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All About Space
19 Sep 2017, 15:36 UTC
A false colour map of Mercury, taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Image credit: NASA The scorching hot surface of Mercury seems like an unlikely place to find ice, but research over the past three decades has suggested that water is frozen on the first rock from the Sun, hidden away on crater floors that are permanently shadowed from our nearest star’s blistering rays. Now, a new study led by Brown University researchers suggests that there could be much more ice on Mercury’s surface than previously thought. The study adds three new members to the list of craters near Mercury’s north pole that appear to harbour large surface ice deposits. But in addition, the research also shows evidence that smaller-scale deposits scattered around Mercury’s north pole, both inside craters and in shadowed terrain between impacts. Those deposits may be small, but they could add up to a lot more previously unaccounted-for ice. “The assumption has been that surface ice on Mercury exists predominantly in large craters, but we show evidence for these smaller-scale deposits as well,” says Ariel Deutsch, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. candidate at Brown. “Adding these small-scale deposits to the large deposits within craters adds significantly ...
Mercury’s poles likely to hold more ice than previously thought
19 Sep 2017, 15:36 UTC
A false colour map of Mercury, taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Image credit: NASA The scorching hot surface of Mercury seems like an unlikely place to find ice, but research over the past three decades has suggested that water is frozen on the first rock from the Sun, hidden away on crater floors that are permanently shadowed from our nearest star’s blistering rays. Now, a new study led by Brown University researchers suggests that there could be much more ice on Mercury’s surface than previously thought. The study adds three new members to the list of craters near Mercury’s north pole that appear to harbour large surface ice deposits. But in addition, the research also shows evidence that smaller-scale deposits scattered around Mercury’s north pole, both inside craters and in shadowed terrain between impacts. Those deposits may be small, but they could add up to a lot more previously unaccounted-for ice. “The assumption has been that surface ice on Mercury exists predominantly in large craters, but we show evidence for these smaller-scale deposits as well,” says Ariel Deutsch, the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. candidate at Brown. “Adding these small-scale deposits to the large deposits within craters adds significantly ...
Sky and Telescope
19 Sep 2017, 14:57 UTC
The winking stars of the Pleiades are easy targets for backyard observers. They’re also frequent targets for professional ground-based telescopes, polarimeters, and interferometers. So it’s ironic that they’re some of the most difficult targets for sophisticated space-based telescopes. The hot blue stars of the Pleiades star cluster illuminate a large cloud of interstellar dust along the cluster's path. Davide De Martin & ESA / ESO / NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator Nowhere is that more true than for Kepler. The exoplanet-hunting satellite has monitored thousands of stars, but the brightest ones have largely remained out of its reach. Now, astronomers have come up with a new technique to change that. Engineers designed Kepler’s sensitive CCD cameras to catch minute changes in faint stars, in order to detect the tiny blips in light that indicate a planet transiting its sun. But that exquisite sensitivity means that Kepler has difficulty measuring brilliant stars such as Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, and Pleione — the “seven sisters” of the Pleiades. CCD cameras work by capturing photons in “wells,” with each well corresponding to a single pixel in the resulting image. If a plethora of photons come in, the well may overflow, “bleeding” into ...
Kepler Discovers Pulsations in the Pleiades
19 Sep 2017, 14:57 UTC
The winking stars of the Pleiades are easy targets for backyard observers. They’re also frequent targets for professional ground-based telescopes, polarimeters, and interferometers. So it’s ironic that they’re some of the most difficult targets for sophisticated space-based telescopes. The hot blue stars of the Pleiades star cluster illuminate a large cloud of interstellar dust along the cluster's path. Davide De Martin & ESA / ESO / NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator Nowhere is that more true than for Kepler. The exoplanet-hunting satellite has monitored thousands of stars, but the brightest ones have largely remained out of its reach. Now, astronomers have come up with a new technique to change that. Engineers designed Kepler’s sensitive CCD cameras to catch minute changes in faint stars, in order to detect the tiny blips in light that indicate a planet transiting its sun. But that exquisite sensitivity means that Kepler has difficulty measuring brilliant stars such as Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, and Pleione — the “seven sisters” of the Pleiades. CCD cameras work by capturing photons in “wells,” with each well corresponding to a single pixel in the resulting image. If a plethora of photons come in, the well may overflow, “bleeding” into ...
SPACE.com
19 Sep 2017, 12:00 UTC
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A tiny version of Mars on Earth is tucked inside the Space Life Sciences Lab here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center — a specialized simulation chamber that's helping scientists delve into the prospect of detecting life on the Red Planet.
