Space Scan

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. Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity can be verified from the new discovery. It is difficult to measure the dimensions of the black hole, and scientists have to rely on the surrounding electromagnetic radiations and the speed of gas clouds to come to any deductions. The recent discovery will help in testing the theory that black holes could spiral towards each other as they radiate energy in the form of giant gravitational waves. Sometime in the next 100,000 earth years, the two black holes may merge into one another, scientists believe!

For long, we have remained moon-struck only by seeing the lunar beauty from the earth. It will not be long when we can travel to this wonderful satellite of earth and even own an apartment there. This is no figment of lunacy but if NASA is able to achieve its target of returning to the moon in 2020 and unravel its program to build towns on the moon then you can own an apartment in the lunar city. After Neil Armstrong’s giant leap on the lunar soil in 1969, the last manned mission went to the moon in December 1972 carrying Gene Cernan, Ron Evans and Jack Schmitt. NASA is facing financial crunch in the way of realization of its ambitious project that is expected to make rapid strides in space exploration. A manned outpost powered by solar energy is expected to be built on the south pole of the moon. With successful completion of its lunar project that includes constructing a town on the satellite, NASA hopes to sent a manned mission to Mars. The financial impediments could be removed only if the US Congress passed the budget approving NASA’s lunar mission. After President John F Kennedy, later US Presidents seemed to be more interested in building global political hegemony and less interested in moving ahead with space research. China has emerged a likely contender to US’s lunar mission. It can only be hoped that fear of China’s space control programs will stimulate the US administration to increase its space research funding.

True, it is not possible for one to even dream of exploring the cold, harsh, isolated landscape of Antarctica, except some smitten scientists and adventurer, just like that of the moon! No, am not making any erratic comparison – it is the NASA that might have found the climate there somewhat similar to that of the moon! And, soon it will be using the, perhaps, moon-like Antarctica landscape and a prototype inflatable habitat, to test one of its concepts for astronaut housing on the moon. The agency is sending a prototype inflatable habitat to Antarctica to see how it stands up during a year of use. It will be sending the prototype in the remotest and most brazen areas to find out how it deals against the extreme climate there during a year of use. The test will be conducted for a period of 13 month — from January 2008 to February 2009. This inflatable habitat is just one of several concepts that are being considered for astronaut living on the moon. Paul Lockhart, director of Constellation Systems for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Headquarters, Washington said, To land one pound of supplies on the lunar surface, it’ll require us to launch 125 pounds of hardware and fuel to get it there. So our habitation concepts have to be lightweight as well as durable. This prototype inflatable habitat can be taken down and redeployed multiple times, and it only takes four crew members a few hours to set up, permitting exploration beyond the initial landing area. This use of the prototype would provide an opportunity to see what it would be like to use a similar habitat during lunar exploration. This venture would definitely help NASA’s Constellation Program, which is working to send humans back to the moon by 2020. To read more about NASA’s space exploration plans,

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.

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

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. It is said to be containing enough hydrogen to make a million stars like our sun. It is traveling with the monstrous speed of 240 km/s and is set to hit the galaxy at 45 degrees. The origin and orbit of the cloud is yet not discovered. However, if the collision of the cloud and Milky Way is visible to the naked eye, it would be a delight. Scientists speculate that the collision could set off huge fireworks, making it a spectacle. It is being termed as being the Celestial New Year, where the heavenly bodies will put on a firework show.

Recently, the scientists monitored the sky for what they call ‘teenager galaxies’. It is extremely hard to find young galaxies because they are just a tiny spot in the sky. Nevertheless, the scientists managed to locate these young guys in space with their massive telescopes. A group of international researchers discovered and identified 27 pre galactic fragments. These are supposedly the young building blocks of big galaxies in the universe. Cambridge University scientist Martin Haehnelt used European Southern Observatory’s very large telescope to keep an eye on part of the universe. The monitoring was done for a constant 92 hours. Apparently, the scientists think that the galaxies are formed when smalled chunks of spatial objects get together. The Cambridge researchers did manage to locate the smaller proto galaxies in the universe. The powerful telescopes help scientists follow the light sources. The process can be likened with a regular camera. As Martin agrees: The process was a bit like taking a photograph and keeping the shutter open for a very long time. The technique used to locate the smaller lumps took the scientists as far back as 11 billion years or should I say light years? I think the discovery of the proto galaxies is a major milestone although, scientists aren’t sure about the scope of this discovery.

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.