Wednesday, August 27, 2014

NASA Telescopes Uncover Early Construction of Giant Galaxy

NASA Telescopes Uncover Early Construction of Giant Galaxy:

A Cauldron of Star Birth in the Center of a Young Galaxy
Artist's impression of a firestorm of star birth deep inside core of young, growing elliptical galaxy. Credit: NASA, Space Telescope Science Institute

› Full image and caption


August 27, 2014

Astronomers have for the first time caught a glimpse of the earliest stages of massive galaxy construction. The building site, dubbed "Sparky," is a dense galactic core blazing with the light of millions of newborn stars that are forming at a ferocious rate.

The discovery was made possible through combined observations from NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, the W.M. Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory, in which NASA plays an important role.

A fully developed elliptical galaxy is a gas-deficient gathering of ancient stars theorized to develop from the inside out, with a compact core marking its beginnings. Because the galactic core is so far away, the light of the forming galaxy that is observable from Earth was actually created 11 billion years ago, just 3 billion years after the Big Bang.

Although only a fraction of the size of the Milky Way, the tiny powerhouse galactic core already contains about twice as many stars as our own galaxy, all crammed into a region only 6,000 light-years across. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across.

"We really hadn't seen a formation process that could create things that are this dense," explained Erica Nelson of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, lead author of the study. "We suspect that this core-formation process is a phenomenon unique to the early universe because the early universe, as a whole, was more compact. Today, the universe is so diffuse that it cannot create such objects anymore."

In addition to determining the galaxy's size from the Hubble images, the team dug into archival far-infrared images from Spitzer and Herschel. This allowed them to see how fast the galaxy core is creating stars. Sparky produced roughly 300 stars per year, compared to the 10 stars per year produced by our Milky Way.

"They're very extreme environments," Nelson said. "It's like a medieval cauldron forging stars. There's a lot of turbulence, and it's bubbling. If you were in there, the night sky would be bright with young stars, and there would be a lot of dust, gas, and remnants of exploding stars. To actually see this happening is fascinating."

Astronomers theorize that this frenzied star birth was sparked by a torrent of gas flowing into the galaxy's core while it formed deep inside a gravitational well of dark matter, invisible cosmic material that acts as the scaffolding of the universe for galaxy construction.

Observations indicate that the galaxy had been furiously making stars for more than a billion years. It is likely that this frenzy eventually will slow to a stop, and that over the next 10 billion years other smaller galaxies may merge with Sparky, causing it to expand and become a mammoth, sedate elliptical galaxy.

"I think our discovery settles the question of whether this mode of building galaxies actually happened or not," said team member Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University. "The question now is, how often did this occur? We suspect there are other galaxies like this that are even fainter in near-infrared wavelengths. We think they'll be brighter at longer wavelengths, and so it will really be up to future infrared telescopes such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to find more of these objects."

The paper appears in the Aug. 27 issue of the journal Nature.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Spitzer, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

For images and more information about Hubble, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

Whitney Clavin

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-4673

whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov


Felicia Chou

NASA Headquarters, Washington

202-358-0257

felicia.chou@nasa.gov


Donna Weaver / Ray Villard

Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.

410-338-4493 / 410-338-4514

villard@stsci.edu


2014-290

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

India’s Maiden Mars Mission One Month out from Red Planet Arrival

India’s Maiden Mars Mission One Month out from Red Planet Arrival:



ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft is just 9 million km away from Mars as of Aug. 22, 2014. Credit: ISRO

ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft is just 9 million km away from Mars as of Aug. 22, 2014. Credit: ISRO
India’s maiden foray to Mars is now just one month out from the Red Planet and closing in fast on the final stages of the history making rendezvous culminating on September 24, 2014.

As of Aug. 22, 2014, the Mars Orbiter Mission, or MOM, was just 9 million kilometers away from Mars and the crucial Mars Orbital Insertion (MOI) engine firing that places India’s first interplanetary voyager into orbit around the 4th planet from the Sun.

MOM was designed and developed by the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) at a cost of $69 Million and marks India’s maiden foray into interplanetary flight.

So far it has traveled a total distance of 602 million km in its heliocentric arc towards Mars, says ISRO. It is currently 189 million km away from Earth. Round trip radio signals communicating with MOM take 20 minutes and 47 seconds.

After streaking through space for some ten and a half months, the 1,350 kilogram (2,980 pound) MOM probe will fire its 440 Newton liquid fueled main engine to brake into orbit around the Red Planet on September 24, 2014 – where she will study the atmosphere and sniff for signals of methane.

