NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory News and Features
22 Sep 2017, 19:09 UTC
To celebrate the legacy of ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, which had significant NASA contributions, the European Space Agency (ESA) has designated this week as Herschel Week, highlighting some of the mission's accomplishments.
Legacy of Herschel Space Observatory
22 Sep 2017, 19:09 UTC
To celebrate the legacy of ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, which had significant NASA contributions, the European Space Agency (ESA) has designated this week as Herschel Week, highlighting some of the mission's accomplishments.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
22 Sep 2017, 13:41 UTC
Galaxy NGC 6753, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is a whirl of color — the bursts of blue throughout the spiral arms are regions filled with young stars glowing brightly in ultraviolet light, while redder areas are filled with older stars emitting in the cooler near-infrared.
Hubble's Cool Galaxy with a Hot Corona
22 Sep 2017, 13:41 UTC
Galaxy NGC 6753, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is a whirl of color — the bursts of blue throughout the spiral arms are regions filled with young stars glowing brightly in ultraviolet light, while redder areas are filled with older stars emitting in the cooler near-infrared.
ASTRON
22 Sep 2017, 07:14 UTC
The Pierre Auger Collaboration, in which ASTRON is a partner, reports observational evidence demonstrating that cosmic rays with energies a million times greater than that of the protons accelerated in the Large Hadron Collider come from much further away than from our own Galaxy. These findings are published in Science on 22 September 2017.
Mystery solved: rare cosmic high energie particles come from outside our galaxy
22 Sep 2017, 07:14 UTC
The Pierre Auger Collaboration, in which ASTRON is a partner, reports observational evidence demonstrating that cosmic rays with energies a million times greater than that of the protons accelerated in the Large Hadron Collider come from much further away than from our own Galaxy. These findings are published in Science on 22 September 2017.
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
21 Sep 2017, 19:50 UTC
Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope system have discovered the closest pair of supermassive black holes yet found. The black holes are at the core of a galaxy called NGC 7674, about 400 million light-years from Earth. With a combined mass roughly 40 million times that of the Sun, the two black holes apparently are separated by only about one light-year. The previous record-holder, also discovered with the VLBA, is a pair of supermassive black holes some 24 light-years apart. The black holes in NGC 7674 are estimated to orbit each other about once every 100,000 years. The presence of two such monsters at the center of a single galaxy means that the galaxy merged with another some time in the past. The discovery was made by researchers from the National Center for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, in Pune, India, and the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. They announced their discovery in the journal Nature Astronomy, and in a press release. The Long Baseline Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
VLBA Finds Closest Pair of Supermassive Black Holes
21 Sep 2017, 19:50 UTC
Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope system have discovered the closest pair of supermassive black holes yet found. The black holes are at the core of a galaxy called NGC 7674, about 400 million light-years from Earth. With a combined mass roughly 40 million times that of the Sun, the two black holes apparently are separated by only about one light-year. The previous record-holder, also discovered with the VLBA, is a pair of supermassive black holes some 24 light-years apart. The black holes in NGC 7674 are estimated to orbit each other about once every 100,000 years. The presence of two such monsters at the center of a single galaxy means that the galaxy merged with another some time in the past. The discovery was made by researchers from the National Center for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, in Pune, India, and the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. They announced their discovery in the journal Nature Astronomy, and in a press release. The Long Baseline Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
21 Sep 2017, 14:06 UTC
Cambridge, MA - When fast radio bursts, or FRBs, were first detected in 2001, astronomers had never seen anything like them before. Since then, astronomers have found a couple of dozen FRBs, but they still don’t know what causes these rapid and powerful bursts of radio emission.
Fast Radio Bursts May Be Firing Off Every Second
21 Sep 2017, 14:06 UTC
Cambridge, MA - When fast radio bursts, or FRBs, were first detected in 2001, astronomers had never seen anything like them before. Since then, astronomers have found a couple of dozen FRBs, but they still don’t know what causes these rapid and powerful bursts of radio emission.
