DOCSLIB.ORG

Fresh Impact Spotted on Mars Gerasimenko Would Continue

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Fresh Impact Spotted on Mars Gerasimenko Would Continue News • MissioN Update space shorts ESA selects PLATO The European Space Agency Mission update has selected PLATO – Planetary Transits and Oscillations of stars – as its third medium- class (M3) space mission. The mission will identify and study thousands of exoplanetary systems, with an emphasis on Earth-size planets and super- Earths in the habitable zone of their parent star. PLATO will use 34 separate small telescopes and cameras to search for Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/55/2/2.7/251523 by guest on 23 September 2021 exoplanets using the transit technique; together with ground- based radial velocity data, this will indicate the mass, radius, age and probably composition of exoplanets. The spacecraft will operate from the L2 position and is expected to be launched in 2024. http://sci.esa.int/plato Rosetta awakes European comet scientists are relieved to have the comet- chasing spacecraft Rosetta back online after its 31-month shutdown. On 20 January this year the spacecraft’s signal reached Earth, confirming that it had restarted its instruments on time and the mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov- Fresh impact spotted on Mars Gerasimenko would continue. This image from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on NASA’s Mars As befits a modern spacecraft, Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a fresh impact crater at 3.7°N, 53.4°E. The image was taken on 19 November the successful awakening was 2013, in response to changes in appearance identified with the orbiter’s Context Camera between July 2010 and announced with a tweet of May 2012 – limiting the date of the impact. The crater is about 30 m across and surrounded by a rayed blast zone “Hello, World”. Now the mission that, in this enhanced image, appears blue because the red dust that normally covers Mars’s surface has been team has extensive instrument blown away and ejecta spread over the surface, including over some dunes. Ejected material has travelled up testing on the spacecraft and to 15 km from the crater. More than 200 craters measuring over 3.9 m across form on Mars each year, but few of its Philae lander to prepare it them look as spectacular as this. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona) for the rendezvous in August http://1.usa.gov/1crpgTV 2014. The first images of the target comet should come in May and the landing is expected the NASA Exoplanet Archive. closer to the surface of the planet, in November. Rosetta will stay Kepler confirms Among the new discoveries, four eventually reaching altitudes below with the comet into 2015 through are less than 2.5 times the size of 350 km, from where the Narrow perihelion in August. 715 new planets Earth and orbit in their star’s habit- Angle Camera will acquire images http://bit.ly/1fvE0a0 In February the Kepler mission team able zone. One of these orbits a star with pixel scales between 2 and announced 715 confirmed planets that is half the Sun’s size and 5% of its 20 m. Higher resolution images are Juno halfway there orbiting 305 stars, using a statistical brightness; the planet may be a gas or already coming in, with an image of NASA’s Juno mission has passed framework to search out multiple- water world, depending on its mass. a crater 15 km across revealing hol- the halfway mark on its journey planet systems within exoplanet sys- http://www.nasa.gov/kepler lows that appear to have formed in to Jupiter, where it will arrive tems discovered by Kepler between the wall of the crater. They are shal- in 2016. Mission scientists have May 2009 and March 2011. low, irregular, bright depressions also completed commissioning This technique relies on the distri- MESSENGER hits whose formation may involve loss of of Juno’s nine instruments. bution of multiple-planet systems volatile material. As the spacecraft The final checks were made within Kepler data, confirming mul- 200 000 images moves closer to the planet towards on the JADE (Jovian Auroral tiple-planet systems while excluding MESSENGER’s second extended the end of its mission, scientists can Distributions Experiment) false positives such as those arising mission has been so successful that expect to see a lot more of them. instrument, which is sensitive to from companion stars. This batch the spacecraft