The Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) has seen first light, capturing a dazzling image of Cassiopeia A, a well-known supernova remnant in the Milky Way galaxy, and also has discovered its first gamma-ray-burst afterglow.
The XRT is one of three instruments aboard the NASA-led Swift satellite, which was launched on 20 November 2004. The XRT was built at Penn State with partners at the Brera Astronomical Observatory in Italy and the University of Leicester in England.
“We
For the first time, a team of astronomers based in Germany has detected the presence of magnetic fields in the central stars of four planetary nebulae. Planetary nebulae are expanding gas shells that remain after Sun-like stars eject their outer layers at the end of their lifetimes. It is a long-standing and unsolved mystery why 80% of all planetary nebulae are not spherical. Theories suggest that magnetic fields play a role in shaping planetary nebulae. The team, led by Stefan Jordan, has now
University of Arizona scientists, working on one of the most stunning robotic space missions ever attempted, head for Germany next week.
Their experiments ride on the Huygens probe to Saturn’s giant moon, Titan, part of the four-year NASA/European Space Agency/Italian Space Agency Cassini Huygens mission to the Saturn system.
The probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft early Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004, central European time (or about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 24, Arizona ti
MIT astrophysicists and their colleagues are excited about the latest milestone toward developing a giant telescope that among other things will allow direct observations of planets orbiting stars in solar systems beyond ours.
On Dec. 13 the Carnegie Observatories of the Carnegie Institution signed an agreement with the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Lab to produce the first mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The telescope will have a diameter of
SPACE DIGEST: JANUARY 2005
This release contains a summary of some significant astronomical and space events that will be taking place during January. It has been written in order to assist the media in planning and researching future stories related to space science and astronomy, particularly those with UK involvement. It is not intended to be fully comprehensive. Dates and times may be subject to change.
EINSTEIN YEAR
2005 is Einstein Year, the UK’s contribution to
A low-power, magnetic sensor about the size of a grain of rice that can detect magnetic field changes as small as 50 picoteslas–a million times weaker than the Earth’s magnetic field–has been demonstrated by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Described in the Dec. 27 issue of Applied Physics Letters,* the device can be powered with batteries and is about 100 times smaller than current atom-based sensors with similar sensitivities, which typically wei
The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe was successfully released by NASA’s Cassini orbiter early this morning and is now on a controlled collision course toward Saturn’s largest and most mysterious moon, Titan, where on 14 January it will make a descent through one of the most intriguing atmospheres in the solar system to an unknown surface.
The separation occurred at 02:00 UTC (03:00 CET): A few minutes after separation, Cassini turned back to Earth and relayed back informati
A new astronomical camera has begun operations on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii. The Wide Field Camera (WFCAM), built at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), Edinburgh, is the world’s most powerful infrared survey camera. It will survey large regions of the sky at infrared wavelengths and is expected to discover both the nearest objects outside our Solar System and the farthest known objects in the Universe.
WFCAM has the largest field of view
The Weizmann Institute of Science today announced that a research group headed by Dr. Ernesto Joselevich has developed a new approach to create patterns of carbon nanotubes by formation along atomic steps on sapphire surfaces. Carbon nanotubes are excellent candidates for the production of nanoelectronic circuits, but their assembly into ordered arrays remains a major obstacle toward this application.
The team was initially researching in a different direction: they were trying
One of the nearest and brightest planetary nebulae has a surprisingly complex 3-D structure
In a process comparable to that of an artist who turns a two-dimensional canvas into a three-dimensional work of art, astronomers use the two dimensional images that they capture in their high-powered telescopes to reconstruct the three-dimensional structures of celestial objects.
The latest example of this reconstructive artistry is a new model of the Helix Nebula–one of the nea
A massive eruption of atomic oxygen from Saturn’s outer rings, seen by Cassini’s ultraviolet camera as the spacecraft neared its destination, may be an indication that the planet’s wispy E ring is eroding so fast that it could disappear within 100 million years if not replenished.
Cassini’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) detected the oxygen atoms spewing into a huge cloud on the dark side of Saturn’s rings as Cassini prepared to enter orbit around
As NASA’s Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn last July, it found evidence that lightning on Saturn is roughly one million times stronger than lightning on Earth.
That’s just one of several Cassini findings that University of Iowa Space Physicist Don Gurnett will present in a paper to be published Thursday, Dec. 16 in Science Express, an online version of the journal Science, and in a talk to be delivered Friday, Dec. 17 at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union
Aboard Cream, an experiment for the study of cosmic rays
A stratospheric balloon of Nasa was launched yesterday, December 16 at 1.28 a.m. Italian time from the Antarctica’s McMurdo base. The balloon raised Cream (Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass) experiment up to 40 kilometres of height. In the experiment, coordinated by Eun Suk Seo of Maryland University, participate American universities (Maryland, Chicago, Penn State, Ohio), South Korea universities (Ewa, KyungPook) and an Itali
Dutch researcher Johan Hoogboom has developed a technique for making LCDs (liquid crystal displays) without the need for cleanrooms. This technique is simpler and cheaper than current methods and is based entirely upon the self-ordering of molecules on a surface. Furthermore, the chemist has shown that these LCDs can be used to make DNA visible to the naked eye.
Hoogboom constructed a surface that can align liquid-crystal molecules. For this he designed and produced an aromatic
The Tarantula Nebula is the most vigorous star forming region known in the local Universe. Using the power of the freely available ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator package a young amateur astronomer has created this amazing panorama of the centre of the Tarantula. The original image was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and subsequently retrieved from the ESO/ST-ECF Science Archive in Munich, Germany.
The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is situated 170,0
Glass is a mysterious material, but when researchers apply pressure, it reveals secrets.
Using a variety of techniques, researchers at Argonne National Laboratory saw for the first time ever, the atomic structure of a dense, purely octahedral glass that has eluded scientists for decades. They also witnessed a continuous structural change in the glass, disproving the theory that tetrahedral glasses go through a distinct transition between low- and high-density phases.
“Lit
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