Black-hole wind sweeping away galactic gas EU–(ENEWSPF)–26 March 2015. Astronomers using ESA’s Herschel space observatory have found that the winds blowing from a huge black hole are sweeping away its host galaxy’s reservoir of raw star-building material. Found at the hearts of most galaxies, supermassive black holes are extremely dense[Read More…]
Space
New Desktop Application Has Potential to Increase Asteroid Detection, Now Available to Public
NASA’s Asteroid Data Hunter contest series was part of NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge, which is focused on finding all asteroid threats to human populations and knowing what to do about them. Image Credit: NASA Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–March 16, 2015. A software application based on an algorithm created by a NASA challenge[Read More…]
NASA Spacecraft Prepares for March 12 Launch to Study Earth’s Dynamic Magnetic Space Environment
NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observatories are shown here in the clean room being processed for a March 12 launch from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Image Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–February 26, 2015. Final preparations are underway for the launch of NASA’s quartet of[Read More…]
NASA, ESA Telescopes Give Shape to Furious Black Hole Winds
Supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies blast out radiation and ultra-fast winds, as illustrated in this artist’s conception. NASA’s NuSTAR and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescopes show that these winds, containing highly ionized atoms, blow in a nearly spherical fashion. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–February 20, 2015. NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic[Read More…]
Mars Hills Hide Icy Past
Phlegra Montes southern tip EU–(ENEWSPF)–19 February 2015. A complex network of isolated hills, ridges and small basins spanning 1400 km on Mars is thought to hide large quantities of water-ice. Phlegra Montes stretches from the Elysium volcanic region at about 30ºN and deep into the northern lowlands at about 50°N,[Read More…]
Mystery Mars Plume Baffles Scientists
Mystery plume on Mars EU–(ENEWSPF)–16 February 2015. Plumes seen reaching high above the surface of Mars are causing a stir among scientists studying the atmosphere on the Red Planet. On two separate occasions in March and April 2012, amateur astronomers reported definite plume-like features developing on the planet. The plumes[Read More…]
NASA Launches Groundbreaking Soil Moisture Mapping Satellite
NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, launches at 6:22 a.m. PST (9:22 a.m. EST) Saturday from Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SMAP is NASA’s first Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and[Read More…]
NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Captures Best-Ever View of Dwarf Planet
This animation of the dwarf planet Ceres was made by combining images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on Jan. 25. The spacecraft’s framing camera took these images, at a distance of about 147,000 miles (237,000 kilometers) from Ceres, and they represent the highest-resolution views to date of the dwarf planet.[Read More…]
Rosetta Watches Comet Shed its Dusty Coat
Fluffy dust grains EU–(ENEWSPF)–26 January 2015. ESA’s Rosetta mission is providing unique insight into the life cycle of a comet’s dusty surface, watching 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko as it sheds the dusty coat it has accumulated over the past four years. The COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser, or COSIMA, is one of Rosetta’s[Read More…]
Mountain-size Asteroid 2004 BL86 Passes Earth on January 26-27
The path of asteroid 2004 BL86 on January 26-27 carries it northward among the winter stars and makes it well positioned for viewing with a backyard telescope. Eastern Standard Time is shown, so be sure to make a time-zone correction for your location. Sky & Telescope diagram Sky & Telescope-(ENEWSPF)- On[Read More…]
