Dark Matter Core Defies Explanation in NASA Hubble Image

 

 

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using data from NASA's Hubble Telescope have observed what appears to be a clump of dark matter left behind from a wreck between massive clusters of galaxies. The result could challenge current theories about dark matter that predict galaxies should be anchored to the invisible substance even during the shock of a collision.

Abell 520 is a gigantic merger of galaxy clusters located 2.4 billion light-years away. Dark matter is not visible, although its presence and distribution is found indirectly through its effects. Dark matter can act like a magnifying glass, bending and distorting light from galaxies and clusters behind it. Astronomers can use this effect, called gravitational lensing, to infer the presence of dark matter in massive galaxy clusters.
MORE: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/mar/HQ_12-068_Hubble_Dark_Core.html

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Private rocket passes big test for space station launch

SpaceX Dragon could be headed to station as soon as next month

collectSPACE/Robert Z. Pearlman

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on Dec. 8, 2010, with the company's first Dragon spacecraft. Three hours and 20 minutes later, the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, marking a first for a non-governmental entity.

By Mike Wall

updated 3/4/2012 11:40:54 AM ET

 

A private SpaceX rocket sailed through a dress rehearsal March 1 for the launch of the robotic Dragon space capsule, which could blast off toward the International Space Station as early as next month.

The five-hour launch readiness test, held at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, went through full countdown procedures, including fueling, for the next Dragon test flight, which is slated for late April. It was designed to check out any potential issues with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon and associated ground systems.
SpaceX officials were pleased with the results.

MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46619783/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T1PqAfnlsbY

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Jupiter moon's ocean may be too acidic to support life

Surface oxidants may react with compounds in sea under Europa crust before life can nab it

NASA

This is a model of Europa's interior. The moon is thought to have a metallic core surrounded by a rocky interior, and then a global ocean on top of that, surrounded by a shell of water ice.

By Charles Q. Choi Astrobiology Magazine contributor

updated 3/2/2012 1:46:23 PM ET

 

The ocean underneath the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa might be too acidic to support life, due to compounds that may regularly migrate downward from its surface, researchers say.

Scientists believe that Europa, which is roughly the size of Earth's moon, possesses an ocean perhaps 100 miles deep (160 kilometers). This ocean is overlain by an icy crust of unknown thickness, although some estimates are that it could be only a few miles thick.
Since there is life virtually wherever there is liquid water on Earth, for many years scientists have entertained the notion that this Jovian moon could support extraterrestrials. Recent findings even suggest its ocean could be loaded with oxygen, enough to support millions of tons worth of marine life like the kinds that exist on Earth.

MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46605252/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T1PotPnlsbY

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How Many Unbound Planets Roam the Milky Way?

Life as we know it exists on a cozy planet in a stable orbit around a sun shining brightly in its sky. But a new study hints that the most common life in the universe might exist deep inside eternal-night worlds far from any star, adrift in the icy dark of interstellar space.

The Milky Way likely hosts billions, and possibly trillions, of unbound planets, some of which may have atmospheres thick enough to support bacterial life. Loose planets may even outnumber stars in the galaxy, but a more precise count awaits future telescopes such as WFIRST and LSST.

Caltech / NASA

Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford University estimate that "nomad" planets, ejected from their home stellar system and now free-floating through the Milky Way, could outnumber stars by as many as 100,000 to 1. Earlier estimates were more like a handful to 1, though previous studies have only counted unbound planets more massive than Jupiter.
MORE: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/How-Many-Unbound-Planets-Roam-the-Milky-Way-140917963.html

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Space shuttle Enterprise lands in NYC on April 23

Rendering of space shuttle Enterprise as it'll be displayed on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. (Intrepid)

March 1, 2012 – NASA's space shuttle Enterprise, which never flew in space but did pave the way for the United States' historic 30-year shuttle program, will arrive in New York on April 23, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum announced on Thursday (March 1).

The prototype orbiter's arrival in the Big Apple will start its journey to a new display at the Intrepid, a converted World War II aircraft carrier-turned-museum complex.

MORE: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-030112a.html

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Thin Atmosphere Found on Saturn Moon

Cassini Detects Hint of Fresh Air at Dione

This view highlights tectonic faults and craters on Dione, an icy world that has undoubtedly experienced geologic activity since its formation. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
› Full image and caption

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March 02, 2012

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has "sniffed" molecular oxygen ions around Saturn's icy moon Dione for the first time, confirming the presence of a very tenuous atmosphere. The oxygen ions are quite sparse - one for every 0.67 cubic inches of space (one for every 11 cubic centimeters of space) or about 2,550 per cubic foot (90,000 per cubic meter) - show that Dione has an extremely thin neutral atmosphere.

At the Dione surface, this atmosphere would only be as dense as Earth's atmosphere 300 miles (480 kilometers) above the surface. The detection of this faint atmosphere, known as an exosphere, is described in a recent issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
MORE: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-056&cid=release_2012-056&msource=12056&tr=y&auid=10388215

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Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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Flying Through a Geomagnetic Storm

Play ScienceCast Video

March 2, 2012:  Glowing green and red, shimmering hypnotically across the night sky, the aurora borealis is a wonder to behold.  Longtime sky watchers say it is the greatest show on Earth.
It might be the greatest show in Earth orbit, too. High above our planet, astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been enjoying an up-close view of auroras outside their windows as the ISS flys through geomagnetic storms.
“We can actually fly into the auroras,” says eye-witness Don Pettit, a Flight Engineer for ISS Expedition 30. “It’s like being shrunk down and put inside of a neon sign.”
Lately, the International Space Station has been flying through geomagnetic storms, giving astronauts an close-up view of the aurora borealis just outside their windows: video.

MORE: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/02mar_aurorasunderfoot/

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
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