has now returned more http://messenger.jhuapl.edu high temperatures and could not of planets brings the total number of than 200 000 images of the surface of be fully commissioned during exoplanets confirmed by the Kepler Mercury, a considerable bonus over 2011, nor during the Earth fly-by mission to 961, among 3601 planet the “at least 1000” envisaged in the Cassini: Saturn’s in 2013. All instruments are candidates (and 2165 eclipsing binary original mission proposal. working as expected. stars); the total number of confirmed The second extended mission dancing aurora http://1.usa.gov/NeXVhy planets stands at 1690, according to involves the spacecraft orbiting ever NASA’s Cassini spacecraft provided A&G • April 2014 • Vol. 55 2.7 News • MissioN Update space shorts Mars in the morning The longest-serving Mars orbiter, NASA’s Mars Odyssey, has changed track a little, moving towards a morning- daylight orbit, to be achieved by November 2015. The goal is data on changing ground temperatures after sunrise and sunset across the planet. No Mars orbiter since the 1970s has flown on a path that allows imaging of the ground in morning daylight, preferring Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/55/2/2.7/251523 by guest on 23 September 2021 instead less hazy afternoon lighting. But now detailed Mars images suggest that warm season flows exist and that carbon dioxide ice may thaw and A global geological map of Ganymede lead to geysers. http://mars.jpl.gov/odyssey Ganymede has played a part in astronomy since Galileo observed it orbiting Jupiter more than 400 years ago. Now the best imagery from NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in 1979 and the Galileo orbiter between 1995 Lunar impact spotted and 2003 have been combined to produce a global mosaic of the icy surface (right) and a geological map (left). The largest observed meteorite The map is the work of a group led by Geoffrey Collins of Wheaton College, USA, who used the relative ages impact on the Moon took place of features such as impact craters and grooves and ridges arising from tectonic activity to set up a geological on 11 September 2013, on the timescale. Broadly, darker areas are older, lighter regions younger; in detail, the team identified three major Mare Nubium. The impact periods in the history of the moon. Initially, impact cratering dominated, then tectonic activity was significant. produced a bright flash detected More recently, geological activity as a whole decreased. The synthesis of relative age data over the moon as a by an automated telescope whole allowed researchers to compare hypotheses about the development of the icy surface. Cryovolcanism system, MIDAS (the Moon – eruption of water and ice from volcanoes – turns out to be very rare on Ganymede, for example. (USGS Impacts Detection and Analysis Astrogeology Science Center/Wheaton/NASA/JPL-Caltech) System) led by Prof. Jose Maria http://1.usa.gov/1mLj53x Madiedo from the University of Huelva, and Dr Jose L Ortiz from the Institute of Astrophysics suggests that magnetic reconnection of Andalusia. The researchers may lead to auroral storms, as it does estimate the impactor as a at Earth, and sheds light on the heat- 400 kg body between 0.6 and ing mechanisms of the atmospheres 1.4 m across, making a 40 m of the giant planets. crater; the results are published http://1.usa.gov/1gGEtmm in Monthly Notices of the RAS. http://bit.ly/1eJxWET Trojan Hektor’s Jade Rabbit not roving The status of China’s lunar rover exotic orbit Yutu – “jade rabbit” – remains The largest Trojan asteroid, Hektor, in doubt, although engineers and its moon have a complex orbit restored normal signal reception that suggests that they are Kuiper functions after a second lunar belt objects captured during reshuf- night. China was only the fling of the giant planets. third nation to achieve a soft 1: This Cassini image shows a bright curtain aurora above Saturn on 29 Trojans orbit 60° ahead or behind landing on the Moon when the November 2010, over a depth of about 1500 km, together with faint star Jupiter; Hektor’s unnamed moon Chang’e-3 lander and Yutu rover trails arising from the spacecraft’s movement. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI) was discovered in 2006 by a team touched down in December led by Franck Marchis of the SETI 2013. Yutu uses solar power and a 3D view of Saturn’s aurora in April gen and oxygen atoms and mol- Institute. It took eight years of shuts down during the lunar and May of 2013, at the same time ecules, Saturn’s are purple at high observations with the W M Keck night. After the first fortnight as Hubble Space Telescope observa- levels and red lower in the atmo- Observatory to determine the orbit. of dormancy, problems with tions of the northern aurora. Cas- sphere and the light comes domi- The 12 km moon orbits the 250 km movement and communication sini, orbiting Saturn at close range nantly from excited hydrogen. asteroid every three days at a dis- arose; many assumed that the (about six Saturn radii) collected The Cassini ultraviolet imag- tance of 600 km in an ellipse inclined rover had failed completely. data at infrared, visible and ultra- ing spectrometer (UVIS) data were almost 45° with respect to the aster- After the second night it carried violet wavelengths, while the HST especially interesting because they oid’s equator.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Planetary Geologic Mappers Annual Meeting
    Program Lunar and Planetary Institute 3600 Bay Area Boulevard Houston TX 77058-1113 Planetary Geologic Mappers Annual Meeting June 12–14, 2018 • Knoxville, Tennessee Institutional Support Lunar and Planetary Institute Universities Space Research Association Convener Devon Burr Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of Tennessee Knoxville Science Organizing Committee David Williams, Chair Arizona State University Devon Burr Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of Tennessee Knoxville Robert Jacobsen Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of Tennessee Knoxville Bradley Thomson Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of Tennessee Knoxville Abstracts for this meeting are available via the meeting website at https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/pgm2018/ Abstracts can be cited as Author A. B. and Author C. D. (2018) Title of abstract. In Planetary Geologic Mappers Annual Meeting, Abstract #XXXX. LPI Contribution No. 2066, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston. Guide to Sessions Tuesday, June 12, 2018 9:00 a.m. Strong Hall Meeting Room Introduction and Mercury and Venus Maps 1:00 p.m. Strong Hall Meeting Room Mars Maps 5:30 p.m. Strong Hall Poster Area Poster Session: 2018 Planetary Geologic Mappers Meeting Wednesday, June 13, 2018 8:30 a.m. Strong Hall Meeting Room GIS and Planetary Mapping Techniques and Lunar Maps 1:15 p.m. Strong Hall Meeting Room Asteroid, Dwarf Planet, and Outer Planet Satellite Maps Thursday, June 14, 2018 8:30 a.m. Strong Hall Optional Field Trip to Appalachian Mountains Program Tuesday, June 12, 2018 INTRODUCTION AND MERCURY AND VENUS MAPS 9:00 a.m. Strong Hall Meeting Room Chairs: David Williams Devon Burr 9:00 a.m.
    [Show full text]
  • Martian Crater Morphology
    ANALYSIS OF THE DEPTH-DIAMETER RELATIONSHIP OF MARTIAN CRATERS A Capstone Experience Thesis Presented by Jared Howenstine Completion Date: May 2006 Approved By: Professor M. Darby Dyar, Astronomy Professor Christopher Condit, Geology Professor Judith Young, Astronomy Abstract Title: Analysis of the Depth-Diameter Relationship of Martian Craters Author: Jared Howenstine, Astronomy Approved By: Judith Young, Astronomy Approved By: M. Darby Dyar, Astronomy Approved By: Christopher Condit, Geology CE Type: Departmental Honors Project Using a gridded version of maritan topography with the computer program Gridview, this project studied the depth-diameter relationship of martian impact craters. The work encompasses 361 profiles of impacts with diameters larger than 15 kilometers and is a continuation of work that was started at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas under the guidance of Dr. Walter S. Keifer. Using the most ‘pristine,’ or deepest craters in the data a depth-diameter relationship was determined: d = 0.610D 0.327 , where d is the depth of the crater and D is the diameter of the crater, both in kilometers. This relationship can then be used to estimate the theoretical depth of any impact radius, and therefore can be used to estimate the pristine shape of the crater. With a depth-diameter ratio for a particular crater, the measured depth can then be compared to this theoretical value and an estimate of the amount of material within the crater, or fill, can then be calculated. The data includes 140 named impact craters, 3 basins, and 218 other impacts. The named data encompasses all named impact structures of greater than 100 kilometers in diameter.
