New Evidence: Auroras on Exo-Planets

New Evidence Indicates Auroras Occur Outside Our Solar System

Jan. 21, 2013 — University of Leicester planetary scientists have found new evidence suggesting auroras – similar to Earth’s Aurora Borealis - occur on bodies outside our solar system.

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Aurora crowns Jupiter's north pole. (Credit: NASA/ESA, John Clarke (University of Michigan))

Auroras occur on several planets within our solar system, and the brightest - on Jupiter – are 100 times brighter than those on Earth. However, no auroras have yet been observed beyond Neptune.

A new study led by University of Leicester lecturer Dr Jonathan Nichols has shown that processes strikingly similar to those which power Jupiter’s auroras could be responsible for radio emissions detected from a number of objects outside our solar system.

More - Link >>> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130121083253.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fspace_time+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Space+%26+Time+News%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Sources: University of Leicester, ScienceDaily.com .

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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NASA Pic: 4 Russia Volcanoes Erupt Simultaneously

Fearsome Foursome of Eruptions Seen from Space

Becky Oskin, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer - Jan 21, 2013 12:31 PM ET 

 

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Shiveluch volcano erupts on Jan. 11, 2013. CREDIT: NASA Earth Observatory View full size image

With more than 300 volcanoes crowded into a finger of land roughly the size of California, Russia's Kamchatka peninsula is home to the world's highest concentration of active volcanoes.

Only 29 volcanoes are active, occasionally spilling lava down their slopes or shooting steam and ash into the sky. On Jan. 11, NASA's Terra satellite snapped a picture of a fearsome foursome, as a quartet of Kamchatka's volcanoes erupted at the same time.

The four volcanoes — Shiveluch, Bezymianny, Tolbachik and Kizimen — are separated by only 110 miles (180 kilometers), according to NASA's Earth Observatory. 

More - Link >>> http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/4021-four-kamchatka-volcanoes-from-space.html

Source: OurAmazingPlanet.com .

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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From Space Station: Pre-Inauguration Pix of D.C.

Posted at 08:55 PM ET, 01/20/2013

International Space Station captures Washington, D.C. from space for inauguration

By Jason Samenow

 

Coinciding with Inauguration weekend, the International Space Station has been flying over Washington, D.C., grabbing stunning imagery in the process - by night and by day. These wonderful views were made possible by perfectly clear skies. Thank you mother nature!


(Chris Hadfield - Washington, D.C. Saturday night, January 19, 2013 as viewed from the International Space Station. See big. ) 
 
The above image was posted to Twitter earlier today by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. His description: “Washington D.C. on Saturday night of the Inaugural Weekend. You can even follow the parade route.”

More - Link >>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/international-space-station-captures-washington-dc-from-space-for-inauguration/2013/01/20/19439650-636b-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_blog.html

Source: The Washington Post.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Meaning of Quantum Mechanics: Physicists Disagree

Physicists Disagree Over Meaning of Quantum Mechanics, Poll Shows

by Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer

Date: 21 January 2013 Time: 07:59 AM ET

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The bizarre rules of quantum mechanics may in fact enable many of life's fundamental processes, scientists say. CREDIT: agsandrew | Shutterstock View full size image

"Anyone who claims to understand quantum theory is either lying or crazy," physicist Richard Feynman once said, according to legend.

That situation hasn't changed much in the roughly 90 years since quantum mechanics was first introduced, as evidenced by a new poll, detailed online this month, showing that physicists are still divided over the theory's meaning.

The 16-question poll was given to 33 physicists, philosophers and mathematicians at a conference on "Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality" in Austria in July 2011. The poll probed the experts' thoughts on fundamental tenets of the theory, such as the randomness of nature and the impact of outside measurements on quantum systems.

More - Link >>> http://www.livescience.com/26444-quantum-mechanics-physicists-poll.html

Source: LiveScience.com .

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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CT Astronomy Teacher Finds Dazzling Pic of Star Nursery

by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor

Date: 18 January 2013 Time: 11:04 AM ET

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Nearly 200 000 light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, floats in space, in a long and slow dance around our galaxy. As the Milky Way’s gravity gently tugs on its neighbour’s gas clouds, they collapse to form new stars. In turn, these light up the gas clouds in a kaleidoscope of colours, visible in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. CREDIT: ASA, ESA. Acknowledgement: Josh Lake View full size image

A Connecticut astronomy teacher has uncovered a dazzling view of a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way while exploring the "hidden treasures" of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The new Hubble photo, released Thursday (Jan. 17), shows an intriguing star nursery dotted with dark dust lanes in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 200,000 light-years from Earth. The Hubble observation used to create the image was discovered in the telescope's archives by Josh Lake, a high school astronomy teacher at Pomfret School in Pomfret, Conn., as part of the "Hubble Hidden Treasures" contest that challenged space fans to find unseen images from the observatory.

More - Link >>> http://www.space.com/19327-hubble-telescope-photo-galaxy-teacher.html

Source: Space.com .


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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Crater Data Hints at Wet Martian Underground

Martian Crater May Once Have Held Groundwater-Fed Lake

This view of layered rocks on the floor of McLaughlin Crater shows sedimentary rocks that contain spectroscopic evidence for minerals formed through interaction with water. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded the image. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
› Full image and caption

200

January 20, 2013

PASADENA, Calif. -- A NASA spacecraft is providing new evidence of a wet underground environment on Mars that adds to an increasingly complex picture of the Red Planet's early evolution.

The new information comes from researchers analyzing spectrometer data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which looked down on the floor of McLaughlin Crater. The Martian crater is 57 miles (92 kilometers) in diameter and 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) deep. McLaughlin's depth apparently once allowed underground water, which otherwise would have stayed hidden, to flow into the crater's interior.

More - Link >>> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-028&cid=release_2013-028

Sources: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA.

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Comet of the Century?

Jan. 18, 2013:  Out near the orbit of Jupiter, a faint speck of light is moving through the black of space.  At first glance it doesn't look like much, no brighter than a thousand distant stars speckling the velvet sky behind it; indeed, it takes a big telescope make out that it is a comet.
 
But what a comet it could turn out to be….

Later this year, “Comet ISON” could blossom into a striking naked eye object visible even in broad daylight.

“Comet ISON is a sungrazer,” explains Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab. “The orbit of the comet will bring it very close to the sun, which we know can be a spectacular thing.”

"Comet ISON has the potential to live up to the hype, but it also has the potential to do nothing," agrees Battams. 

A new ScienceCast video explores what could happen to Comet ISON as it approaches the sun in Nov. 2013. Possibilities range from "Comet of the Century" to "disintegrated dud." Play it

More - Link >>> http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/18jan_cometison/

Source: NASA Science News.

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