next year.

For the first time in the history of all research carried out on our neighbouring planet Mars, scientists have discovered an active glacier on its surface. This path breaking discovery was a result of images taken by sensor technologies and high-resolution cameras from the Mars Express spacecraft, which was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) and it marked Europe’s first space mission to the Red Planet. Its High Resolution Stereo Camera has also taken picture of many volcanoes on the Mar’s surface. It has captured detailed images of the Olympus Mons volcano, whose height of 26 kms has proclaimed it the tallest known mountain in the entire solar system.

Scientists anticipate that this major breakthrough can re-initiate the search for life on Mars. They believe that if there is existence of any living micro-organisms underneath the planet’s surface, it could be elevated up to the surface by the water of the glacier. Many other glaciers on Mars that were explored earlier have been millions of years old. This newly-found glacier, with fresh ice, is a rare phenomenon on Mars and hence, has regenerated hope of life on this planet. The researchers involved in the project were highly motivated to witness this new sighting.

The solar system is something that still remains a mystery for us. Our little minds are still busy exploring the mere origin of this vast universe. Yet, when a piece of this huge jigsaw falls in place, something new is implored, further adding to the confusion. All of us had our share of learning the Mnemonic ‘My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas’ in order to remember the name of planets and then recently we had to unlearn the ‘Pizzas’ for the exclusion of Pluto. Blame it on the Gods who created such a mysterious wonder or the scientists who have taken it on themselves to further mystify it in an attempt to solve the puzzle; the space is still the most controversial of probably all topics discussed on the third planet of the solar system.

The newest theory proposed recently says that Uranus the seventh planet and Neptune, the eighth and the farthest planet had exchanged their positions about four billion years ago. This theory by Steve Desch, an astrophysicist with the Arizona State University provides almost a stark contrast to all the previous theories on the origin of the solar system. According to this theory all the gaseous giant planets took shape twice as close to the sun as they are at present. Having said this he had to then explain the positions of Uranus and Neptune, as the size of Neptune outweighs that of Uranus and therefore should have been second last in the order. Explaining this Desch said that gravity played a role here, and due to the gravitational pull of some of the asteroids or meteoroids the planet of Neptune must have got pulled away.

Deep Impact, an ongoing NASA space mission has been given the green signal to continue its mission to research Comet Hartley 2. Already the mission has got much publicity with it ejected material from a comet surface. And now this has given a much needed pat in the back for the scientists from the University of Maryland. This would help the scientists learn better about how the solar system evolves and a research can be made on whether any other planet like earth exists.

The mission takes a low cost budget of $40 million by taking advantage of the existing space craft. This two and a half year journey to Comet Hartley 2 will consist of two missions Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh) and Deep Impact extended Investigation (DIXI). This visit to a never before visited comet has raised expectations among scientists all over the world. Everyone is expecting more rewards to come by at the end of the journey as they explore into an unknown world. We sure are moving closer to know what our universe is. Aren’t we? To know more about the mission objectives and the expected operation of this mission, click on the below given link.
via:scienceblog
image source: image

Black holes have baffled scientists for a long time. The dense mass of the dead star that has is dense enough to gobble huge planets and stars. Recently astronomers have discovered a powerful black hole blasting a galaxy.

Astronomers have earlier witnessed collision between galaxies but this is the first time they have seen collision of such large scale. In a recent discovery a large galaxy called the ‘death star galaxy’ has a jet of high energy particles and magnetic fields emanating from the back hole at its centre that is gobbling a smaller galaxy standing close to it. Black holes are present at the centre of most galaxies. Some galaxies eject powerful jets from the vicinity of the black holes.

A Black hole is a hypothetical region of space possessing a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape from it. Such regions are said to form when a star collapses, having used all its nuclear fuel. Smaller stars create supernova explosions when they die leaving neutron star; it is the more massive stars that are believed to create black holes.

Though the current discovery shows the black hole feeding on the smaller galaxy causing its death, the strangest fact of such cosmic event is that eventually after the destruction is complete the massive influx of energy and radiation into the smaller galaxy will create new stars and planet – a Sphinx-like rise from the ashes of death.

The problem of detecting black holes is that they are unable to emit or reflect any radiation.

Earth is safe from the havoc causing actions of black holes. If our solar system came in the line of fire of any jet emanating black hole then the ozone layer of the earth’s atmosphere would be destroyed and life on the planet would face mass extinction.

How safe is our planet from the scourges of the black holes. Astronomers believe there are two such beasts near the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Source & image:BBC

Back in the day, the North American Space Agency(NASA) launched a spacecraft for it’s Deep Impact mission. At that time the goal was to study a comet. The same spacecraft still has plenty of juice left in it. So, the NASA officials are going to put the spacecraft from Deep Impact to yet another mission. This time the goal would be to study the comet Boethin.

However, there’s one problem: the comet is missing. Experts believe that the subject of study has broken up into several pieces at some point. But, NASA staff is not going to give up this easy. They are hot on the trail of the comet. They are going to send a spacecraft in the trajectory of the comet. I hope that they can come up with something.

The cosmos never ceases to amaze us with its sheer size and splendor. The star studded sky above us and the vast unexplored eternity that lay beyond us have always captured both human mind and human heart. While the glitz and shine of the stars and the spectacular celestial aura have drawn us towards them, it is impossible to deny that our space programs are barely at a stage of infancy, with 99.9% of the universe still left unexplored. It is this magic of finding something new each day, each moment, each time you point your telescope in to the sky that hold our imagination and ignites our senses. The universe around us is so kind that you can randomly look at any part of it and it still will give you a surprise or two. You can call that either our luck or our sheer ignorance.