    [Show full text]
  • Will the Real Monster Black Hole Please Stand Up? 8 January 2015
    Will the real monster black hole please stand up? 8 January 2015 how the merging of galaxies can trigger black holes to start feeding, an important step in the evolution of galaxies. "When galaxies collide, gas is sloshed around and driven into their respective nuclei, fueling the growth of black holes and the formation of stars," said Andrew Ptak of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, lead author of a The real monster black hole is revealed in this new new study accepted for publication in the image from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Astrophysical Journal. "We want to understand the Array of colliding galaxies Arp 299. In the center panel, mechanisms that trigger the black holes to turn on the NuSTAR high-energy X-ray data appear in various and start consuming the gas." colors overlaid on a visible-light image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The panel on the left shows NuSTAR is the first telescope capable of the NuSTAR data alone, while the visible-light image is pinpointing where high-energy X-rays are coming on the far right. Before NuSTAR, astronomers knew that the each of the two galaxies in Arp 299 held a from in the tangled galaxies of Arp 299. Previous supermassive black hole at its heart, but they weren't observations from other telescopes, including sure if one or both were actively chomping on gas in a NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the process called accretion. The new high-energy X-ray European Space Agency's XMM-Newton, which data reveal that the supermassive black hole in the detect lower-energy X-rays, had indicated the galaxy on the right is indeed the hungry one, releasing presence of active supermassive black holes in Arp energetic X-rays as it consumes gas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Most Dangerous Ieos in STEREO
    EPSC Abstracts Vol. 6, EPSC-DPS2011-682, 2011 EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011 c Author(s) 2011 The most dangerous IEOs in STEREO C. Fuentes (1), D. Trilling (1) and M. Knight (2) (1) Northern Arizona University, Arizona, USA, (2) Lowell Observatory, Arizona, USA ([email protected]) Abstract (STEREO-B) which view the Sun-Earth line using a suite of telescopes. Each spacecraft moves away 1 from the Earth at a rate of 22.5◦ year− (Figure 1). IEOs (inner Earth objects or interior Earth objects) are ∼ potentially the most dangerous near Earth small body Our search for IEOs utilizes the Heliospheric Imager population. Their study is complicated by the fact the 1 instruments on each spacecraft (HI1A and HI1B). population spends all of its time inside the orbit of The HI1s are centered 13.98◦ from the Sun along the the Earth, giving ground-based telescopes a small win- Earth-Sun line with a square field of view 20 ◦ wide, 1 dow to observe them. We introduce STEREO (Solar a resolution of 70 arcsec pixel− , and a bandpass of TErrestrial RElations Observatory) and its 5 years of 630—730 nm [3]. Images are taken every 40 minutes, archival data as our best chance of studying the IEO providing a nearly continuous view of the inner solar population and discovering possible impactor threats system since early 2007. The nominal visual limit- ing magnitude of HI1 is 13, although the sensitivity to Earth. ∼ We show that in our current search for IEOs in varies somewhat with solar elongation, and asteroids STEREO data we are capable of detecting and char- fainter than 13 can be seen near the outer edges.
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 Chicxulub Revealed
    THE UNIVERSITY TEXAS OF AUSTIN AT JACKSON• SCHOOL GEOSCIENCES OF 2017 NEWSLETTER• Newsletter2 017 Chicxulub Revealed A first look at rocks from the crater left by the asteroid that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs WELCOME Dear Alumni and Friends he devastation that Hurricane Harvey brought to Texas communities in August was a tragic reminder of how vital it is to understand our planet and T its processes. Shortly after the hurricane struck, our scientists, through our Rapid Response program, began to conduct research to understand how Harvey has impacted the coast and offshore Gulf of Mexico. This research will help determine the best ways to deal with many coastal issues in the aftermath of the storm, and how we might better prepare for such events in the future. You can read more about the mission on page 18. Rapid response efforts on the effects of abrupt, catastrophic geoscience events COVER: GRANITE FROM THE PEAK RING OF provide critical science that can benefit society. This is what we strive to do here at the THE CHICXULUB CRATER FORMED BY THE Jackson School of Geosciences. This year’s Newsletter holds some tremendous examples. ASTEROID STRIKE THAT WIPED OUT ALL NON- AVIAN DINOSAURS I’d like to draw your attention to the story on page 58 about the scientific coring mission led by Peter Flemings to bring back samples of methane hydrate from ABOVE: MEMBERS OF THE JACKSON beneath the Gulf of Mexico. This is a cutting-edge research project on a potential SCHOOL-LED TEAM CORING FOR SAMPLES OF METHANE HYDRATE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO future energy source that very few schools in the world would be able to mount.
