![]() | |||
| |||
|
|||
Recent Articles
|
Topic: University of Colorado in BoulderWritten by Whitney Clavin
The majority of these exoplanets have been found snuggled up to their host star completing an orbit (or year) in hours, days or weeks, while some have been found orbiting as far as Earth is to the sun, taking one Earth year to circle. ![]() As an exoplanet passes in front of a more distant star, its gravity causes the trajectory of the starlight to bend, and in some cases, results in a brief brightening of the background star as seen by a telescope. The artistic animation illustrates this effect. This phenomenon of gravitational microlensing enables scientists to search for exoplanets that are too distant and dark to detect any other way. (NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA to suspend Communications to Mars Missions in June due to Mars Solar ConjunctionWritten by Guy Webster
The arrangement of the sun between Earth and Mars is called Mars solar conjunction. It occurs about every 26 months as the two planets travel in their sun-centered orbits. The sun disrupts radio communications between the planets during the conjunction period. ![]() This diagram illustrates the positions of Mars, Earth and the sun during a period that occurs approximately every 26 months, when Mars passes almost directly behind the sun from Earth’s perspective. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Kepler space telescope discovers a Planet that WobblesWritten by Whitney Clavin
The planet, designated Kepler-413b, precesses, or wobbles, wildly on its spin axis, much like a child’s top. The tilt of the planet’s spin axis can vary by as much as 30 degrees over 11 years, leading to rapid and erratic changes in seasons. In contrast, Earth’s rotational precession is 23.5 degrees over 26,000 years. Researchers are amazed that this far-off planet is precessing on a human timescale. «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA answers the question, “If We Landed on Europa, What Would We Want to Know?”
Even in these fleeting, paparazzi-like encounters, scientists have seen a fractured, ice-covered world with tantalizing signs of a liquid water ocean under its surface. Such an environment could potentially be a hospitable home for microbial life. ![]() This artist’s concept shows a simulated view from the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Europa’s potentially rough, icy surface, tinged with reddish areas that scientists hope to learn more about, can be seen in the foreground. The giant planet Jupiter looms over the horizon. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA Satellite Obervations helps determine how Glacier Mass reductions effect Sea Level RiseWritten by Alan Buis
The new research found glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, repositories of 1 percent of all land ice, lost an average of 571 trillion pounds (259 trillion kilograms) of mass every year during the six-year study period, making the ocean rise 0.03 inches (0.7 millimeters) per year. ![]() The Aletschglacier in Switzerland is the largest valley glacier in the Alps. Its volume loss since the middle of the 19th century is well visible from the trimlines to the right of the image. (Credit: Frank Paul, University of Zurich) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s MAVEN mission to study Mars upper atomosphereWritten by Claire De Saravia
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» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Van Allen Probes find third Radiation Belt around the EarthWritten by Dr. Tony Phillips
“Even 55 years after their discovery, Earth’s radiation belts still are capable of surprising us,” said Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD. “We thought we knew the radiation belts, but we don’t.” «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
|
Now playing at the Movies
Archives |
|
© 2006-2021 Clarksville, TN Online is owned and operated by residents of Clarksville Tennessee.
|