Nasa is to host a major press conference on a “discovery beyond our solar system”.
The event will see the revelation of major information about exoplanets, or planets that orbit stars other than our sun, according to a release. It made no further mention of the details of what would be revealed.
Exoplanets are the major hope for life elsewhere in the universe, since many have been found that resemble our own Earth and could have the building blocks of life. More of them are being discovered all the time.
The event will take place on 22 February at 1pm New York time, it said. It will be streamed live on Nasa’s television station and on its website.
Attending the press conference will be astronomers and planetary scientists from across the world.
Nasa said that the public will be able to ask questions using the hashtag #AskNasa during the conference. The agency will also hold a Reddit AMA, or ask me anything, session straight after the briefing.
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This month in space
November 1st: Moon at Aphelion; Jupiter conjunct Haumea
November 2nd: Saturn square Chiron; Moon conjunct Eris
November 3rd: Jupiter quintile Pluto
November 4th: Full Moon in Taurus; Taurids Meteor Shower
November 5th: Mercury enters Sagittarius; Moon at Perigee; Taurids Meteor Shower
November 7th: Venus enters Scorpio
November 10th: Moon conjunct Ceres; Last Quarter Moon in Leo
November 11th: Saturn trine Uranus; Venus conjunct Haumea
November 13th: Venus conjunct Jupiter
November 14th: Close approach of the Moon and Mars; Moon conjunct Makemake
November 16th: Moon conjunct Haumea and Venus
November 17th: Leonids Meteor Shower
November 18th: New Moon in Scorpio; Mars conjunct Makemake; Leonids Meteor Shower
November 20th: Moon conjunct Mercury; Moon at Perihelion
November 21st: Sun enters Sagittarius; Moon at Apogee
November 22nd: Neptune Direct; Jupiter sesquiquadrate Chiron; Moon conjunct Pluto; Mercury at Greatest Brightness
November 24th: Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
November 26th: First Quarter Moon in Aquarius
November 28th: Mercury at Dichotomy; Mercury conjunct Saturn
November 30th: Moon conjunct Eris
It takes the American beaver 24 hours to learn to swim after being born. Learn more about beavers and how they shape the world around them.
A new study from Northwestern University suggests a little stress can actually have a positive effect on cellular health.
As humans grow older, their cellular machinery responsible for carrying out quality control on the protein-folding process begins to fail. The damaged proteins that are produced as a result are responsible for conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Read more here.
Every day, our spacecraft and people are exploring the solar system. Both the public and the private sectors are contributing to the quest. For example, here are ten things happening just this week:
1. We deliver.
The commercial space company Orbital ATK is targeting Saturday, Nov. 11 for the launch of its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Cygnus is launching on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, carrying cargo and scientific experiments to the six people currently living on the microgravity laboratory.
2. See for yourself.
Social media users are invited to register to attend another launch in person, this one of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This launch, currently targeted for no earlier than December, will be the next commercial cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The deadline to apply is Nov. 7. Apply HERE.
3. Who doesn’t like to gaze at the Moon?
Our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) sure does—and from very close range. This robotic spacecraft has been orbiting Earth’s companion since 2009, returning views of the lunar surface that are so sharp they show the footpaths made by Apollo astronauts. Learn more about LRO and the entire history of lunar exploration at NASA’s newly-updated, expanded Moon site: moon.nasa.gov
4. Meanwhile at Mars…
Another sharp-eyed robotic spacecraft has just delivered a fresh batch of equally detailed images. Our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) surveys the Red Planet’s surface daily, and you can see the very latest pictures of those exotic landscapes HERE. We currently operate five—count ‘em, five—active missions at Mars, with another (the InSight lander) launching next year. Track them all at: mars.nasa.gov.
5. Always curious.
One of those missions is the Curiosity rover. It’s currently climbing a rocky highland dubbed Vera Rubin Ridge, turning its full array of instruments on the intriguing geology there. Using those instruments, Curiosity can see things you and I can’t.
6. A new Dawn.
Our voyage to the asteroid belt has a new lease on life. The Dawn spacecraft recently received a mission extension to continue exploring the dwarf planet Ceres. This is exciting because minerals containing water are widespread on Ceres, suggesting it may have had a global ocean in the past. What became of that ocean? Could Ceres still have liquid today? Ongoing studies from Dawn could shed light on these questions.
7. There are eyes everywhere.
When our Mars Pathfinder touched down in 1997, it had five cameras: two on a mast that popped up from the lander, and three on the rover, Sojourner. Since then, photo sensors that were improved by the space program have shrunk in size, increased in quality and are now carried in every cellphone. That same evolution has returned to space. Our Mars 2020 mission will have more “eyes” than any rover before it: a grand total of 23, to create sweeping panoramas, reveal obstacles, study the atmosphere, and assist science instruments.
8. Voyage to a hidden ocean.
One of the most intriguing destinations in the solar system is Jupiter’s moon Europa, which hides a global ocean of liquid water beneath its icy shell. Our Europa Clipper mission sets sail in the 2020s to take a closer look than we’ve ever had before. You can explore Europa, too: europa.nasa.gov
9. Flight of the mockingbird.
On Nov. 10, the main belt asteroid 19482 Harperlee, named for the legendary author of To Kill a Mockingbird, makes its closest approach to Earth during the asteroid’s orbit around the Sun. Details HERE. Learn more about asteroids HERE. Meanwhile, our OSIRIS-REx mission is now cruising toward another tiny, rocky world called Bennu.
10. What else is up this month?
For sky watchers, there will be a pre-dawn pairing of Jupiter and Venus, the Moon will shine near some star clusters, and there will be meteor activity all month long. Catch our monthly video blog for stargazers HERE.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Atlantic hurricane season begins today.
People in other parts of the world call these storms typhoons or cyclones, but they are all the same thing: a rotating storm that forms in the tropics (that’s near the equator) and has winds of at least 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour). “Hurricane” comes from Hurican, the name of an evil god for ancient peoples in the Caribbean. They took the name from Hurakan, the name the ancient Maya of Mexico gave to their god of wind and storm. For people in the tropics, these storms have always been a part of life.
Learn more about hurricanes in Nature’s Fury: The Science of Natural Disasters, now open.
NASA’s Kepler space telescope team has released a mission catalog of planet candidates that introduces 219 new planet candidates, 10 of which are near-Earth size and orbiting in their star’s habitable zone, which is the range of distance from a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of a rocky planet.
This is the most comprehensive and detailed catalog release of candidate exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system, from Kepler’s first four years of data. It’s also the final catalog from the spacecraft’s view of the patch of sky in the Cygnus constellation.
With the release of this catalog, derived from data publicly available on the NASA Exoplanet Archive, there are now 4,034 planet candidates identified by Kepler. Of which, 2,335 have been verified as exoplanets. Of roughly 50 near-Earth size habitable zone candidates detected by Kepler, more than 30 have been verified.
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Studies show that fewer seductions take place on Tuesday than any other day of the week. Use that information however you will. And yes, this is the best SFW royalty free image we could find for this fact. #TuesdayThoughts
"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." Anthony J. D'Angelo. Visit our website at https://knowledgeiskey.co.uk
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