    [Show full text]
  • NASA Program & Budget Update
    NASA Update AAAC Meeting | June 15, 2020 Paul Hertz Director, Astrophysics Division Science Mission Directorate @PHertzNASA Outline • Celebrate Accomplishments § Science Highlights § Mission Milestones • Committed to Improving § Inspiring Future Leaders, Fellowships § R&A Initiative: Dual Anonymous Peer Review • Research Program Update § Research & Analysis § ROSES-2020 Updates, including COVID-19 impacts • Missions Program Update § COVID-19 impact § Operating Missions § Webb, Roman, Explorers • Planning for the Future § FY21 Budget Request § Project Artemis § Creating the Future 2 NASA Astrophysics Celebrate Accomplishments 3 SCIENCE Exoplanet Apparently Disappears HIGHLIGHT in the Latest Hubble Observations Released: April 20, 2020 • What do astronomers do when a planet they are studying suddenly seems to disappear from sight? o A team of researchers believe a full-grown planet never existed in the first place. o The missing-in-action planet was last seen orbiting the star Fomalhaut, just 25 light-years away. • Instead, researchers concluded that the Hubble Space Telescope was looking at an expanding cloud of very fine dust particles from two icy bodies that smashed into each other. • Hubble came along too late to witness the suspected collision, but may have captured its aftermath. o This happened in 2008, when astronomers announced that Hubble took its first image of a planet orbiting another star. Caption o The diminutive-looking object appeared as a dot next to a vast ring of icy debris encircling Fomalhaut. • Unlike other directly imaged exoplanets, however, nagging Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Gáspár and G. Rieke (University of Arizona) puzzles arose with Fomalhaut b early on. Caption: This diagram simulates what astronomers, studying Hubble Space o The object was unusually bright in visible light, but did not Telescope observations, taken over several years, consider evidence for the have any detectable infrared heat signature.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmic Evolution Through Uv Surveys (Cetus) Final Report
    COSMIC EVOLUTION THROUGH UV SURVEYS (CETUS) FINAL REPORT Thematic Activity: Project (probe mission concept) Program: Electromagnetic observations from space Authors of Final Report: Jonathan Arenberg, Northrop Grumman Corporation Sally Heap, Univ. of Maryland, [email protected] Tony Hull, Univ. of New Mexico Steve Kendrick, Kendrick Aerospace Consulting LLC Bob Woodruff, Woodruff Consulting Scientific Contributors: Maarten Baes, Rachel Bezanson, Luciana Bianchi, David Bowen, Brad Cenko, Yi-Kuan Chiang, Rachel Cochrane, Mike Corcoran, Paul Crowther, Simon Driver, Bill Danchi, Eli Dwek, Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Pradip Gatkine, Suvi Gezari, Lea Hagen, Chris Hayward, Matthew Hayes, Tim Heckman, Edmund Hodges-Kluck, Alexander Kutyrev, Thierry Lanz, John MacKenty, Steve McCandliss, Harvey Moseley, Coralie Neiner, Goren Östlin, Camilla Pacifici, Marc Rafelski, Bernie Rauscher, Jane Rigby, Ian Roederer, David Spergel, Dan Stark, Alexander Szalay, Bryan Terrazas, Jonathan Trump, Arjun van der Wel, Sylvain Veilleux, Kate Whitaker, Isak Wold, Rosemary Wyse Technical Contributors: Jim Burge, Kelly Dodson, Chip Eckles, Brian Fleming, Jamie Kennea, Gerry Lemson, John MacKenty, Steve McCandliss, Greg Mehle, Shouleh Nikzad, Trent Newswander, Lloyd Purves, Manuel Quijada, Ossy Siegmund, Dave Sheikh, Phil Stahl, Ani Thakar, John Vallerga, Marty Valente, the Goddard IDC/MDL. September 2019 Cosmic Evolution Through UV Surveys (CETUS) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO CETUS ................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Prelude To, and Nature of the Space Photometry Revolution
    EPJ Web of Conferences 101, 0001(0 2015) DOI: 10.1051/epjconf/20151010000 1 C Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2015 Prelude to, and Nature of the Space Photometry Revolution Ronald L. Gilliland1,a Space Telescope Science Institute and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USA Abstract. It is now less than a decade since CoRoT initiated the space photometry revo- lution with breakthrough discoveries, and five years since Kepler started a series of similar advances. I’ll set the context for this revolution noting the status of asteroseismology and exoplanet discovery as it was 15-25 years ago in order to give perspective on why it is not mere hyperbole to claim CoRoT and Kepler fostered a revolution in our sciences. Primary events setting up the revolution will be recounted. I’ll continue with noting the major discoveries in hand, and how asteroseismology and exoplanet studies, and indeed our approach to doing science, have been forever changed thanks to these spectacular missions. 