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Universe Today
22 Sep 2017, 19:06 UTC
For decades, scientists have known that in near-Earth space there are thousands of comets and asteroids that periodically cross Earth’s orbit. These Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are routinely tracked by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) to make sure that none pose a risk of collision with our planet. Various programs and missions have also been proposed to divert or destroy any asteroids that might pass too closely to Earth in the future. One such mission is the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA), a collaborative effort between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Recently, the ESA announced that it would be withdrawing from this mission due to budget constraints. But this past Wednesday (Sept. 20th), during the European Planetary Science Conference in Riga, a group of international scientists urged them to reconsider.
Scientists Urge Europe to Stick With “Armageddon”-style Asteroid Mission
22 Sep 2017, 19:06 UTC
For decades, scientists have known that in near-Earth space there are thousands of comets and asteroids that periodically cross Earth’s orbit. These Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are routinely tracked by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) to make sure that none pose a risk of collision with our planet. Various programs and missions have also been proposed to divert or destroy any asteroids that might pass too closely to Earth in the future. One such mission is the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA), a collaborative effort between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Recently, the ESA announced that it would be withdrawing from this mission due to budget constraints. But this past Wednesday (Sept. 20th), during the European Planetary Science Conference in Riga, a group of international scientists urged them to reconsider.
io9 Space
22 Sep 2017, 16:32 UTC
Right now, NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is hurtling through the void in order to link up with an asteroid named Bennu in 2018. While the intrepid spacecraft still has a way to go until its big rendezvous, today it’ll casually fly by Earth. Unfortunately, it poses no immediate danger to our planet, but if you’ve got a good telescope with a camera, you might even be able to snap a pic!
A NASA Spacecraft Will Slingshot Past Earth Today
22 Sep 2017, 16:32 UTC
Right now, NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is hurtling through the void in order to link up with an asteroid named Bennu in 2018. While the intrepid spacecraft still has a way to go until its big rendezvous, today it’ll casually fly by Earth. Unfortunately, it poses no immediate danger to our planet, but if you’ve got a good telescope with a camera, you might even be able to snap a pic!
Starts With a Bang!
22 Sep 2017, 14:01 UTC
Deep inside the Sun’s interior, the fusion of lighter nuclei into heavier ones causes a tiny amount of mass to be lost, converted into energy via the famous E = mc². At temperatures of 4,000,000 K or above, all the way up to 15,000,000 K in the Sun’s very center, hydrogen and helium isotopes build their way up to more stable elements, releasing energy and providing all the power that washes over every planet in the Solar System. Yet despite these incredible energies, the protons in the Sun’s core would never be able to begin this chain reaction if the Universe were completely deterministic. It requires the wave nature of quantum mechanics to make it possible, proving that Einstein’s famous statement, that “God does not play dice with the Universe,” was false.
Proof of ‘God playing dice with the Universe’ found in the Sun’s interior
22 Sep 2017, 14:01 UTC
Deep inside the Sun’s interior, the fusion of lighter nuclei into heavier ones causes a tiny amount of mass to be lost, converted into energy via the famous E = mc². At temperatures of 4,000,000 K or above, all the way up to 15,000,000 K in the Sun’s very center, hydrogen and helium isotopes build their way up to more stable elements, releasing energy and providing all the power that washes over every planet in the Solar System. Yet despite these incredible energies, the protons in the Sun’s core would never be able to begin this chain reaction if the Universe were completely deterministic. It requires the wave nature of quantum mechanics to make it possible, proving that Einstein’s famous statement, that “God does not play dice with the Universe,” was false.
SPACE.com
22 Sep 2017, 11:40 UTC
While residents of the northern half of the Earth prepare for shorter days and colder weather — the first day of fall is today (Sept. 22) — there is a sky spectacle to enjoy. Earth's moon and the planet Jupiter will be close together in the sky tonight and tomorrow, shortly after sunse
Celebrate the Autumn Equinox 2017 with Jupiter, Moon Conjunction
22 Sep 2017, 11:40 UTC
While residents of the northern half of the Earth prepare for shorter days and colder weather — the first day of fall is today (Sept. 22) — there is a sky spectacle to enjoy. Earth's moon and the planet Jupiter will be close together in the sky tonight and tomorrow, shortly after sunse
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