Space news topic and space related news

[Toliman]

I would like to see JWST actually launch.

Yeah, I too.
Let's hope that launch will be sucessfull!

[Toliman]

NASA, ULA Launch Mission to Track Earth's Changing Ice

NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) successfully launched from California at 9:02 a.m. EDT Saturday, embarking on its mission to measure the ice of Earth's frozen reaches with unprecedented accuracy.

ICESat-2 lifted off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base on United Launch Alliance's final Delta II rocket. Ground stations in Svalbard, Norway, acquired signals from the spacecraft about 75 minutes after launch. It's performing as expected and orbiting the globe, from pole to pole, at 17,069 mph from an average altitude of 290 miles.

"With this mission we continue humankind's exploration of the remote polar regions of our planet and advance our understanding of how ongoing changes of Earth's ice cover at the poles and elsewhere will affect lives around the world, now and in the future," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
...

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ula-launch-mission-to-track-earths-changing-ice

[Toliman]

Not good news

Hubble in Safe Mode as Gyro Issues are Diagnosed

NASA is working to resume science operations of the Hubble Space Telescope after the spacecraft entered safe mode on Friday, October 5, shortly after 6:00 p.m. EDT. Hubble's instruments still are fully operational and are expected to produce excellent science for years to come.
Hubble entered safe mode after one of the three gyroscopes (gyros) actively being used to point and steady the telescope failed. Safe mode puts the telescope into a stable configuration until ground control can correct the issue and return the mission to normal operation.

http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-50

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/hubble-in-safe-mode-as-gyro-issues-are-diagnosed

[Toliman]

Update on the Hubble Space Telescope Safe Mode

NASA continues to work toward resuming science operations of the Hubble Space Telescope after the spacecraft entered safe mode due to a failed gyroscope (gyro) on Friday, Oct. 5


https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/update-on-the-hubble-space-telescope-safe-mode

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

That is indeed not good news. I hope they can figure out what is going on and compensate for it. Although it has vastly exceeded its lifetime, there is no replacement on the horizon for Hubble. The JWST is intended promarily for infrared observations. It does not have a visible light instrument, and IIRC, no ultraviolet instrument. Losing Hubble would put a huge dent in our space-based telescope capability. (And JWST's lifespan is limited by how much manuvering fuel it carries.)

A paper I saw recently shows a likely connection between solar storms and gyro failures. The radiation from such storms is apparently doing damage to gyros of a particular design, and the damage seems to be mechanical. It will be very interesting to see if they can pin down the cause. If they can, we might be able to greatly extend the life of space gyroscopes, which have been a problem on many flights.

THere has also been some discussion about another servicing mission. This might be possible with a Dragon or Starliner spacecraft, and also with Orion, if they can ever get it launched. These spacecraft, AFAIK, can reach Hubble's orbit. But the problem, I suspect, is 1. These spacecraft are not really set up for extensive spacewalks, and 2.) they have no cargo capacity for the large spares needed to service Hubble. Can these problems be overcome? Only time will tell.

[Toliman]

That is indeed not good news. I hope they can figure out what is going on and compensate for it. Although it has vastly exceeded its lifetime, there is no replacement on the horizon for Hubble. The JWST is intended promarily for infrared observations. It does not have a visible light instrument, and IIRC, no ultraviolet instrument. Losing Hubble would put a huge dent in our space-based telescope capability. (And JWST's lifespan is limited by how much manuvering fuel it carries.)

Yeah, it's true. Infrared observations will be surely usefull but observation in visible light will be missing.

[Toliman]

Sounds good

Hubble Moving Closer to Normal Science Operation

NASA took great strides last week to press into service a Hubble Space Telescope backup gyroscope (gyro) that was incorrectly returning extremely high rotation rates. The backup gyro was turned on after the spacecraft entered safe mode due to a failed gyro on Friday, Oct. 5. The rotation rates produced by the backup gyro have since reduced and are now within an expected range. Additional tests will be performed to ensure Hubble can return to science operations with this gyro.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/update-on-the-hubble-space-telescope-safe-mode

[Vawmataw]

Astronomers catch Milky Way radio waves bouncing off the Moon
An intriguing image created by radio telescopes in the Australian desert shows how our satellite can act as a giant mirror, shedding light on the universe's past.
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/10/astronomers-catch-milky-way-radio-waves-bouncing-off-the-moon

[Toliman]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[Toliman]

NASA Retires Kepler Space Telescope, Passes Planet-Hunting Torch

After nine years in deep space collecting data that indicate our sky to be filled with billions of hidden planets – more planets even than stars – NASA's Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. Kepler leaves a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system, many of which could be promising places for life. ...