1 Introduction I would like to start by thanking Rafa Garcia, Jer´ omeˆ Ballot and the Science Organizing Committee for inviting me to give the introductory talk at this conference. It is a great honor for me to do so. Of course we’re here to discuss the results that come from CoRoT and Kepler; these were French and American missions respectively with Annie Baglin as the PI for CoRoT and Bill Borucki as the PI for Kepler.
    [Show full text]
  • Micrometeoroid Impacts on the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2: Larger Particles
    45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2014) 1722.pdf MICROMETEOROID IMPACTS ON THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WIDE FIELD AND PLANETARY CAMERA 2: LARGER PARTICLES. A. T. Kearsley 1, G. W. Grime 2, J. L. Colaux 2, V. V. Palit- sin 2, C. Jeynes 2, R. P. Webb 2, D. K. Ross 3,4 , P. Anz-Meador 3,4 , J.C. Liou 4, J. Opiela 3,4 , T. Griffin 5, L. Gerlach 6, P. J. Wozniakiewicz 1,7, M. C. Price 7, M. J. Burchell 7 and M. J. Cole 7 1Natural History Museum (NHM), London, SW7 5BD, UK ( [email protected] ) 2Ion Beam Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, 3Jacobs Technology, Houston, TX, USA 4NASA-JSC, Houston, TX, USA, 5NASA-GSFC, USA, 5consultant to European Space Agency, ESA-ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands 6School of Physical Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NH, UK. Introduction: The Wide Field and Planetary Cam- Results: 63 impact features > 700µm across, each with era 2 (WFPC2) was returned from the Hubble Space paint spallation > 300 µm, showed combinations of Telescope (HST) by shuttle mission STS-125 in 2009. five main components (e.g. Fig. 3): a) an exposed sur- In space for 16 years, the surface accumulated hun- face of Al alloy, often with adhering fragments of dreds of impact features [1] on zinc orthotitanate paint, paint; b) a bowl-shaped pit or field of compound pits, some penetrating through into underlying metal. Larger penetrating into the alloy; c) frothy impact melt, de- impacts were seen in photographs taken from within rived mainly from paint (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 Astrophysics Senior Review Senior Review Subcommittee Report
    2019 Astrophysics Senior Review Senior Review Subcommittee Report 2019 Astrophysics Senior Review - Senior Review Subcommittee Report June 4-5, 2019 SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS Dr. Alison Coil, University of California San Diego Dr. Megan Donahue, Michigan State University Dr. Jonathan Fortney, University of California Santa Cruz Ms. Maura Fujieh, NASA Ames Research Center Dr. Roberta Humphreys, University of Minnesota Dr. Mark McConnell, University of New Hampshire / Southwest Research Institute Dr. John O’Meara, Keck Observatory Dr. Rebecca Oppenheimer, American Museum of Natural History Dr. Alexandra Pope, University of Massachusetts Amherst Dr. Wilton Sanders, NASA/University of Wisconsin-Madison, retired Dr. David Weinberg, The Ohio State University - Chair ​ 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The eight missions evaluated by the 2019 Astrophysics Senior Review constitute a portfolio of extraordinary scientific power, on topics that range from the atmospheres of planets around nearby stars to the nature of the dark energy that drives the accelerating expansion of the cosmos. The missions themselves range from the venerable Great Observatories Hubble and Chandra to the newest Explorer missions NICER and TESS. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ All of these missions are operating at a high level technically and scientifically, and all have sought ways to make their operations cost-efficient and their data valuable to a broad community. The complementary nature of these missions makes the overall capability of the portfolio more than the sum of its parts, and many of the most exciting developments in contemporary astrophysics draw on observations from several of these observatories simultaneously. The Senior Review Subcommittee recommends that NASA continue to operate and support all eight of these missions.