The do or die MOI burn on September 24, 2014 places MOM into an 377 km x 80,000 km elliptical orbit around Mars.

ISRO space engineers are taking care to precisely navigate MOM to keep it on course during its long heliocentric trajectory from Earth to Mars through a series of in flight Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TMSs).

The last TCM was successfully performed on June 11 by firing the spacecraft’s 22 Newton thrusters for a duration of 16 seconds. TCM-1 was conducted on December 11, 2013 by firing the 22 Newton Thrusters for 40.5 seconds.

Engineers determined that a TCM planned for August was not needed.

The final TCM firing is planned in September 2014.

MOM’s trajectory to Mars. Credit: ISRO

MOM’s trajectory to Mars. Credit: ISRO
The probe is being continuously monitored by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) and NASA JPL’s Deep Space Network (DSN) to maintain it on course.

MOM was launched on Nov. 5, 2013 from India’s spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, atop the nations indigenous four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which placed the probe into its initial Earth parking orbit.

Six subsequent orbit raising maneuvers raised it orbit and culminated with a liquid fueled main engine firing on Dec. 1, 2013. The Trans Mars Injection(TMI) maneuver that successfully placed MOM on its heliocentric trajectory to the Red Planet.

First ever image of Earth Taken by Mars Color Camera aboard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft while orbiting Earth and before the Trans Mars Insertion firing on Dec. 1, 2013. Image is focused on the Indian subcontinent.  Credit: ISRO

First ever image of Earth Taken by Mars Color Camera aboard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft while orbiting Earth and before the Trans Mars Insertion firing on Dec. 1, 2013. Image is focused on the Indian subcontinent. Credit: ISRO


MOM is streaking to Mars along with NASA’s MAVEN orbiter, which arrives at Mars about two days earlier.


MOM and MAVEN will join Earth’s fleet of 3 current orbiters from NASA and ESA as well as NASA’s pair of sister surface rovers Curiosity and Opportunity.

If all goes well, India will join an elite club of only four who have launched probes that successfully investigated the Red Planet from orbit or the surface – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).

MOM’s main objective is a demonstration of technological capabilities and it will also study the planet’s atmosphere and surface.

The probe is equipped with five indigenous instruments to conduct meaningful science – including a multi color imager and a methane gas sniffer to study the Red Planet’s atmosphere, morphology, mineralogy and surface features. Methane on Earth originates from both geological and biological sources – and could be a potential marker for the existence of Martian microbes.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing MOM, MAVEN, Opportunity, Curiosity, Mars rover and more planetary and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

MOM's first Trajectory Correction Manoeuver in Baiju Raj's imagination.

MOM’s first Trajectory Correction Manoeuver in Baiju Raj’s imagination.

Tagged as:
India Mars mission,
ISRO,
Mars,
Mars MAVEN,
Mars Orbiter Mission,
methane on Mars,
MOM,
PSLV,
red planet,
Search for Life

ESO’s Latest Dramatic Landscape

ESO’s Latest Dramatic Landscape:



This mosaic of images from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile shows two dramatic star formation regions in the southern Milky Way. The first of these, on the left, is dominated by the star cluster NGC 3603, located about 20 000 light-years away, in the Carina–Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The second object, on the right, is a collection of glowing gas clouds known as NGC 3576 that lies only about half as far from Earth. Credit: ESO / G. Beccari

This mosaic of images from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile shows two dramatic star formation regions in the southern Milky Way. Credit: ESO / G. Beccari
The universe is stunning. Images from even the most modest telescopes can unveil its brilliant beauty. But couple that with a profound reason — our ability to question and understand the physical laws that dominate that brilliant beauty — and the image transforms into something much more spectacular.

Take ESO’s latest image of two dramatic star formation regions in the southern Milky Way. John Herschel first observed the cluster on the left in 1834, during his three-year expedition to systematically survey the southern skies near Cape Town. He described it as a remarkable object and thought it might be a globular cluster. But future studies (and not to mention more dramatic images from larger telescopes) enriched our understanding, demonstrating that it was not an old globular but a young open cluster.