Cold World, Hot Topic: Can Microbes Survive on Mars?
19 Sep 2017, 12:00 UTC
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A tiny version of Mars on Earth is tucked inside the Space Life Sciences Lab here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center — a specialized simulation chamber that's helping scientists delve into the prospect of detecting life on the Red Planet.
Universe Today
19 Sep 2017, 04:48 UTC
As of 2016, Mars became the permanent residence of no less than eight robotic missions, a combination of orbiters, rovers and landers. Between extensive studies of the Martian atmosphere and surface, scientists have learned a great deal about the planet’s history and evolution. In particular, they have uncovered voluminous amounts of evidence that Mars once had flowing water on its surface. The most recent evidence to this effect from the University of Texas at Austin, where researchers have produced a study detailing how water deposited sediment in Mars’ Aeolis Dorsa region. According to their research, this area contains extensive sedimentary deposits that act as a historical record of Mars, cataloguing the influence played by water-based erosion over time. The study, titled “Fluvial Stratigraphy of Valley Fills at Aeolis Dorsa, Mars: Evidence for Base-Level Fluctuations Controlled by a Downstream Water Body“, recently appeared in the scientific journal GeoScienceWorld. Led by Benjamin D. Cardenas – a geologist with the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin – the team examined satellite data of the Aeolis Dorsa region to study the structure of sedimentary deposits. MOLA Topographic Map of Aeolis Quadrangle (MC-23) on the planet Mars. Credit: USGS For ...
Study of Martian Sedimentary Layers Reveals More About the Planet’s Past
19 Sep 2017, 04:48 UTC
As of 2016, Mars became the permanent residence of no less than eight robotic missions, a combination of orbiters, rovers and landers. Between extensive studies of the Martian atmosphere and surface, scientists have learned a great deal about the planet’s history and evolution. In particular, they have uncovered voluminous amounts of evidence that Mars once had flowing water on its surface. The most recent evidence to this effect from the University of Texas at Austin, where researchers have produced a study detailing how water deposited sediment in Mars’ Aeolis Dorsa region. According to their research, this area contains extensive sedimentary deposits that act as a historical record of Mars, cataloguing the influence played by water-based erosion over time. The study, titled “Fluvial Stratigraphy of Valley Fills at Aeolis Dorsa, Mars: Evidence for Base-Level Fluctuations Controlled by a Downstream Water Body“, recently appeared in the scientific journal GeoScienceWorld. Led by Benjamin D. Cardenas – a geologist with the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin – the team examined satellite data of the Aeolis Dorsa region to study the structure of sedimentary deposits. MOLA Topographic Map of Aeolis Quadrangle (MC-23) on the planet Mars. Credit: USGS For ...
The Star Splitter
18 Sep 2017, 19:37 UTC
An approximately true color/contrast image processed from the image 61 raw framelets. This image should give a fairly good idea of what the Great Red Spot and surrounding areas would look like to human eyes from Juno’s position. The data used to create the above image come from the Juno spacecraft’s JunoCam. After the recent end to Cassini’s mission, Juno is currently the only orbiter exploring a planet in our outer solar system.
Cosmic Paparazzi: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
18 Sep 2017, 19:37 UTC
An approximately true color/contrast image processed from the image 61 raw framelets. This image should give a fairly good idea of what the Great Red Spot and surrounding areas would look like to human eyes from Juno’s position. The data used to create the above image come from the Juno spacecraft’s JunoCam. After the recent end to Cassini’s mission, Juno is currently the only orbiter exploring a planet in our outer solar system.
Scientific American
18 Sep 2017, 18:30 UTC
NASA is now considering multiple proposals for a return to the ringed planet.
Cassini's End Marks New Beginning for Exploration of Saturn
18 Sep 2017, 18:30 UTC
NASA is now considering multiple proposals for a return to the ringed planet.
NASA Space Station Blog
18 Sep 2017, 16:30 UTC
Expedition 53 is gearing up for three maintenance spacewalks set to take place in October over a period of two weeks. Meanwhile, the six-member crew continued researching today how their long-term missions in space affect their bodies.
Three Spacewalks Scheduled, Crew Researches Life Science
18 Sep 2017, 16:30 UTC
Expedition 53 is gearing up for three maintenance spacewalks set to take place in October over a period of two weeks. Meanwhile, the six-member crew continued researching today how their long-term missions in space affect their bodies.