    [Show full text]
  • HUBBLE Traveling Exhibit
    HUBBLE Traveling Exhibit HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Tour Info & Educational Resources Presented by: NASA and the Aerospace Museum of California With the generous support of : SMUD, Sacramento County, and Sacramento International Airport 1 HUBBLE Traveling Exhibit NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe Experience the life and history of the Hubble Space Telescope through this interactive and stunning exhibit! The Hubble Space Telescope’s traveling exhibit is divided into eight fascinating sec- tions. Each one highlights a different aspect of the Hubble Space Telescope, whether it is the satellite itself, one of its many discoveries, or what the future may hold. Hubble imagery has both delighted and amazed people around the world. The exhibit contains images and data taken by Hubble of planets, galaxies, regions around black holes, and many other fascinating cosmic entities that have captivated the minds of scientists for centuries. Experience the life and history of the Hubble Space Telescope through this in- teractive and stunning exhibit. Also featured is an exhibit on the James Webb Space Telescope and what to look forward to from space telescopes in the future. THE HUBBLE MODEL The 1:15 model of the Hubble Space Telescope is the central focus of the traveling exhibit, and gives the observer a visual repre- sentation of the telescope as it is in space. The ring surrounding the model provides insight into the size, opera- tions and capabilities of the Hubble telescope. The rear of the station provides a three-step explana- tion of why Hubble is above the atmosphere and what makes it different from ground obser- vatories.
    [Show full text]
  • VV D C-A- R 78-03 National Space Science Data Center/ World Data Center a for Rockets and Satellites
    VV D C-A- R 78-03 National Space Science Data Center/ World Data Center A For Rockets and Satellites {NASA-TM-79399) LHNAS TRANSI]_INT PHENOMENA N78-301 _7 CATAI_CG (NASA) 109 p HC AO6/MF A01 CSCl 22_ Unc.las G3 5 29842 NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S 78-03 Lunar Transient Phenomena Catalog Winifred Sawtell Cameron July 1978 National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC)/ World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites (WDC-A-R&S) National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt) Maryland 20771 CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................... 1 SOURCES AND REFERENCES ......................................... 7 APPENDIX REFERENCES ............................................ 9 LUNAR TRANSIENT PHENOMENA .. .................................... 21 iii INTRODUCTION This catalog, which has been in preparation for publishing for many years is being offered as a preliminary one. It was intended to be automated and printed out but this form was going to be delayed for a year or more so the catalog part has been typed instead. Lunar transient phenomena have been observed for almost 1 1/2 millenia, both by the naked eye and telescopic aid. The author has been collecting these reports from the literature and personal communications for the past 17 years. It has resulted in a listing of 1468 reports representing only slight searching of the literature and probably only a fraction of the number of anomalies actually seen. The phenomena are unusual instances of temporary changes seen by observers that they reported in journals, books, and other literature. Therefore, although it seems we may be able to suggest possible aberrations as the causes of some or many of the phenomena it is presumptuous of us to think that these observers, long time students of the moon, were not aware of most of them.
    [Show full text]