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-retires-kepler-space-telescope-passes-planet-hunting-torch

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Astronomers catch Milky Way radio waves bouncing off the Moon
An intriguing image created by radio telescopes in the Australian desert shows how our satellite can act as a giant mirror, shedding light on the universe's past.
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/10/astronomers-catch-milky-way-radio-waves-bouncing-off-the-moon

Amateur radio operators have long used the moon as a natural radio reflector. EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) or 'moonbounce' is one of the most challenging operating modes there is, typically requiring legal limit transmit power, state-of-the art receive preamps (and hams have built preamps for researchers), large steerable antenna arrays, and first-rate operating skills. I've done some moonbounce, and it was some of the most difficult operating I have ever done. However, some of the new digital codes have made moonbounce much easier, as they can be copied well below the noise floor!

I am still kicking myself for not buying a moonbounce antenna array when I had the opportunity --and enough cash in my pocket--  to do so.

[Toliman]

I am still kicking myself for not buying a moonbounce antenna array when I had the opportunity --and enough cash in my pocket--  to do so.

it's a pity, moonbounce antenna array would be interesting. So now you can not?

[Toliman]

Celebratory Galaxy Photo Honors 25th Anniversary of NASA's First Hubble Servicing Mission

Over the past 28 years Hubble has photographed innumerable galaxies throughout the universe, near and far. But one especially photogenic galaxy located 55 million light-years away holds a special place in Hubble history. As NASA made plans to correct Hubble's blurry vision in 1993 (due to a manufacturing flaw in its primary mirror) they selected several astronomical objects that Hubble should be aimed at to demonstrate the planned optical fix. The magnificent grand spiral galaxy M100 seemed an ideal target that would just fit inside Hubble's field-of-view. This required that a comparison photo be taken while Hubble was still bleary-eyed. The Wide Field/Planetary Camera 1 was selected for the task. And, the picture had to be taken before astronauts swapped-out the camera with the vision-corrected Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2, in December 1993. Following the servicing mission Hubble re-photographed the galaxy again, and it snapped into crystal clear focus. The public celebrated with Hubble's triumphant return to the clear vision that had been promised. And, jaw-dropping pictures of the vast universe that followed have not disappointed space enthusiasts. Because of the astronaut servicing missions, Hubble's capabilities have only gotten better. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first servicing mission, this 2-panel photo compares the blurry, pre-servicing 1993 image to a 2009 image taken with Hubble's newer, Wide Field Camera 3 instrument, installed during the last astronaut servicing mission to the space telescope.



http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-48

[Vawmataw]

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft reaches interstellar space

NASA's Voyager 2 is now the second human-made object to travel away from the sun into the space between the stars.

Voyager 2 last month exited "this bubble that the sun creates around itself," longtime NASA mission scientist Ed Stone said Monday. The spacecraft is now beyond the outer boundary of the heliosphere, some 18 billion kilometres (11 billion miles) from Earth.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-voyager-2-probe-enters-interstellar-space/

Farewell!

[Toliman]

Eywa ngahu, ma Sopyu amuve

[Toliman]

ALMA Campaign Provides Unprecedented Views of the Birth of Planets

Astronomers have already cataloged nearly 4,000 exoplanets in orbit around distant stars. Though we have learned much about these newfound worlds, there is still much we do not know about the steps of planet formation and the precise cosmic recipes that spawn the wide array of planetary bodies we have already uncovered, including so-called hot Jupiters, massive rocky worlds, icy dwarf planets, and – hopefully someday soon – distant analogs of Earth.

To help answer these and other intriguing questions about the birth of planets, a team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)has conducted one of the deepest surveys ever of protoplanetary disks, the planet-forming dust belts around young stars.

