Space Scan

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. These are very hard to see and only very few observations are available to extrapolate its path. There are several orbital paths for the asteroid to travel, which includes the surface of the Mars. So if it hits, it has been predicted, it would get near to the equator, where rover Opportunity is traveling. The scientists have predicted that the collision would not affect the rover, since it will be on the back side of the planet when the asteroid hits the planet or passes by it. It is relatively easy to predict the date and time the asteroid will be at the planet but it’s hard to predict its actual trajectory. If it hits, it would definitely lead to a new advancement in space exploration.

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. But since ages, the question that has intrigued us the most is, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ This one question has always baffled our thoughts, challenged our imagination and of course made Spielberg in to a movie making icon. But off late scientists are starting to believe more and more that the answer to that question is ‘No’. The discovery of Gliese 581 was one of the most exciting moments in extra-solar planetary researcher. The star is said to be having a planetary system and now researchers claim that they have found two planets that might be conducive to existence of life on them. Astronomers have found an Earth-massed planet orbiting within the habitable zone of a distant star. This would mean that liquid water could be on its surface – and maybe even life! Any planet needs to be at a right distance from its own sun, so as to be able to maintain conditions that help the sustenance of life on it. If it is too close to the star, it looses the water on its surface due to excessive heat and if it is too far, it might be too cold to harbor life. Two separate teams of astronomers have found out in two different ways that the system of Gliese 581 has planets in the habitable zone. They did this by calculating and comparing the position of Earth and the planet on which they believe life could exist. The first team lead by Franck Selsis calculated that the inner boundary of this habitable zone around Gliese 581 should be somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9 astronomical units and the outer zone should be between 1.7 and 2.4 AU. At least one planet orbiting Gliese 581 falls within this range. Now that is indeed exciting news. I always thought that we would find life beyond earth first on Titan- Saturn’s largest moon. But I still think the problem is that we look for life that is organic-similar to ourselves in nature. Why can’t life have evolved out of Platinum and gold somewhere else in the cosmos? Now that would be ‘Rich life’, if not intelligent.

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

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.

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. NASA is going to put larger telescopes on board the spacecraft to turn the odds towards them. The space craft has a new name for this mission. It’s called The Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization and the Deep Impact Extended Investigation or in short Epoxi. The Epoxi will do three flybys in order to track down the location of the comet. Hopefully, NASA will be able to safely use the Deep Impact space craft for their low cost Epoxi mission.

Planning an unmanned spacecraft to the solar system’s outer fringes has always been a cumbersome job for the astronauts – be it money, time or labor. What if the scientists are given a welcome break for these extensive planning, without failing with their target date and mission? No, it is no just providing hopes to the space explorers. But, it’s MIT’s real engineering venture — it’s an efficient and highly sophisticated mathematical algorithm! Implemented as software, the algorithm can help chalk out the most efficient path a spacecraft can make for journeying from one point to its destination! No, nor the number of worlds or years away can effect it! The new finding had taken the Cassini’s route into consideration — the 1997 Cassini Mission — one of the most complicated explorations ever made. While testing and validating the algorithm, Craig Kluever, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering said, You don’t need complicated mission software for Mars missions. If you look at the trajectory, it doesn’t require a lot of twists, turns and gravity assists. It’s a straight shot. You need complicated mission software for ambitious missions to a comet, asteroid, moon of Saturn or beyond. We’re talking about missions where an unmanned spacecraft would fly by Venus to do a gravity assist and then fly by Jupiter to do a gravity assist. Before that, it may have to coast a year and half to come back to Venus for another gravity assist. These very high-energy targets require orbital tricks. Timing all of these maneuvers to find the optimal solution is complicated. The mission software’s mathematical principles have been applauded by the European Space Agency before. Ah! NASA, please listen! The new algorithm may be of great help if you are planning human space travel in the coming years or decade, after the 2031 manned mission to Mars.

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’. The most Earth-like planet yet to be explored by astronomers is a planet 20.5 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. The discovery that was made last year detected the planet orbiting around the faint star Gliese 581. The mean temperature of this planet, Gliese 581c is between 0 to 40 degrees Celsius that is capable of maintaining water in the liquid state

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. The astronomers who would fly to space in Atlantis will undertake the rather daunting task that would make Hubble more 90 percent more powerful extending its life span by over 5 to 10 years. Of late, Hubble and astronomy had become synonymous. Thus, a more powerful Hubble could peep further inside our mysterious universe. Image: how stuff works Source: monsterandcritics

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.