This chart shows the constellation of Carina (The Keel) and includes all the stars that can be seen with the unaided eye on a clear and dark night. This region of the sky includes some of the brightest star formation regions in the Milky Way. The location of the distant, but very bright and compact, open star cluster NGC 3603 is marked. This object is not spectacular in small telescopes, appearing as just a tight clump of stars surrounded by faint nebulosity. Credit: ESO

This chart shows the constellation of Carina and includes all the stars that can be seen with the unaided eye on a clear and dark night. The location of the open star cluster NGC 3603 is marked. This object is not spectacular in small telescopes, appearing as just a tight clump of stars surrounded by faint nebulosity. Credit: ESO
The Wide Field Imager at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile recently captured the image again. The bright region on the left is the star cluster NGC 3603, located 20,000 light-years away in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The bright region on the right is a collection of glowing gas clouds known as NGC 3576, located only 10,000 light-years away.

Stars are born in enormous clouds of gas and dust, largely hidden from view. But as small pockets in these clouds collapse under the pull of gravity, they become so hot they ignite nuclear fusion, and their light clears away — and brightens — the surrounding gas and dust.

Nearby regions of hydrogen gas are heated, and therefore partially ionized, by the ultraviolet radiation given off by the brilliant hot young stars. These regions, better known as HII regions, can measure several hundred light-years in diameter, and the one surrounding NGC 3603 has the distinction of being the most massive known in our galaxy.

Not only is NGC 3603 known for having the most massive HII region, it’s known for having the highest concentration of massive stars that have been discovered in our galaxy so far. At the center lies a Wolf-Rayet star system. These stars begin their lives at 20 times the mass of the Sun, but evolve quickly while shedding a considerable amount of their matter. Intense stellar winds blast the star’s surface into space at  several million kilometers per hour.

Where NGC 3603 is notable for its extremes, NGC 3576 is notable for its extremities — the two huge curved objects in the outreaches of the cluster. Often described as the curled horns of a ram, these odd filaments are the result of stellar winds from the hot, young stars within the central regions of the nebula. The stars have blown the dust and gas outwards across a hundred light-years.

Additionally, the two dark silhouetted areas near the top of the nebula are known as Bok globules, dusty regions found near star formation sights. These dark clouds absorb nearby light and offer potential sites for the future formation of stars. They may further sculpt the dramatic landscape above, which is the smallest slice of our stunning universe

Loading player…

Tagged as:
Bok Globules,
HII Regions,
star formation

Watch Live: New Horizons Crosses Neptune’s Orbit En Route To Pluto

Watch Live: New Horizons Crosses Neptune’s Orbit En Route To Pluto:



Another milestone for the Pluto-bound New Horizons mission — it’s crossing the orbit of Neptune today, as it prepares to fly by Pluto next August. In celebration, NASA is holding two live events at headquarters in Washington, D.C. starting at 1 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. UTC) today, and livestreamed above. More details below the jump.

The panel at 1 p.m. EDT will include:

  • Jim Green, director, NASA Planetary Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington
  • Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
  • Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. EDT, New Horizons team members will recall what happened when Voyager 2 passed by Neptune 25 years ago, and also talk about where they are working today on the Pluto mission. The members will include:

  • Moderator: David Grinspoon, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona
  • Fran Bagenal, University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Bonnie Buratti, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
  • Jeffrey Moore, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
  • John Spencer, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado
New Horizons

New Horizons spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA
Tagged as:
New Horizons

Kapow! Moderate Solar Flare Erupts From The Sun, But Likely Won’t Affect Earth

Kapow! Moderate Solar Flare Erupts From The Sun, But Likely Won’t Affect Earth:



Hot material shines brightly in this close-up of a moderate flare erupting on the sun Aug. 24, 2014. Credit: NASA/SDO

Hot material shines brightly in this close-up of a moderate flare erupting on the sun Aug. 24, 2014. Credit: NASA/SDO
While this solar peak has been weaker than usual, from time to time we get a moderate punch from the Sun. Here’s an example — what NASA calls a “mid-level” solar flare blasting off the Sun at 8:16 a.m. EDT (1:16 p.m. UTC) yesterday (Aug. 26).

While the related coronal mass ejection can cause auroras high in Earth’s atmosphere and (in more severe cases) cause telecommunications disruptions, in this case the U.S. government isn’t expecting much.

“Given the location of this event,  the associated coronal mass ejection is well off the Sun-Earth line and no significant geomagnetic storming is anticipated as a result,” wrote the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center in an update today.

NASA says the flare, which was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, is an M5 flare. X-class flares are about 10 times more powerful than M-class ones.

An unrelated solar event recently caused auroras that astronauts spotted from the International Space Station.

