SpaceTime 20160810 Series 19 Episode 53 is out today…
SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.
The show is available as a free twice weekly podcast through itunes, Stitcher, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez, Audio Boom, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com
SpaceTime is also broadcast coast to coast across the United States on Science360 Radio by the National Science Foundation in Washington D.C.
A key characteristic of life discovered in space for the first time
Scientists have discovered the first molecule in space that has a key attribute associated with life – ‘handedness’ or chirality.
The finding is expected to help researchers solve one of the greatest mysteries in biology – the origin of homochirality – and offer insights into what we can expect from life throughout the universe.
New ideas on the nature of black holes
A team of scientists have developed a new way of looking at the physics of black holes. The hypothesis suggests that matter might in fact survive its foray into these space objects and come out the other side.
The most dangerous threat to humanity to provide the best meteor shower in almost 20 years
This year’s Perseids meteor shower is set for its best show in nearly 20 years. Around 150 meteors an hour expected to delight skywatchers at its peak on the nights of August 11, 12 and 13 depending on which hemisphere you’re in. But the Perseids come with a warning…
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory suffers anomaly
NASA mission managers are working to restore systems aboard the agency’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft following a major anomaly which shut down its science instruments. The spacecraft failed to return to science mode after observing a Lunar transit of the Sun.
Billion dollar satellite fails to reach intended orbit
The US Navy says the main engine aboard its new MUOS 5 communications satellite has failed – preventing the billion dollar spacecraft reaching its geostationary orbit. The Navy are now looking at ways to salvage the satellite which was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida on June 24.
First private company set to fly to the Moon next year
The United States government has given approval for a private company to the launch a mission to land on the Moon next year. Moon Express – plans to use a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle to fly its MX-1 lander to the lunar surface.
The Moon of Lakes and Rivers - Saturn’s moon Titan
Saturn’s moon Titan is the only world - other than earth - that we know has liquid’s pooled on its surface. Unlike Earth, Titan has lakes of liquid methane - you wouldn’t want to swim in these lakes.
Titan’s “methane cycle” is analogy to Earth’s water cycle. In the 3rd and 4th images above we can see clouds of methane in Titan’s atmosphere. Ever since NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, we have known that the gases that make up Titan’s brown colored haze were hydrocarbons. The atmosphere of Titan is largely nitrogen; minor components lead to the formation of methane–ethane clouds and nitrogen-rich organic smog.
It is thanks to the Cassini spacecraft that we now understand more about the climate of Titan - though we still understand very little!
The Cassini Space craft has mapped most of the Northern polar region of Titan, this is the region that contains almost all of Titan’s lakes. Cassini is systematically sweeping across Titan and mapping the surface of this strange alien world. The image below is an example of Cassini’s mapping process:
The biggest hopes for what a new particle at the LHC might reveal
“Of course, this could simply turn out to be a statistically insignificant bump that goes away with more data; it may be nothing at all. This has already happened once before, at about three times the energy. There was hint of an extra “bump” at just over 2 TeV in both detectors, as you can see for yourself. A reanalysis of the data shows there’s no significance to this signal, and that might be what we have in the 750 GeV case, too. But the possibility that it’s real is too big to ignore, and the data will come in to tell us by the end of this year. The biggest unanswered, fundamental questions in theoretical physics will get a run for the money, and all it takes is for a bump in the data to hold up a little bit longer.”
fun fact! google image search allows you to search for images that you are legally allowed to use for example as textures for your art or as assets for your blogs and websites
I keep forgetting that not everyone knows about this.
