Tag Archives: comet

Rosetta Makes Histroy!

Philae Seperates from Rosetta and lands on Comet 67P/C-G!

Separation was confirmed at ESA’s Space Operation Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany at 09:03 GMT / 10:03 CET. It takes the radio signals from the transmitter on Rosetta 28 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth, so separation actually occurred in space at 08:35 GMT / 09:35 CET.

Comet 7P/C-G. (ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)
Comet 7P/C-G. (ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

The descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko will take around seven hours, during which the lander will take measurements of the environment around the comet. It will also take images of the final moments of descent.

The Rosetta mission will orbit 67P/C-G for 17 months and is designed to complete the most detailed study of a comet ever attempted.

The image shows comet 67P/CG acquired by the ROLIS instrument on the Philae lander during descent on Nov 12, 2014 14:38:41 UT from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. The landing site is imaged with a resolution of about 3m per pixel.(Credii: ESA)
The image shows comet 67P/CG acquired by the ROLIS instrument on the Philae lander during descent on Nov 12, 2014 14:38:41 UT from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. The landing site is imaged with a resolution of about 3m per pixel.(Credii: ESA)

The spacecraft consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe orbiter, which features 12 instruments, and the Philae robotic lander, with an additional nine instruments.

Philae's landing site isn't perfect, but it's as close as the ESA could get. (ESA)
Philae’s landing site isn’t perfect, but it’s as close as the ESA could get. (ESA)

The Rosetta mission achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first mission to rendezvous with a comet.  Rosetta is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet nucleus, and is the first spacecraft to fly alongside a comet as it heads towards the inner Solar System. It will be the first spacecraft to examine at close proximity how a frozen comet is transformed by the warmth of the Sun.

Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation. (Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)
Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation. (Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

The Rosetta orbiter is the first to dispatch a robotic lander for the first controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus. (Credit: Wiki, ESA)

Philae’s shot of its mothership shortly after separation. Photograph: ESA/Handout/ESA/Handout/Corbis
Philae’s shot of its mothership shortly after separation. (Credit: ESA/Handout/ESA/Handout/Corbis)

“This is a big step for human civilization,” said ESA director Jean-Jacques Dordain. “The biggest problem with success is it looks easy.”

(Credit ESA)
(Credit ESA)

“How audacious! How exciting! How unbelievable!” said Dr. Jim Green, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.

(Credit: NASA)
(Credit: ESA, NASA)

“According to Stephan Ulamec, Philae Lander Manager, DLR, the lander team believe that Philae may have bounced from the surface and settled again in a slightly different place.

Engineers know that the anchoring harpoons did not fire. It is also known that the communications link to Rosetta failed intermittently in an irregular pattern shortly after the landing but always immediately re-established itself.

However, science data has been received and is currently being processed, but the promised first panorama from the surface has not been released.

Rosetta is now out of touch with Philae as the orbiter has dipped below the horizon of the comet. The link to Philae was lost a little earlier than expected but this is probably because a hill or boulder was in the way of the line of sight.

Right now, Philae should be working through its first automatic sequence of science experiments. Contact will be re-established through Rosetta later tonight, and the data downlinked.

There will also be more telemetry to assist the engineers in understanding the exact sequence of events during the landing.

We will know more tomorrow.” (Credit: S. Clark, J. Kingsland)

 

via ESA, The Guardian

Physics in the News

Friday, October 10, 2014

Nearby galaxy might explain what tore apart universe’s hydrogen

Ultraviolet light (orange) pours out of a galaxy in this image from NASA’s GALEX satellite. New Hubble observations reveal this galaxy might mimic the earliest galaxies in the universe. (Credit: NASA; ESA; R. Overzier/ON/MCT; T. Heckman/JH)
Ultraviolet light (orange) pours out of a galaxy in this image from NASA’s GALEX satellite. New Hubble observations reveal this galaxy might mimic the earliest galaxies in the universe. (Credit: NASA; ESA; R. Overzier/ON/MCT; T. Heckman/JH)
via sciencenews

A comet is about to come very close to Mars, and NASA is ready

An artist's concept shows comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) heading toward Mars. (Credit: NASA)
An artist’s concept shows comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) heading toward Mars. (Credit: NASA)
via latimes

Rare ‘baby rattle’ molecules reveal new quantum properties of H2O and H2

Protons tunnel across a series of hydrogen bonds between hydronium ions and water molecules. (Credit: Wiki)
Protons tunnel across a series of hydrogen bonds between hydronium ions and water molecules. (Credit: Wiki)
via sciencedaily

Rattlesnake repertoire boosts snake-like robot’s skills

Researchers on Thursday said they conducted experiments to learn precisely how sidewinder rattlesnakes are able to climb sandy hills, then applied the reptiles' repertoire to an existing snake robot so it could do the same thing. Credit: Chaohui Gong., Reuters/Chaohui Gong/Handout via Reuters)