Tagged as:
M5,
Solar Dynamics Observatory,
solar flare

Low On Fuel, Rainfall Satellite Slowly Spirals To Its Death In 2016

Low On Fuel, Rainfall Satellite Slowly Spirals To Its Death In 2016:



Artist's conception of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite in space over a cyclone. Credit: NASA

Artist’s conception of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite in space over a cyclone. Credit: NASA
After 17 years of faithful service, the end is in sight for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The joint NASA-Japanese mission is out of fuel (except for a small reserve amount for emergencies) and beginning its slow descent back to Earth.

From that fall, the satellite is not going to recover. It’s expected to re-enter the atmosphere and be destroyed around November 2016. The satellite will be shut down around February 2016, depending on how much solar activity pumps up the atmosphere.

“TRMM has met and exceeded its original goal of advancing our understanding of the distribution of tropical rainfall and its relation to the global water and energy cycles,” stated Scott Braun, the mission’s project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The satellite was designed to operate at about 250 miles (400 kilometers), and will slowly fall untl it gets to around 75-93 miles (120-150 kilometers), where it will break up.

While there’s no longer enough fuel to keep it at its normal operating altitude, NASA emphasized the satellite will still function well enough to estimate rains, floods and cyclones during the descent. However, its microwave imager will be affected because the field of view changes as the satellite descends.

GPM lifts off on Feb. 27, EST (Feb. 28 JST) to begin its Earth-observing mission.  Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

GPM lifts off on Feb. 27, EST (Feb. 28 JST) to begin its Earth-observing mission. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA also pointed out that the successor satellite, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, is performing well since its launch on Feb. 27 this year.

“The GPM Core Observatory’s area of coverage extends beyond TRMM’s, covering the area from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle. While this means fewer observations of the tropics, it also means that GPM will be able to observe hurricanes, like Sandy in 2012, that travel north (or south) farther into the mid-latitudes,” NASA wrote.

“GPM will also be able to detect light rain and snowfall, a major source of available fresh water in some regions. The joint NASA/JAXA mission will study rain and snow around the world, joining with an international network of partner satellites to provide global precipitation datasets on half hourly and longer time scales.”

Source: NASA

Tagged as:
Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory,
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

Extreme Weather is Linked to Global Warming, a New Study Suggests

Extreme Weather is Linked to Global Warming, a New Study Suggests:



In 2013, a blocking pattern over Alaska caused a record-breaking heat wave. Credit: Photo by Jesse Allen and Jeff Schmatltz, using data from theLand Processes Distributed Active Archive Center(LPDAAC) and theLANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response

In 2013, a blocking pattern over Alaska caused a record-breaking heat wave. Credit: Earth Observatory
Extreme weather is becoming much more common. Heat waves and heavy rains are escalating, food crops are being damaged, human beings are being displaced due to flooding and animals are migrating toward the poles or going extinct.

Although it has been postulated that these extreme weather events may be due to climate change, a new study has found much better evidence.

The research shows blocking patterns — high-pressure systems that become immobile for days or even weeks, causing extreme heat waves and torrential rain — may have doubled in summers over the last decade.

“Since 2000, we have seen a cluster of these events,” lead author Dim Doumou told The Gaurdian earlier this month. “When these high-altitude waves become quasi-stationary, then we see more extreme weather at the surface. It is especially noticeable for heat extremes.”

It was a blocking pattern that led to the heat wave in Alaska in 2013, and to the devastating floods in Colorado last summer.

These blocking patterns are associated with the jet stream, the fast flowing winds high in Earth’s atmosphere at latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees. Sometimes the flow weakens, and the winds can dip down into more southern latitudes. These excursions lead to blocking patterns.



And the jet stream is becoming “wavier,” with steeper troughs and higher ridges.

The climatologists analyzed 35 years of wind data amassed from satellites, ships, weather stations, and meteorological balloons. They found that a warming Arctic creates and amplifies the conditions that lead to jet stream excursions, therefore raising the chances for long-duration extreme events, like droughts, floods, and heat waves.

That said the climatologists were unable to see a direct causal link between climate change and extreme weather. Ordinarily we think about “cause” in a simple sense in which one thing fully brings about another. But the Colorado floods, for example, were partially caused by moisture from the tropics, a blocking pattern, and past wildfires that increased the risk of runoff.

So there is a difference between “direct causation” and “systematic causation.” The latter is not direct, but it is no less real. In this study, the team noticed that the rise in blocking patterns correlates closely with the extra heating being delivered to the Arctic by climate change. Statistically speaking, the two seem to go hand in hand.

But the team does hypothesize a direct causal link. The jet streams are driven by the difference in temperature between the poles and the equator. So because the Arctic is warming more quickly than lower latitudes, the temperature difference is declining, providing less energy for the jet stream and causing it to meander.

