Tuesday, March 11

Astronomy

South America’s annular ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse – Astronomy Now
Astronomy

South America’s annular ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse – Astronomy Now

This spectacular ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse of the Sun took place on 20 May 2012. Image: Kevin Baird. On 2 October one of the most spectacular events in nature takes place. A annular eclipse, popularly described as a ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse, is visible along an east-to-west orientated path in the far south of South America, crossing Chile and Argentina. Unlike at a total eclipse of the Sun, the Moon’s shadow stops just short of Earth’s surface, leaving a thin band of the Sun’s blinding photosphere encircling the Moon’s silhouette.  A large area of South America experiences a partial eclipse. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, 53.3% of the Sun is hidden by the Moon at 5.23pm. The eclipse takes place between 15:43h and 21:47h UT, with the maximum duration of the annular eclipse lasting seven minutes an...
Astronomy

European twin satellite mission bids to create total solar eclipse on demand | Space

European scientists are preparing to launch a space mission that has been designed to create total eclipses of the sun on demand.The robot spacecraft Proba-3 will be launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in a few weeks in a mission which will involve flying a pair of satellites in close formation round the Earth. They will be linked by lasers and light sensors, with one probe blocking the view of the sun as seen from the other craft. The effect will be to create solar eclipses that will last for several hours.Observing these eclipses will revolutionise the study of the sun and understanding of how it can cause disruptions to power lines, GPS satellites and other earthly technologies, says ESA. The agency believes the mission will also act as a pathfinder for other formation spaceflig...
X-rays from nuclear blasts could defend Earth from asteroids
Astronomy

X-rays from nuclear blasts could defend Earth from asteroids

An asteroid hurtling toward Earth could be deflected without a spacecraft ever touching it. The trick is using X-rays to divert the space rock, researchers report September 23 in Nature Physics. In lab experiments, scientists heated the surfaces of free-falling faux asteroids with X-ray radiation, producing vapor plumes that pushed the objects away. Subsequent computer simulations demonstrated that X-rays emitted by a distal nuclear blast could deflect some asteroids that are about as wide as the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is long. input[type="radio"].svelte-wecxzz{display:none}.payment-option-wrapper.svelte-wecxzz.svelte-wecxzz{display:flex;flex:1 0 28%;width:100%}.payment-option-wrapper.svelte-wecxzz.svelte-wecxzz:only-child{max-width:3...
New cosmic distance catalog could unlock the mysteries of universe formation
Astronomy

New cosmic distance catalog could unlock the mysteries of universe formation

The William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, Spain. Credit: PAUS team A new catalog providing information on millions of distant galaxies, which determines their distances with unprecedented precision over a field of view and depth never before explored, has been published today. The catalog is the result of The Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS), an international collaboration led by the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC), dependent on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), which involves 14 institutions across six countries—including the University of Portsmouth. Collected over 200 nights between 2015...
A Gravity Map of Mars Uncovers Subsurface Mysteries
Astronomy

A Gravity Map of Mars Uncovers Subsurface Mysteries

A team of scientists presented a new gravity map of Mars at the Europlanet Science Congress 2024. The map shows the presence of dense, large-scale structures under Mars’ long-gone ocean and that mantle processes are affecting Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. The new map and analysis include data from multiple missions, including NASA’s InSIGHT (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission. They also use data from tiny deviations in satellites as they orbit Mars. The paper “The global gravity field of Mars reveals an active interior” will be published in an upcoming edition of JGR: Planets. The lead author is Bart Root of the Delft University of Technology. Some of the results go against an important concept in geology. Geol...