Nullified.net » Space

Solar Telescope Instrument Gets Recycled for New Mission

nullified — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:03:45 +0000

The Fourier Transform Spectrometer is being shipped to Virginia from Arizona.

NASA to Pick 2 Private Space Taxi Designs for Astronaut Flights

nullified — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:03:45 +0000

NASA hopes to have commercial operated flights to the International Space Station beginning around 2017.

Full Moon Over Washington

nullified — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:03:45 +0000

A United States Marine Corps helicopter is seen flying through this scene of the full moon and the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, from Arlington National Cemetery. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Private Rocket Launch Tests Reusable Spaceship Tech, Supersonic Parachute

nullified — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:03:44 +0000

The STIG A-3 rocket flight was designed to test steerable balloon parachutes and other technologies.

Under a Snow Moon: Full Moon of February Rises Tonight

nullified — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:44 +0000

The full moon of February is known as the Snow Moon and Hunger Moon, among other names.

Report: NASA Should Participate in Dark Matter-Mapping Mission

nullified — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:44 +0000

Europe’s Euclid mission could use funding contributions from NASA.

Large X-class Flare Erupts on the Sun

nullified — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:44 +0000

On Jan. 27, 2012, a large X-class flare erupted from an active region near the solar west limb. X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events. Seen here is an image of the flare captured by the X-ray telescope on Hinode. This image shows an emission from plasma heated to greater than eight million degrees during the energy release process of the flare. Image Credit: JAXA/Hinode

How to Enjoy Your New Telescope: Advice for Beginner Skywatchers

nullified — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:43 +0000

Here are some tips on how to best take advantage of your new telescope.

Remnant of a Supernova

nullified — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:59:14 +0000

Vital clues about the devastating ends to the lives of massive stars can be found by studying the aftermath of their explosions. In its more than twelve years of science operations, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has studied many of these supernova remnants sprinkled across the galaxy. The latest example of this important investigation is Chandra’s new image of the supernova remnant known as G350.1+0.3. This stellar debris field is located some 14,700 light years from the Earth toward the center of the Milky Way. Evidence from Chandra and from ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope suggest that a compact object within G350.1+0.3 may be the dense core of the star that exploded. The position of this likely neutron star, seen by the arrow pointing to “neutron star” in the inset image, is well away from the center of the X-ray emission. If the supernova explosion occurred near the center of the X-ray emission then the neutron star must have received a powerful kick in the supernova explosion. Data suggest this supernova remnant, as it appears in the image, is 600 and 1,200 years old. If the estimated location of the explosion is correct, this means the neutron star has been moving at a speed of at least 3 million miles per hour since the explosion. Another intriguing aspect of G350.1+0.3 is its unusual shape. Many supernova remnants are nearly circular, but G350.1+0.3 is strikingly asymmetrical as seen in the Chandra data in this image (gold). Infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (light blue) also trace the morphology found by Chandra. Astronomers think that this bizarre shape is due to stellar debris field expanding into a nearby cloud of cold molecular gas. The age of 600-1,200 years puts the explosion that created G350.1+0.3 in the same time frame as other famous supernovas that formed the Crab and SN 1006 supernova remnants. However, it is unlikely that anyone on Earth would have seen the explosion because of the obscuring gas and dust that lies along our line of sight to the remnant. These results appeared in the April 10, 2011 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I. Lovchinsky et al; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars ‘Super-Drought’ May Make Red Planet Too Dry for Alien Life

nullified — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:59:12 +0000

A new study of soil on Mars could indicate that the planet’s surface is too hostile to support life.