Although the study shows a correlation — not causation — between more frequent blocking patterns (and therefore extreme weather) and Arctic warming, it is a solid step forward in understanding how the two are related.

The article has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS).

To see why Universe Today writes about climate change, please read a past article on the subject.

Tagged as:
Climate Change,
global warming,
weather

NEWS NASA Pluto-Bound Spacecraft Crosses Neptune's Orbit

NASA Pluto-Bound Spacecraft Crosses Neptune's Orbit:

Neptune Full Disk
During August 16 and 17, 1989, the Voyager 2 narrow-angle camera was used to photograph Neptune almost continuously, recording approximately two and one-half rotations of the planet. Image credit:
NASA/JPL

› Full image and caption


August 25, 2014

NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has traversed the orbit of Neptune. This is its last major crossing en route to becoming the first probe to make a close encounter with distant Pluto on July 14, 2015.

The sophisticated piano-sized spacecraft, which launched in January 2006, reached Neptune's orbit -- nearly 2.75 billion miles (4.4. billion kilometers) from Earth -- in a record eight years and eight months. New Horizons' milestone matches precisely the 25th anniversary of the historic encounter of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft with Neptune on Aug. 25, 1989.

"It's a cosmic coincidence that connects one of NASA's iconic past outer solar system explorers, with our next outer solar system explorer," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Exactly 25 years ago at Neptune, Voyager 2 delivered our 'first' look at an unexplored planet. Now it will be New Horizons' turn to reveal the unexplored Pluto and its moons in stunning detail next summer on its way into the vast outer reaches of the solar system."

New Horizons now is about 2.48 billion miles (nearly 4 billion kilometers) from Neptune -- nearly 27 times the distance between Earth and our sun -- as it crosses the giant planet's orbit at 7:04 p.m. PDT (10:04 p.m. EDT) Monday. Although the spacecraft will be much farther from the planet than Voyager 2's closest approach, New Horizons' telescopic camera was able to obtain several long-distance "approach" shots of Neptune on July 10.

"NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 explored the entire middle zone of the solar system where the giant planets orbit," said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "Now we stand on Voyager's broad shoulders to explore the even more distant and mysterious Pluto system."

Several senior members of the New Horizons science team were young members of Voyager's science team in 1989. Many remember how Voyager 2's approach images of Neptune and its planet-sized moon Triton fueled anticipation of the discoveries to come. They share a similar, growing excitement as New Horizons begins its approach to Pluto.

"The feeling 25 years ago was that this was really cool, because we're going to see Neptune and Triton up-close for the first time," said Ralph McNutt of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, who leads the New Horizons energetic-particle investigation and served on the Voyager plasma-analysis team. "The same is happening for New Horizons. Even this summer, when we're still a year out and our cameras can only spot Pluto and its largest moon as dots, we know we're in for something incredible ahead."

Voyager's visit to the Neptune system revealed previously unseen features of Neptune itself, such as the Great Dark Spot, a massive storm similar to, but not as long-lived, as Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Voyager also, for the first time, captured clear images of the ice giant's ring system, too faint to be clearly viewed from Earth. "There were surprises at Neptune and there were surprises at Triton," said Ed Stone, Voyager's long-standing project scientist from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "I'm sure that will continue at Pluto."

Many researchers feel the 1989 Neptune flyby -- Voyager's final planetary encounter -- might have offered a preview of what's to come next summer. Scientists suggest that Triton, with its icy surface, bright poles, varied terrain and cryovolcanoes, is a Pluto-like object that Neptune pulled into orbit. Scientists recently restored Voyager's footage of Triton and used it to construct the best global color map of that strange moon yet -- further whetting appetites for a Pluto close-up.

"There is a lot of speculation over whether Pluto will look like Triton, and how well they'll match up," McNutt said. "That's the great thing about first-time encounters like this -- we don't know exactly what we'll see, but we know from decades of experience in first-time exploration of new planets that we will be very surprised."

Similar to Voyager 1 and 2's historic observations, New Horizons also is on a path toward potential discoveries in the Kuiper Belt, which is a disc-shaped region of icy objects past the orbit of Neptune, and other unexplored realms of the outer solar system and beyond.

"No country except the United States has the demonstrated capability to explore so far away," said Stern. "The U.S. has led the exploration of the planets and space to a degree no other nation has, and continues to do so with New Horizons. We're incredibly proud that New Horizons represents the nation again as NASA breaks records with its newest, farthest and very capable planetary exploration spacecraft."

