Australasian Science: Australia's authority on science since 1938
Out of this World
News from space and astronomy communities around the world.
Asteroids Rock
By David Reneke
David Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
After a decade of planning by science teams, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has returned the first close-up image after beginning its orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta. On 15 July Dawn became the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
“We just sort of slid into orbit, letting gravity grab the spacecraft with a light tug,” one NASA technician was overheard saying. Neat huh?
Orphaned Planets Roam Free
By David Reneke
David Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
Astronomers have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the darkness of space, wandering the heavens away from the light of a star. It’s likely that these lone worlds were ejected from developing planetary systems just after their formation. Although such a world makes a great science fiction setting, it was long considered an unlikely event.
Diamonds in the Sky
By David Reneke
David Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
The galaxy’s largest diamond has been found, but you’d better carry a deep wallet because this 10 billion trillion trillion carat monster has a cost that’s literally astronomical.
“You would need a jeweller’s magnifying glass the size of the Sun to grade this diamond!” says astronomer Travis Metcalfe from the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, who leads a team of researchers that discovered the giant gem.
All Aboard the Space Elevator
By Dave Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
All Aboard the Space Elevator
Imagine this! A cable, 50,000 km long, anchored below the ocean to an orbiting space platform that allows cargo, and even people, to climb up. Sounds incredible doesn’t it, but it is possible. In fact, it’s being built now! It’s called a “space elevator” and it’s an idea that’s really out of this world!
Sex in Space – A Taboo?
By David Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
According to three prominent scientists, having sex and getting pregnant in space is not a good idea. The radiation hazards of space are just too dangerous, they say.
Female astronauts sent to colonise Mars would be well advised to avoid getting pregnant en route because high energy particles bombarding the ship would almost certainly sterilise any female foetus conceived in deep space, making it that much more difficult to establish a successful Mars colony once the crew lands.
NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet
By David Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet
NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it’s the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system. The discovery of this exoplanet is based on more than 8 months of data collected by the spacecraft from May 2009 to early January 2010.
The Sun Steals Comets from Other Stars
By David Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
The next time you see a comet blazing across the night sky, consider this: it’s a stolen pleasure. If astronomers are reading things right, our Sun has snatched comets from neighbouring stars’ backyards.
This kind of thievery accounts for most of the comets in the Oort Cloud at the edge of our solar system. “The Sun was born within a huge community of other stars that formed in the same gas cloud,” says Hal Levison of the Southwest Research Institute.
How Much Do Stars Weigh?
A planet/moon transit that may be imaged by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft.
By David Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
How do astronomers weigh a star that’s trillions of kilometres away and way too big to fit on a bathroom scale? In most cases they can’t, although they can “guesstimate” using computer models of stellar structure.
New work by Dr David Kipping of University College, London says that in special cases we can weigh a star directly. If the star has a planet, and that planet has a moon, and both of them cross in front of their star, then we can measure their sizes and orbits to learn about the star. This is cutting-edge astronomy.
Cosmic Cannibalism
BP Piscium may provide clues about the formation of exoplanets.
By David Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
Cosmic Cannibalism
Nasa's Chandra X-ray observatory has found a star that might have gobbled up its neighbour – another star or a giant planet – shedding new light on the interaction between planets and stars.
The star, BP Piscium, is a more evolved version of our Sun, and is located about 1000 light years away in the constellation of Pisces. It appears to be a young star but in fact it may be a 1-billion-year-old red giant that “ate” its young companion, leaving remnants that are still visible today.
Huge Solar Storms to Impact Earth
By David Reneke
Dave Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world.
Huge Solar Storms to Impact Earth
Beware the solar maximum – that’s the dire warning from senior space agency scientists. They believe the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes from a deep slumber sometime around 2013. National power grids could overheat and air travel could be severely disrupted while electronic items, navigation devices and major satellites could stop working.