Researchers on Thursday said they conducted experiments to learn precisely how sidewinder rattlesnakes are able to climb sandy hills, then applied the reptiles’ repertoire to an existing snake robot so it could do the same thing. (Credit: Chaohui Gong, Reuters/Chaohui Gong)
via reuters

Physics fundamentals confirmed: Testing Einstein’s time dilation, Quantum Electrodynamics

Results confirm the time dilation predicted for high velocities in the theory of relativity with an accuracy that has never before been achieved. Furthermore, the team provided the first direct proof of a spectral line in highly charged bismuth ions. (Credit: Technische Universität Darmstadt )
Results confirm the time dilation predicted for high velocities in the theory of relativity with an accuracy that has never before been achieved. Furthermore, the team provided the first direct proof of a spectral line in highly charged bismuth ions. (Credit: Technische Universität Darmstadt )
via scientificcomputing

Hubble sees influence of a jetstream on a hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanet

The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged light from a hot Jupiter called WASP-43b, detecting temperature differences between the planet's day and night sides. The results suggest that the planet has an eastward jet stream that redistributes some of the heat from its host star, but otherwise there's very little circulation of heat. (Credit: Hubble, Timmer)
The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged light from a hot Jupiter called WASP-43b, detecting temperature differences between the planet’s day and night sides. The results suggest that the planet has an eastward jet stream that redistributes some of the heat from its host star, but otherwise there’s very little circulation of heat. (Credit: Hubble, Timmer)
via nasa

A brief history of scientists hunting for time travelers

via gizmodo

Making sci-fi teleportation sound less bizarre

If you ever wanted to see a sci-fi plot that expertly applied advanced physical concepts so that with a bit of imagination teleporting a human was not as unbelievable as most of the teleportation scenarios we see in the movies, read this articel. The above is a Cosmic Treadmill, as it appears in Flash #196. (Credit: Paul Winslade, Hmmmjenia)
If you ever wanted to see a sci-fi plot that expertly applied advanced physical concepts so that with a bit of imagination teleporting a human was not as unbelievable as most of the teleportation scenarios we see in the movies, read this article. The above is a Cosmic Treadmill, as it appears in Flash #196. (Credit: Paul Winslade, Hmmmjenia)
via quantumfrontiers

Synopsis: Milky Way’s center stays in the dark (PDF)

Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess from Dark Matter Annihilation: Is There a Black Hole Spike? (Credit: NASA)
Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess from Dark Matter Annihilation: Is There a Black Hole Spike? (Credit: NASA)
via aps

New nature journal to highlight spaceflight research

A new journal, Microgravity, is dedicated to publishing research that uses space exploration and research enabled by spaceflight. It will also publish research utilizing ground-based models of spaceflight. (Credit: NASA, Caspermeyer)
A new journal, Microgravity, is dedicated to publishing research that uses space exploration and research enabled by spaceflight. It will also publish research utilizing ground-based models of spaceflight. (Credit: NASA, Caspermeyer)
via asunews

Physics in the News

Monday, Sept 8, 2014

Jupiter’s moon Europa could have tectonic plates, like Earth

Schematic sketch of the growth mechanics of a cycloid Note that the reversal in curvature of the second segment above cannot be explained by the previous model of cycloid formation. (Credit: Marshall & Kattenhorn (2005))
Schematic sketch of the growth mechanics of a cycloid Note that the reversal in curvature of the second segment above cannot be explained by the previous model of cycloid formation. (Credit: Marshall & Kattenhorn (2005))
via motherboard

A strange new theory of how Space-Time is emerging

“What Mark has done is put his finger on a key ingredient of how space-time is emerging: entanglement,” says Gary Horowitz, who studies quantum gravity at the University of California Santa Barbara. Horowitz says this idea has changed how people think about quantum gravity, though it hasn’t yet been universally accepted. “You don’t come across this idea by following other ideas. It requires a strange insight,” Horowitz adds. “He is one of the stars of the younger generation.”
via dailygalaxy

Weird comet is darker than charcoal

via libertariannews

Researchers part water: ‘Electric prism’ separates water’s nuclear spin states

Researchers have separated the nuclear spin states of water. In para water, the spins (depicted as arrows) of water's two hydrogen nuclei cancel out. They add up in ortho water. The scientists produced an ultracold, supersonic beam of water molecules -- a mixture of para and ortho water -- and sent it through an electric deflector (blue device on the left). The deflector acts as a prism for nuclear spin states, separating para and ortho water molecules in space (right). (Credit: Daniel A. Horke, CFEL/DESY)
Researchers have separated the nuclear spin states of water. In para water, the spins (depicted as arrows) of water’s two hydrogen nuclei cancel out. They add up in ortho water. The scientists produced an ultracold, supersonic beam of water molecules — a mixture of para and ortho water — and sent it through an electric deflector (blue device on the left). The deflector acts as a prism for nuclear spin states, separating para and ortho water molecules in space (right). (Credit: Daniel A. Horke, CFEL/DESY)
via phys.org