Voyager 1 and 2 were launched 16 days apart in 1977, and one of the spacecraft visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 1 now is the most distant human-made object, about 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) away from the sun. In 2012, it became the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. Voyager 2, the longest continuously operated spacecraft, is about 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) away from our sun.

New Horizons is the first mission in NASA's New Frontiers program. APL manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. APL also built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft.

The Voyager spacecraft were built and continue to be operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Voyager missions are part of NASA's Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate.

To view the Neptune images taken by New Horizons and learn more about the mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/voyager

Preston Dyches

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-5011

preston.dyches@jpl.nasa.gov


Dwayne Brown

NASA Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1726

dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov


Michael Buckley

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

240-228-7536

michael.buckley@jhuapl.edu


2014-287

Friday, August 22, 2014

HD Birds Wallpaper

Birds Wallpaper:
Most Beautiful Bird in The World.
Download Free Animals & Birds Wallpapers For Your Computer Desktops in Normal,Widescreen,HDTV Resolutions
A Beautiful Yellow Parrot pair Most Beautiful Bird in The World. Download Free Animals & Birds Wallpapers For Your Computer Desktops in Normal,Widescreen,HDTV Resolutions
A Beautiful Yellow Parrot pair

Crowd Of Birds Most Beautiful Bird in The World. Download Free Animals & Birds Wallpapers For Your Computer Desktops in Normal,Widescreen,HDTV Resolutions
Crowd Of Birds

Penguin Most Beautiful Bird in The World. Download Free Animals & Birds Wallpapers For Your Computer Desktops in Normal,Widescreen,HDTV Resolutions
Penguin

Red Huded Dave Most Beautiful Bird in The World. Download Free Animals & Birds Wallpapers For Your Computer Desktops in Normal,Widescreen,HDTV Resolutions
Red Huded Dave

Couple A Red Bird Most Beautiful Bird in The World. Download Free Animals & Birds Wallpapers For Your Computer Desktops in Normal,Widescreen,HDTV Resolutions
Couple A Red Bird


Bumble Bee Summer Clover | Flowers| Free Nature Pictures Nature Photography

Bumble Bee Summer Clover | Flowers| Free Nature Pictures by ForestWander Nature Photography

A large bumble bee gathering the abundant nectar from a summer clover flower. In the background a small blue field flower brightens the aspect of this picture. Picture Height: 2770 pixels | Picture Width: 3706 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/8 | Image Exposure Time: 1/180 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 105 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com | Key Terms: abundant, Bumble Bee, clover, field flower, Flower, nectar, summer,
Bumble Bee Summer Clover | Flowers| Free Nature Pictures Nature Photography
A large bumble bee gathering the abundant nectar from a summer clover flower. In the background a small blue field flower brightens the aspect of this picture. Picture Height: 2770 pixels | Picture Width: 3706 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/8 | Image Exposure Time: 1/180 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 105 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com | Key Terms: abundant, Bumble Bee, clover, field flower, Flower, nectar, summer

WALLPAPER Field of Sonflowers Bumble Bees

Field of Sonflowers Bumble Bees:

Field of SonFlowers found near Yellow Springs, Ohio on our way to visit and hike Clifton Gorge. Notice the busy bumble bees. This is an HDR composite image taken with separate depth of field or focus. One for the background and the other for the sonflower in the front. Isn’t the Lord and amazing artist, He loves flowers and decorates the earth with them allowing us to see and experience such beauty. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/9.5 | Image Exposure Time: 1/20 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 47 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Field of Sonflowers Bumble Bees
Field of SonFlowers found near Yellow Springs, Ohio on our way to visit and hike Clifton Gorge. Notice the busy bumble bees. This is an HDR composite image taken with separate depth of field or focus. One for the background and the other for the sonflower in the front. Isn’t the Lord and amazing artist, He loves flowers and decorates the earth with them allowing us to see and experience such beauty.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/9.5 | Image Exposure Time: 1/20 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 47 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Fallsville Waterfalls

Fallsville Waterfalls:

Fallsville Waterfalls in the Fallsville Wildlife Area. These are beautiful waterfalls that are secluded in a remote area of southern Ohio. Everything has been washed clean from a recent thunderstorm. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/16 | Image Exposure Time: 2 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Fallsville Waterfalls
Fallsville Waterfalls in the Fallsville Wildlife Area. These are beautiful waterfalls that are secluded in a remote area of southern Ohio. Everything has been washed clean from a recent thunderstorm.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/16 | Image Exposure Time: 2 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls

Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls:

Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls. Beautiful waterfalls found in the Fallsville Wildlife Management area. There were many rain storms this day some which were significant. Pretty tough to take a decent picture in the pouring rain, but thankfully the Lord gave us a break in order to get some nice pictures of this waterfall. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/11.3 | Image Exposure Time: 6 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: -0.5 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls


Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls. Beautiful waterfalls found in the Fallsville Wildlife Management area. There were many rain storms this day some which were significant. Pretty tough to take a decent picture in the pouring rain, but thankfully the Lord gave us a break in order to get some nice pictures of this waterfall. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/11.3 | Image Exposure Time: 6 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: -0.5 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls
Fallsville Ohio Waterfalls. Beautiful waterfalls found in the Fallsville Wildlife Management area. There were many rain storms this day some which were significant. Pretty tough to take a decent picture in the pouring rain, but thankfully the Lord gave us a break in order to get some nice pictures of this waterfall.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/11.3 | Image Exposure Time: 6 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: -0.5 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Clifton Gorge Steamboat Rock

Clifton Gorge Steamboat Rock:

Steamboat Rock at Clifton Gorge Ohio. The water is very high this day from all of the thundershowers. This provided a great opportunity for capturing the water with a slow exposure. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/22.6 | Image Exposure Time: 20 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Clifton Gorge Steamboat Rock
Steamboat Rock at Clifton Gorge Ohio. The water is very high this day from all of the thundershowers. This provided a great opportunity for capturing the water with a slow exposure.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/22.6 | Image Exposure Time: 20 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 24 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Autumn Country Cabin

Autumn Country Cabin:

An authentic country cabin in the woods during the fall foliage season. Notice the family dog laying in the grass on the left of the cabin. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 3/10 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 67 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Autumn Country Cabin
An authentic country cabin in the woods during the fall foliage season. Notice the family dog laying in the grass on the left of the cabin.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 3/10 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 67 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Autumn Maple Leaf Collage

Autumn Maple Leaf Collage:

Autumn Maple leaves still on the tree late in the fall season. The maple trees display some of the most beautiful fall colors displayed throughout the forests. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 6 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 75 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
WALLPAPER Autumn Maple Leaf Collage
Autumn Maple leaves still on the tree late in the fall season. The maple trees display some of the most beautiful fall colors displayed throughout the forests.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 6 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 75 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Pine Grove Church

Pine Grove Church:

Scenic Pine Grove church in the fall season with colorful fall foliage behind the church. Although this church is over 100 years old it is well taken care of. Obviously the congregation of this church love the Lord and their church. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 1/4 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 60 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
Pine Grove Church
Scenic Pine Grove church in the fall season with colorful fall foliage behind the church. Although this church is over 100 years old it is well taken care of. Obviously the congregation of this church love the Lord and their church.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 1/4 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 60 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

WALLPAPER Winter Covered Bridge

Winter Covered Bridge:

A covered bridge in the winter time after a fresh morning snow found in central Ohio. Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 1/60 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 47 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |
Winter Covered Bridge
A covered bridge in the winter time after a fresh morning snow found in central Ohio.
    Picture Height: 3744 pixels | Picture Width: 5616 pixels | Lens Aperture: f/13.5 | Image Exposure Time: 1/60 sec | Lens Focal Length mm: 47 mm | Photo Exposure Value: 0 EV | Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Photo White Balance: 0 | Color Space: sRGB | ForestWander Nature Photography: ForestWander Nature Photography | ForestWander: ForestWander.com |

What Sparked Star Explosion 2014J? NASA Telescope Seeks Clues

What Sparked Star Explosion 2014J? NASA Telescope Seeks Clues:



Astronomers are gazing closely at supernova 2014J (inset) to see what sort of triggers caused the star explosion. Credit: NASA/SAO/CXC/R. Margutti et al

Astronomers are gazing closely at supernova 2014J (inset) to see what sort of triggers caused the star explosion. Credit: NASA/SAO/CXC/R. Margutti et al
X marks the spot: after probing the area where a star used to be, in X-rays, astronomers have been able to rule out one cause for the supernova explosion.

Because the Chandra X-Ray Observatory did not detect anything unusual in X-rays, astronomers say this means that a white dwarf was not responsible for pulling off material from a massive star that exploded (from Earth’s vantage point) on Jan. 21, 2014, triggering excitement from professional and amateur astronomers alike.

“While it may sound a bit odd, we actually learned a great deal about this supernova by detecting absolutely nothing,” stated study leader Raffaella Margutti of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Massachusetts. “Now we can essentially rule out that the explosion was caused by a white dwarf continuously pulling material from a companion star.”

