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Geology News
Space Current Events

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has helped scientists to find the most recent supernova yet discovered in our galaxy. Study of the 140-year-old remnants will aid in the understanding of stellar explosions.

NASA Image

NASA’s Phoenix lander is scheduled to permeate the Martian atmosphere on May 25. Scientists are hoping for a successful landing, after which the Phoenix will investigate geological properties of the planet. This article features a video showing an artist’s conceptualization of the landing.

NASA Image

Microsoft has created a tool which allows users to view objects in space from a “virtual telescope”. It is free to the general public.

The Genesis 1 private space station has completed its 10,000th trip around the planet. During its journey, it has traveled more than 270 million miles and taken approximately 14,000 photos.

NASA has acquired images of powerful electrical storms on Saturn with lightning bolts 10,000 times more powerful than those on Earth. These resemble terrestrial thunderstorms, but have diameters of several thousand kilometers (thousands of miles) across.

NASA Image

An archive of NASA news releases, image galleries and articles on a variety of topics related to planetary geology, earth observation, global climate change, monitoring volcanoes, looking beyond our solar system, monitoring the oceans and more. A few of the most popular ones are:

• Monitoring Volcanoes from Space
• Photograph of Avalanches on Mars
• Glacial Sediments Add to Louisiana Coastal Subsidence
• Satellite Images of Marine Phytoplankton Blooms
• Sahara Dust Storms Lower Sea Surface Temperatures
• Satellite Measures Pollution From East Asia to North America

NASA has released an impressive collection of galaxy images, each showing galaxies in collision, interacting or about to collide. They have been released to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope launch.

“Astronomers are using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to dissect one of the largest structures in the universe as part of a quest to understand the violent lives of galaxies. Hubble is providing indirect evidence of unseen dark matter tugging on galaxies in the crowded, rough-and-tumble environment of a massive supercluster of hundreds of galaxies.” Quoted from the NASA release.

NASA Image

NASA has released images of Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons. These were captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 23, 2008. They show interesting geological features such as landslides and crater chains.

Did you know that you can see the International Space Station orbiting the earth with your unaided eyes? It’s easy if you know when it is above your area and what part of the sky it will pass through. NASA has a website to help you see it.

NASA Image

NASA has published a photo book to celebrate the first fifty years of American space exploration. View some of the book’s pictures with this slideshow from Scientific American.

“M83 is located 15 million light-years away in the southern constellation Hydra. Astronomers speculate that young stars seen far out in M83 could have formed under conditions resembling those of the early universe.”

A collection of images representing some of the most impressive views in our universe. Included are the Orion Nebula, a dying star, spiral galaxy, birth of a star, the Eagle Nebula, extrasolar planet, a galaxy pair and the Cartwheel Galaxy.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered evidence that points to the existence of an underground ocean of water and ammonia on Saturn’s moon Titan. The findings were made using radar measurements of Titan’s rotation.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of a planetary nebula in the Gemini constellation. The image of the star’s glowing remains shows several interesting features.

“Could microbial life exist inside Enceladus, where no sunlight reaches, photosynthesis is impossible and no oxygen is available? To answer that question, we need look no farther than our own planet to find examples of the types of exotic ecosystems that could make life possible on Saturn’s geyser moon.” Quoted from the NASA release.

Several “rocket planes” may begin offering commercial rides as soon as 2010. Passengers can pay a hefty sum (perhaps $200,000) to fly above the atmosphere and experience the weightlessness of space. The market for these suborbital joyrides is expected to be enormous.

NASA headquarters told the Mars Rover team that they were getting a 40% budget cut for the remainder of the 2008 fiscal year. This could force them to hibernate one of the Mars Rovers.

Saturn’s Moon, Tethys, may have had a liquid ocean under its icy surface. Part of the evidence used to support this idea is the Ithaca Chasma, a large valley that might have formed when the crust was stressed after a period of tidal heating.

After more than 10 years of preparation, the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham, Arizona is now up and running. It is the world’s largest and most powerful telescope to date. With some modification, it should be able to view outer space ten times more clearly than the Hubble Space Telescope.

“NASA has obtained the highest resolution terrain mapping to date of the moon’s rugged south polar region. Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., generated the imagery using data collected with the facility’s Goldstone Solar System Radar.” Quoted from the NASA release.

Some meteorites contain lots of nanometer-sized diamonds. This was the first discovery that started scientists thinking about the possibility of diamonds in space. Now the Spitzer Space Telescope is going to look for them.

Analytical Graphics has a one minute video that simulates last week’s shoot down of a failing US satellite. I was surprised at how far the debris traveled after the hit. This video simulates the rocket launch, the impact and the debris trail orbiting the earth.