"This specific Large Programis important because it takes one of the fundamental science goals of ALMA, which is to understand the process of planet formation and takes it from previous studies, which were either very small samples or single objects, to a completely new context, allowing statistical views" explains Stuartt Corder, Deputy Director of ALMA; "Are these kinds of structures common or rare? This more statistical approach allows researchers to answer questions that are much more fundamental to the process of planet formation." ...


More here:
https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-release/alma-campaign-provides-unprecedented-views-of-the-birth-of-planets/


ALMA's high-resolution images of nearby protoplanetary disks, which are results of the Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution :

[Vawmataw]

Astronomers spy most distant solar system object yet

Astronomers have discovered another small object in the outer solar system, the most distant solar system object yet known. Another first ... it's the first solar system object to be detected at a distance of more than 100 times Earth's distance from the sun. The new object has been given the provisional designation 2018 VG18. Astronomers have given it the nickname Farout.

Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution of Science, David Tholen of the University of Hawaii and Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University co-discovered the object. The discovery images of 2018 VG18 were taken at the Japanese Subaru 8-meter telescope located atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii on November 10, 2018. By tracking its movement through space, the astronomers can calculate that 2018 VG18 lies at a distance of about 120 astronomical units, or Earth-sun units.



https://earthsky.org/space/most-distant-solar-system-object-2018-vg18-farout

[Toliman]

Eltur tìtxen si

How much we still don't know about outer parts of our Solar system...

[Toliman]

In Search of Missing Worlds, Hubble Finds a Fast Evaporating Exoplanet

In nabbing exoplanets that are precariously close to their stars, astronomers have discovered a shortage of one type of alien world. It's a predicted class of Neptune-sized world that orbits just a few million miles from its star, much closer than the 93-million-mile distance between Earth and the Sun. Dubbed "hot Neptunes," these planets would have atmospheres that are heated to more than 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (hot enough to melt silver).

However, the mysterious hot-Neptune deficiency suggests that these planets are rare, or, they were plentiful at one time, but have since disappeared. In fact, most of the known Neptune-sized exoplanets are merely "warm," because they orbit farther away from their star than those in the region where astronomers would expect to find hot Neptunes.

To date, astronomers have discovered two warm Neptunes that are leaking their atmospheres into space. The most recent finding, a planet cataloged as GJ 3470b, is losing its atmosphere at a rate 100 times faster than that of the previously discovered evaporating warm Neptune, GJ 436b.

These discoveries reinforce the idea that the hotter version of these distant worlds may be a class of transitory planet whose ultimate fate is to shrink down to the most common type of known exoplanet, mini-Neptunes — planets with heavy, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. Eventually, these planets may downsize even further to become super-Earths, more massive, rocky versions of Earth. If GJ 3470b continues to rapidly lose mass, in a few billion years, perhaps it, too, will dwindle to a mini-Neptune.


http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-52

[Toliman]

ALMA Gives Christmas Comet Its Close-up

As comet 46P/Wirtanen neared Earth on December 2, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) took a remarkably close look at its innermost regions. ALMA imaged the comet when it was approximately 16.5 million kilometers from Earth. At its closet on December 16, the comet – one of the brightest in years — was approximately 11.4 million kilometers from Earth, or 30 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.

"This comet is causing a stir in the professional and amateur astronomy communities due to its combined brightness and proximity, which allows us to study it in unprecedented detail" said NASA's Martin Cordiner, who led the team that made the ALMA observations. "As the comet drew nearer to the Sun, its icy body heated up, releasing water vapor and various other particles stored inside, forming the characteristic puffed-up coma and elongated tail."

The ALMA image of comet 46P/Wirtanen zooms-in to very near its nucleus – the solid "dirty snowball" of the comet itself — to image the natural millimeter-wavelength "glow" emitted by molecules of hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a simple organic molecule that forms an ethereal atmosphere around the comet. ALMA, using its remarkable ability to see fine details, was able to detect and image the fine-scale distribution of this particular molecule.

The HCN image shows a compact region of gas and an extended, diffuse, and somewhat asymmetrical, pattern in the inner portion of the coma. Due to the extreme proximity of this comet, most of the extended coma is resolved out, so these observations are only sensitive to the innermost regions, in the immediate vicinity of the nucleus.

The astronomers also performed observations of more complex molecules on Dec 9, when the comet was 13.6 million kilometers from Earth.


https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/audiences/alma-gives-christmas-comet-its-close-up/