So what caused it? Possibly two white dwarfs merged instead. Follow-up observations will take place in Messier 88 and the source of the explosion, which was about 12 million light-years from Earth. While that’s a long time by human standards, astronomers point out that is close on the cosmic distance scale.

A study on this work was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal. You can read a preprint version of the article here.

Source: NASA

Tagged as:
SN2014J

Astrophotos: 2014 Perseid Meteor Shower

Astrophotos: 2014 Perseid Meteor Shower:



Two "late" Perseid meteors captured in one shot on August 15, 2014.  Credit and copyright: Stephen Rahn.

Two “late” Perseid meteors captured in one shot on August 15, 2014. Credit and copyright: Stephen Rahn.
“The sum total of 2 1/2 hours worth of images – one meteor!” lamented photographer Roger Hutchinson (see his image below).

A bright Moon is not conducive seeing and capturing meteors on camera, but some astrophotographers persevered and managed to get some photos of this year’s Perseid Meteor Shower. Enjoy the views from photographers who submitted photos to Universe Today via our Flickr group and on Twitter:



Two Perseid meteors over Mt. Cephren, in Banff, Alberta, Canada on August 11, 2014, caught in two separate exposures and composited into one frame. Credit and copyright: Alan Dyer/Amazing Sky Photography.

Two Perseid meteors over Mt. Cephren, in Banff, Alberta, Canada on August 11, 2014, caught in two separate exposures and composited into one frame. Credit and copyright: Alan Dyer/Amazing Sky Photography.
A bright Perseid meteor over the UK on August 13, 2014. Credit and copyright: Richard Fleet.

A bright Perseid meteor over the UK on August 13, 2014. Credit and copyright: Richard Fleet.
Perseid Meteor and the Veil Nebula as seen from Weatherly, Pennsylvania on August 14, 2014. Credit and copyright: Tom Wildoner.

Perseid Meteor and the Veil Nebula as seen from Weatherly, Pennsylvania on August 14, 2014. Credit and copyright: Tom Wildoner.
The sum total of 2 1/2 hours worth of images – one meteor.

A blue Perseid Meteor on August 14, 2015. Credit and copyright: David Strange.

A blue Perseid Meteor on August 14, 2015. Credit and copyright: David Strange.
@Nancy_A Hi Nancy. Here's my Perseid image. pic.twitter.com/cg7G6Vt6e4

— Stephen Cheatley BFC (@Stephencheatley) August 14, 2014
Faint but several RT @VirtualAstro Did you get get any pics of the #perseids? @Nancy_A wants some for @universetoday pic.twitter.com/KHWfo2brf6

— Woody Carr (@WoodyCarr) August 13, 2014
A Perseid meteor on August 11, 2014 seen over the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve near Alentejo, Portugal. Credit and copyright: Miguel Claro.

A Perseid meteor on August 11, 2014 seen over the Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve near Alentejo, Portugal. Credit and copyright: Miguel Claro.
A lone Perseid meteor on August 12, 2014 over the UK. Credit and copyright: Roger Hutchinson.

A lone Perseid meteor on August 12, 2014 over the UK. Credit and copyright: Roger Hutchinson.
A double cluster and a Perseid meteor on August 13, 2014. This image is a composite of 24 or so 44 second images with the meteor brushed in from the single frame that captured it.  Credit and copyright: Brian Who Is Called Brian on Flickr.

A double cluster and a Perseid meteor on August 13, 2014. This image is a composite of 24 or so 44 second images with the meteor brushed in from the single frame that captured it. Credit and copyright: Brian Who Is Called Brian on Flickr.
A bright Perseid meteor as seen from the Exeter Station of the UK Meteor Network. Credit and copyright: John Maclean.

A bright Perseid meteor as seen from the Exeter Station of the UK Meteor Network. Credit and copyright: John Maclean.
Above is one image from John Maclean of the UK’s Meteor Network, who sent us several image. You can see a collection of the best images from the UK’s Meteor Observation Network here.





Star trails and the Perseid meteors over the Bembridge LifeBoat Station on the Isle of Wight. Credit and copyright: Jamie Currie.

Star trails and the Perseid meteors over the Bembridge LifeBoat Station on the Isle of Wight. Credit and copyright: Jamie Currie.
Here’s a compilation of meteors from NASA’s Meteor Network seen from August 12-13, 2014.



Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Tagged as:
2014 perseids,
perseid meteor shower