Topic: Magnetic Field

NASA’s Galileo mission observations of Saturn’s moon Europa gives target areas for future study

April 13, 2013 |

Written by Guy Webster
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – The surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa exposes material churned up from inside the moon and also material resulting from matter and energy coming from above.

If you want to learn about the deep saltwater ocean beneath this unusual world’s icy shell — as many people do who are interested in possible extraterrestrial life — you might target your investigation of the surface somewhere that has more of the up-from-below stuff and less of the down-from-above stuff.

This graphic of Jupiter’s moon Europa maps a relationship between the amount of energy deposited onto the moon from charged-particle bombardment and the chemical contents of ice deposits on the surface in five areas of the moon (labeled A through E). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz./JHUAPL/Univ. of Colo.)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA research shows Jupiter’s moon Europa may have Chemistry Needed for Life

April 5, 2013 |

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – A new paper led by a NASA researcher shows that hydrogen peroxide is abundant across much of the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. The authors argue that if the peroxide on the surface of Europa mixes into the ocean below, it could be an important energy supply for simple forms of life, if life were to exist there.

The paper was published online recently in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

This color composite view combines violet, green, and infrared images of Jupiter’s intriguing moon, Europa, for a view of the moon in natural color (left) and in enhanced color designed to bring out subtle color differences in the surface (right). The bright white and bluish part of Europa’s surface is composed mostly of water ice, with very few non-ice materials. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA reports Comet could possibly Collide with Mars in 2014

March 28, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – Over the years, the spacefaring nations of Earth have sent dozens of probes and rovers to explore Mars.  Today there are three active satellites circling the red planet while two rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity, wheel across the red sands below. Mars is dry, barren, and apparently lifeless.

Soon, those assets could find themselves exploring a very different kind of world.

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s MAVEN mission to study Mars upper atomosphere

March 27, 2013 |

Written by Claire De Saravia
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD – When the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission begins its journey to the Red Planet in 2013, it will carry a sensitive magnetic-field instrument built and tested by a team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

Scheduled for launch in late 2013, MAVEN will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.

The goal of MAVEN is to determine the history of the loss of atmospheric gases to space through time, providing answers about Mars’ climate evolution.

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft detects Cosmic Particles being accelerated

February 20, 2013 |

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – During a chance encounter with what appears to be an unusually strong blast of solar wind at Saturn, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft detected particles being accelerated to ultra-high energies. This is similar to the acceleration that takes place around distant supernovas.

Since we can’t travel out to the far-off stellar explosions right now, the shockwave that forms from the flow of solar wind around Saturn’s magnetic field provides a rare laboratory for scientists with the Cassini mission — a partnership involving NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency — to observe this phenomenon up-close.

This artist’s impression by the European Space Agency shows NASA’s Cassini spacecraft exploring the magnetic environment of Saturn. (Image credit: ESA)

«Read the rest of this article»

United Nations forum places Space Weather on the Agenda

February 14, 2013 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – Rewind to the late 1950s. The Soviet Union had just launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. The United States, caught short, was scrambling to catch up, kick-starting a Cold War space race that would last for decades.  Space was up for grabs, and it seemed like anything could happen.

Into this void stepped the United Nations. In 1958, the General Assembly “recognizing the common interest of mankind in furthering the peaceful use of outer space … and desiring to avoid the extension of present national rivalries into this new field….” established the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

The UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). (Credit: UN Information Service)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory gives insight into how Coronal Mass Ejections form

February 4, 2013 |

Written by Karen C. Fox
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD – On July 18th, 2012, a fairly small explosion of light burst off the lower right limb of the sun. Such flares often come with an associated eruption of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection or CME – but this one did not.

Something interesting did happen, however. Magnetic field lines in this area of the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, began to twist and kink, generating the hottest solar material – a charged gas called plasma – to trace out the newly-formed slinky shape.

On July 19th, 2012, SDO captured images of a solar flare in numerous wavelengths. The 131 Angstrom wavelength, shown here in the middle and colorized in teal, portrays particularly hot material on the sun, at 10 million Kelvin, which is why the incredibly hot flare shows up best in that wavelength. The 131 wavelength was also able to show kinked magnetic fields known as a flux rope that lay at the heart of a coronal mass ejection (CME), which also erupted at the same time as the flare. (Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)

«Read the rest of this article»

Herschel Space Observatory image reveals Betelgeuse Star headed for collision with Strange Bar of Matter

January 27, 2013 |

Written by Whitney Clavin
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Orion, the famous hunter presiding over northern winter skies, may experience a stellar crash in its future. The red star at its shoulder, called Betelgeuse, appears to be set to collide with a dusty “wall” in 5,000 years.

A new image from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation, reveals the shedding, aging star — called Betelgeuse – is located near an odd, linear bar of material.

The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is seen here in a new view from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. (Image credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS/L. Decin et al)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s Voyager 1 Spacecraft enters New Region of our Solar System on it’s way to Interstellar Space

December 5, 2012 |

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered a new region at the far reaches of our solar system that scientists feel is the final area the spacecraft has to cross before reaching interstellar space.

Scientists refer to this new region as a magnetic highway for charged particles because our sun’s magnetic field lines are connected to interstellar magnetic field lines.

This artist’s concept shows plasma flows around NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft as it approaches interstellar space. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JHUAPL)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA uses data from multiple Observatories to study Coronal Cavities in the Sun’s Atmosphere

September 23, 2012 |

Written by Karen C. Fox
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD – The sun’s atmosphere dances. Giant columns of solar material – made of gas so hot that many of the electrons have been scorched off the atoms, turning it into a form of magnetized matter we call plasma – leap off the sun’s surface, jumping and twisting. Sometimes these prominences of solar material, shoot off, escaping completely into space, other times they fall back down under their own weight.

The prominences are sometimes also the inner structure of a larger formation, appearing from the side almost as the filament inside a large light bulb. The bright structure around and above that light bulb is called a streamer, and the inside “empty” area is called a coronal prominence cavity.

Scientists want to understand what causes giant explosions in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, such as this one. The eruptions are called coronal mass ejections or CMEs and they can travel toward Earth to disrupt human technologies in space. To better understand the forces at work, a team of researchers used NASA data to study a precursor of CMEs called coronal cavities. (Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO))

«Read the rest of this article»

© 2006-2010 Clarksville, TN Online is owned and operated by residents of Clarksville Tennessee.
» We are Hosted by Compu-Net Enterprises; In Partnership with Discover Clarksville and Discover Paris