Part of an asteroid set to skim Earth fell and made a big crater

In this Sunday Sept. 7, 2014, publicly distributed handout photo provided by the Nicaraguan Army shows an impact crater made by a small meteorite in a wooded area near Managua's international airport and an air force base. Nicaraguan government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said Sunday that a loud boom heard overnight by residents of the capital was a "relatively small" meteorite that "appears to have come off an asteroid that was passing close to Earth." (Credit: Nicaraguan Army/AP)
In this Sunday Sept. 7, 2014, publicly distributed handout photo provided by the Nicaraguan Army shows an impact crater made by a small meteorite in a wooded area near Managua’s international airport and an air force base. Nicaraguan government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said Sunday that a loud boom heard overnight by residents of the capital was a “relatively small” meteorite that “appears to have come off an asteroid that was passing close to Earth.” (Credit: Nicaraguan Army/AP)
via newsweek

Astronaut trio to return after six months on International Space Station

Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, performs maintenance and retrieves science experiment packages during a spacewalk on Aug. 18. Skvortsov, along with two other astronauts return to Earth on Sept. 10. (Credit: NASA)
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, performs maintenance and retrieves science experiment packages during a spacewalk on Aug. 18. Skvortsov, along with two other astronauts return to Earth on Sept. 10. (Credit: NASA)
via pbs

Long March 4B lofts Yaogan-21 in China’s surprise launch

As usual for this type of satellite, the Chinese media is referring to the new satellite as ‘a new remote sensing bird that will be used for scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring.’ (Credit: NASA)
As usual for this type of satellite, the Chinese media is referring to the new satellite as ‘a new remote sensing bird that will be used for scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring.’ (Credit: NASA)
via nasaspaceflight

Physics in the News

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Comet Pan-STARRS Makes Stunning ‘Galactic Flyby'(VIDEO)

via discovery

NASA 3D prints a model of light-year-long Eta Carinae nebula

A new shape model of the Homunculus Nebula reveals protrusions, trenches, holes and irregularities in its molecular hydrogen emission. The protrusions appear near a dust skirt seen at the nebula's center in visible light (inset) but not found in this study, so they constitute different structures. (Credit: NASA Goddard, ESA, Hubble SM4 ERO Team)
A new shape model of the Homunculus Nebula reveals protrusions, trenches, holes and irregularities in its molecular hydrogen emission. The protrusions appear near a dust skirt seen at the nebula’s center in visible light (inset) but not found in this study, so they constitute different structures. (Credit: NASA Goddard, ESA, Hubble SM4 ERO Team)
via astronomy.com

Bid to ‘reboot’ aging NASA satellite is scuttled as fuel system fails

Engineers failed to resolve fuel system problems on NASA's retired ISEE-3 satellite Wednesday. An artist's rendition shows the spacecraft during a close lunar pass. (Credit: NASA)
Engineers failed to resolve fuel system problems on NASA’s retired ISEE-3 satellite Wednesday. An artist’s rendition shows the spacecraft during a close lunar pass. (Credit: NASA)

via latimes

MESSENGER and STEREO measurements open window into high-energy processes on the Sun

A solar flare erupted on the far side of the sun on June 4, 2011, and sent solar neutrons out into space. Solar neutrons don't make it to all the way to Earth, but NASA's MESSENGER, orbiting Mercury, found strong evidence for the neutrons, offering a new technique to study these giant explosions. (Credit: NASA/STEREO/Helioviewer)
A solar flare erupted on the far side of the sun on June 4, 2011, and sent solar neutrons out into space. Solar neutrons don’t make it to all the way to Earth, but NASA’s MESSENGER, orbiting Mercury, found strong evidence for the neutrons, offering a new technique to study these giant explosions. (Credit: NASA/STEREO/Helioviewer)
via nasa

Space Probe Might Lack Nitrogen to Push It Home

The International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center before its launch. (Credit NASA)
The International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center before its launch. (Credit NASA)
via nytimes

Saturn Probe Ready for Its “Grand Finale”

Cassini will end its historic mission with 22 breathtaking loops passing through the gap between Saturn and its innermost ring. (Credit: NASA)
via scientificamerican

Singing Solar Shockwave Confirms Voyager Is In Interstellar Space

This artist’s concept shows the Voyager 1 spacecraft entering the space between stars. Interstellar space is dominated by plasma, ionized gas (illustrated here as brownish haze), that was thrown off by giant stars millions of years ago. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
via forbes

Astronomers invite worldwide public to help name exoplanets and their stars

Artist’s impression of a distant exoplanet – planet beyond our solar system – orbiting its star. (Credit: IAU)
Artist’s impression of a distant exoplanet – planet beyond our solar system – orbiting its star. (Credit: IAU)
via earthsky

Universe’s missing photons baffle scientists

There's just not enough of them to account for interstellar light, say researchers. (Credit: NASA/ESA
There’s just not enough of them to account for interstellar light, say researchers. (Credit: NASA/ESA)
via cnet