Here is an interesting article at MSN that explores some of the more important things that have been done with orbiting satellites - especially related to Earth observation and the environment.

Scientists who plan the manned mission to Mars will need geologic maps. Although these maps are usually produced via human field work, scientists from Carnegie Mellon University are working on a robot that can do the job.

The Pentagon plans to shoot down the spy satellite that is falling out of orbit. The plan is to destroy it before it enters Earth’s atmosphere using a missile fired from a U.S. Navy ship.

“Saturn’s orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, according to new data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The hydrocarbons rain from the sky, collecting in vast deposits that form lakes and dunes.” Quoted from the NASA release.

Here is a quick summary of their strategic goals:

• SG 1: Fly the Shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement, not later than 2010
• SG 2: Complete the International Space Station
• SG 3: Develop a balanced program of science, exploration, and aeronautics to redirect human spaceflight to focus on exploration
• SG 3B: Understand the Sun and its effects on Earth and the solar system
• SG 3C: Advance scientific knowledge of the origin and history of the solar system, the potential for
  life elsewhere, and the hazards and resources present as humans explore space
• SG 3D: Discover the origin, structure, evolution, and destiny of the universe, and search for Earthlike planets
• SG 3E: Advance knowledge in aeronautics, develop technologies for safer aircraft and higher capacity airspace systems
• SG 3F: Understand the effects of space on human performance, and test new technologies for long-duration human space exploration
• SG 4: Bring a new Crew Exploration Vehicle into service as soon as possible after Shuttle retirement
• SG 5: Encourage the pursuit of partnerships with the commercial space sector
• SG 6: Establish a lunar return program having the maximum possible utility for later missions to Mars and other destinations

NASA Image

The recent flyby of Mercury by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft gave scientists an entirely new look at a planet once thought to have characteristics similar to those of Earth’s moon. Researchers were amazed by the diversity of geological processes observed and the very different view of the magnetosphere from what was observed more than 30 years ago.

NASA Image

A lot of scientists believe that NASA’s plans to send manned missions to the Moon as a stepping stone to Mars are inappropriate. Many of them believe that the real focus should be on Earth science.

Members of the Chinese Academy of Science and Chinese Academy of Engineering selected ten achievements for 2007. Three of them were related to earth science: Ultra-deep drilling rig developed, World’s largest bird-like dinosaur fossil found, and, “Chang’e-1″ successfully launched and clear moon surface images obtained.

NRAO / AUI / NSF

Smith’s Cloud is an enormous pocket gas that is moving through space at 150 miles per second on a collision course with the Milky Way Galaxy. It contains enough hydrogen to make a million stars the size of our Sun. The collision will not occur for another 30-40 million years. What will happen when it hits?

NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will flyby Mercury on Monday January 14th on a visit that is planned to collect over 1200 images of the planet’s surface. This will be the first close look at the planet since 1975 and Brown University geologists expect to learn a lot about the geology of Mercury.

“The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, called MESSENGER, is the first mission sent to orbit the planet closest to our sun. Before that orbit begins in 2011, the probe will make three flights past the small planet, skimming as close as 124 miles above Mercury’s cratered, rocky surface.” Quoted from the NASA article. The flyby 0n January 14th will be the first visit to Mercury in almost 33 years.

Comet 17P/Holmes performed at outburst in October with some observers rating it at a magnitude 4.0 with the naked eye. In early December the brightness was still holding and some observers were seeing details of a coma. Gary Kronk gives a chronology at Cometography.com starting with the discovery in 1892 and updated as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

Can we do anything about an asteroid that is destined to hit the Earth? The answer is, yes, providing that it is small enough and that we have enough time to send a spacecraft to deflect it. An article by Dr. David Lynch

An article on near-earth asteroids by David K. Lynch, Ph.D. The asteroid currently on a possible collision-course with Mars has many people wondering about asteroids and what would happen if one would hit Earth. Here’s an article to answer some of those questions.

BYU professor, Jani Radebaugh, is the lead author of a new paper that explains how mountains were discovered on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The moon has been a challenge for astronomers because it is covered with haze and clouds. Radebaugh used Cassini radar data to “see” the topography.

Solar storms can shoot enormous streams of particles at the Earth and the Moon. Earth’s magnetic field protects us from these particles and during certain parts of the Moon’s orbit around Earth, it is also protected by Earth’s magnetic field.

An international team of scientists are considering a project that would place giant solar panels in earth orbit. These panels would generate electricity and transmit the power down to a ground station. There is a potentially big reward and a guaranteed huge investment.