Harpooning in space EU–(ENEWSPF)–24 June 2014. Faced with the challenge of capturing tumbling satellites to clear key orbits, ESA is considering turning to an ancient terrestrial technology: the harpoon. Used since the Stone Age, first to spear fish and later to catch whales, the humble harpoon is being looked at[Read More…]
Space
Swarm Reveals Earh’s Changing Magnetism
Magnetic field changes EU–(ENEWSPF)–19 June 2014. The first set of high-resolution results from ESA’s three-satellite Swarm constellation reveals the most recent changes in the magnetic field that protects our planet. Launched in November 2013, Swarm is providing unprecedented insights into the complex workings of Earth’s magnetic field, which safeguards us[Read More…]
NASA’s Hubble Finds Dwarf Galaxies Formed More Than Their Fair Share of Universe’s Stars
Hiding among these thousands of galaxies are faint dwarf galaxies residing in the early universe, between 2 and 6 billion years after the big bang, an important time period when most of the stars in the universe were formed. Some of these galaxies are undergoing starbursts. Image Credit: NASA and[Read More…]
New Molecules Around Old Stars
Water-building molecule in Helix Nebula EU–(ENEWSPF)–17 June 2014. Using ESA’s Herschel space observatory, astronomers have discovered that a molecule vital for creating water exists in the burning embers of dying Sun-like stars. When low- to middleweight stars like our Sun approach the end of their lives, they eventually become dense,[Read More…]
NASA Hubble to Begin Search Beyond Pluto for a New Horizons Mission Target
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 16, 2014. After careful consideration and analysis, the Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee has recommended using Hubble to search for an object the Pluto-bound NASA New Horizons mission could visit after its flyby of Pluto in July 2015. This is an artist’s rendering of the New Horizons[Read More…]
NASA Releases Earth Day ‘Global Selfie’ Mosaic of Our Home Planet
NASA’s “Global Selfie” Earth mosaic contains more than 36,000 individual photographs from the more than 50,000 images posted around the world on Earth Day, April 22, 2014. Image Credit: NASA Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 22, 2014. For Earth Day this year, NASA invited people around the world to step outside to take[Read More…]
Cascading Dunes in a Martian Crater
Rabe crater perspective view EU–(ENEWSPF)–15 May 2014. A new mosaic from ESA’s Mars Express shows a swirling field of dark dunes cascading into sunken pits within a large impact crater. The mosaic was created from two images taken on 7 December 2005 and 9 January 2014, and focuses on the[Read More…]
NASA’s Chandra Observatory Delivers New Insight into Formation of Star Clusters
Astronomers have studied two star clusters (NGC 2024 and Orion) to gain insight on how clusters of stars like our Sun form. They found the stars on the outskirts of these clusters are older than those in the center, which is different from what the simplest idea of star formation[Read More…]
Hubble Astronomers Use Supernovae to Gauge Power of Cosmic Lenses
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 2, 2014. Distant exploding stars observed by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are providing astronomers with a powerful tool to determine the strength of naturally-occurring “cosmic lenses” that are used to magnify objects in the remote universe. Two teams of astronomers, working independently, observed three such exploding stars, called[Read More…]
Laser-powered Farewell to Moon Mission
Laser from the Moon EU–(ENEWSPF)–25 April 2014. Just before NASA’s latest Moon mission ended last week, an ESA telescope received laser signals from the spacecraft, achieving data speeds like those used by many to watch movies at home via fibre-optic Internet. During an intense, three-day effort starting on 1 April,[Read More…]
