Although New Horizons‘ main target is Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, it will have plenty of opportunities to do some science along the way. The spacecraft is now just a few weeks away from its closest approach to the gas giant Jupiter, where it will capture some images and gather science data but also receive a much needed speed boost. New Horizons will reach Jupiter on February 28, 2007, passing as close as 2,3 million km away from the planet’s centre. The spacecraft is expected to make 700 observations of Jupiter and its moons during the flyby. Jupiter’s gravity will accelerate New Horizons towards Pluto, giving it an additional 14.500 km/h velocity. The stage will then be set for New Horizons to reach Pluto in 2015.
Zooming to Pluto, New Horizons Closes in on Jupiter
Solscape
All Was Quiet in the Galactic Centre
For a brief time in April 2006, the active region surrounding the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way settled down. Ten different sources of high energy rays all faded away temporarily, and ESA’s Integral probe was able to capture images of less bright regions, which weren’t completely obscured by the bright objects in their vicinity.
Integral sees the Galactic centre playing hide and seek
Planet-seeking satellite takes first images
A planet-hunting satellite that launched in December 2006 has opened its eye to the stars. Its first images suggest the satellite’s instruments are in good working order, paving the way for planet searching to begin in February 2007. The mission, called „Convection, Rotation & Planetary Transits“ (COROT) and led by France’s Centre Nationale d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), launched on December 27, 2006, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will use a 27-centimetre telescope to look for the tiny brightness dips of stars caused by planets passing in front of them, potentially spotting planets just two or three times the size of Earth.
http://smsc.cnes.fr/COROT/GP_actualite.htm#janv2007
New NASA Orbiter Sees Details of 1997 Pathfinder Site
The high-resolution camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has imaged the 1997 landing site of NASA’s Mars Pathfinder, revealing new details of hardware on the surface and the geology of the region.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new-nasa-orbiter-sees-details-of-1997-pathfinder-site
Huygens’s second landing anniversary – the surprises continue
Two years ago, planetary scientists across the world watched as Europe and the US did something amazing. The Huygens descent module drifted down through the hazy atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan, beaming its data back to Earth via the Cassini mothership. Today, Huygens’s data are still continuing to surprise researchers.
Moon Has Iron Core, Lunar-Rock Study Says
Deep down, the moon may be more like Earth than scientists ever thought. A new moon-rock study suggests the satellite has an iron core. The findings add weight to the theory that the moon formed from debris thrown off when a Mars-size object collided with the young Earth.
Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee
Precise Measurement Of W-boson Mass
Scientists of the CDF collaboration at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced the world’s most precise measurement by a single experiment of the mass of the W boson, the carrier of the weak nuclear force and a key parameter of the Standard Model of particles and forces. The new W-mass value leads to an estimate for the mass of the yet-undiscovered Higgs boson that is lighter than previously predicted, in principle making observation of this elusive particle more likely by experiments at the Tevatron particle collider at Fermilab.
https://news.fnal.gov/2007/01/cdf-precision-measurement-w-boson-mass-suggests-lighter-higgs-particle/
Schwarzer Diamant aus dem All?
Kohlschwarze Diamanten stammen nicht aus dem Schoß der Erde, sondern aus dem Weltraum. Diese Vermutung bekräftigen neue Messungen amerikanischer Geowissenschaftler. In vielerlei Hinsicht ähnelt die Zusammensetzung der „Carbonados“ demnach der von Diamanten, wie sie in Meteoriten gefunden und im All beobachtet worden sind. Carbonados fand man bislang nur in Brasilien und Zentralafrika. Anders als „normale“ Diamanten, sind sie undurchsichtig und porös, weisen eine matte Oberfläche auf und erinnern insgesamt eher an Koks. Schon ihr Gehalt an metallischen Spurenelementen spreche gegen einen Ursprung im Erdmantel, erläutern die Forscher um Jozsef Garai von der Florida International University. Um mehr über den Aufbau der schwarzen Diamanten zu erfahren, bombardierten Garai und Kollegen vier Carbonados mit intensiver Infrarot-Strahlung. Frühere Untersuchungen dieser Art waren auf das Problem gestoßen, dass die Poren der Steine Silikatmineralien enthalten, welche ausgerechnet im besonders interessanten Wellenlängenbereich zwischen 7,7 und 10 Mikrometern absorbieren. Um diesen Störfaktor zu beseitigen, zermahlten die Forscher ihre Carbonados zunächst zu feinem Pulver, das sie mehrere Tage lang mit Salz- und Flusssäure behandelten. Wie die Gruppe in den „Astrophysical Journal Letters“ berichtet, enthält das Material sowohl Stickstoff als auch Wasserstoff in Form und Menge, wie es typisch für Diamanten aus dem All ist. Daher sei es denkbar, dass sich der Kohlenstoff der Carbonados in einer wasserstoffreichen Region im All zusammengelagert habe. Vermutlich seien die schwarzen Diamanten dann vor 2,6 bis 3,8 Milliarden Jahren mit Asteroiden auf die Erde gelangt.
Infrared Absorption Investigations Confirm the Extraterrestrial Origin of Carbonado-Diamonds
Homer’s Ithaca Possibly Found
Results of geologic tests released on January 9, 2007, by British businessman Robert Bittlestone, Cambridge classicist James Diggle, and University of Edinburgh geologist John Underhill suggest further evidence to support the hypothesis that Homer’s Ithaca can be found on western Kefalonia as reported in the January 2007 issue of „Geotimes“, published by the American Geological Institute (AGI). This hypothesis suggests that the western peninsula of the modern-day Greek island Kefalonia, called Paliki, was a separate island 3.000 years ago. Landslides and rockfalls from earthquakes filled in the valley between Kefalonia and Paliki, thus disguising the ancient landscape that was described by Homer in the Odyssey.
http://www.geotimes.org/jan07/WebExtra010907.html
New Multiple Star Systems In Ophiuchus Star Forming Region
After three years of observations using the 10-meter Keck II telescope in Hawaii, Lowell Observatory astronomer Lisa Prato announces the discovery of four new low-mass double star systems with separations similar to the Earth-Sun distance or smaller. This survey also serendipitously revealed five new wider binaries with separations of about 14 to 140 times the Earth-Sun distance. The results provide significant new evidence to better characterize the star and planet forming region in Ophiuchus. The research features the first such analysis for young, low-mass spectroscopic (closely spaced) binary stars undertaken in infrared light.
Lisa Prato: „A Survey for Young Spectroscopic Binary K7-M4 Stars in Ophiuchus“