Научная информация имеющая значение для исследования космоса

[sychbird]

The Farside of the Moon

 Because the Moon presents a constant face toward the Earth, we have much more information on its nearside than its farside. Indeed obtaining accurate gravity and topographic data on the farside have been difficult because spacecraft are hidden from Earth and are thus difficult to track. The geology of the farside of the Moon is different from the nearside. Results from the Japanese Kaguya (SELENE) spacecraft enhance our understanding of the of the Moon's evolution and, in particular, of the farside (see the Perspective by Neumann). SELENE includes a separate relay spacecraft to provide accurate tracking data on the farside. Using this setup, Namiki et al. (p. 900) provide an improved gravity map of the Moon, which shows a marked difference between the nearside and farside. In combination with a high-resolution lunar topographic map by Araki et al. (p. 897) the data indicate that the Moon has a rigid crust, particularly on the farside. Detailed imaging of volcanic deposits and craters by Haruyama et al. (p. 905, published online 6 November) shows that volcanism apparently continued for longer on the farside than the nearside. Ono et al. (p. 909) describe how radar signals from SELENE have penetrated some of the flows on the nearside and may be mapping hiatuses. Together, these data help clarify the volcanic history of the Moon. SELENE is the first of several spacecraft now orbiting or scheduled to arrive at the Moon this year, and these results set the stage for a renewed focus on lunar evolution.

This Week in SCIENCE
February 13 2009, 323 (5916)

[sychbird]

Bringing exoplanets into sharper focus
New technique could vitalise the search for Earth-like planets
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/37683

[sychbird]

New light on Moon's far side
SELENE mission gives the best views yet of the unseen face
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/37773

[sychbird]

Число цивилизаций в нашей галактике пересчитано заново
http://www.membrana.ru/articles/global/2009/02/05/143600.html

[sychbird]

Astronomers find 'super Earth'
Rocky exoplanet is the smallest found so far
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/37632

Открыта самая маленькая экзопланета
http://www.membrana.ru/lenta/index.html?9052

[sychbird]

Во Вселенной обнаружена утечка галактик
http://www.membrana.ru/lenta/index.html?8660

[sychbird]

Flares from a candidate Galactic magnetar suggest a missing link to dim isolated neutron stars[/size]
Magnetars1 are young neutron stars with very strong magnetic fields of the order of 1014–1015 G. They are detected in our Galaxy either as soft -ray repeaters or anomalous X-ray pulsars. Soft -ray repeaters are a rare type of -ray transient sources that are occasionally detected as bursters in the high-energy sky2, 3, 4. No optical counterpart to the -ray flares or the quiescent source has yet been identified. Here we report multi-wavelength observations of a puzzling source, SWIFT J195509+261406. We detected more than 40 flaring episodes in the optical band over a time span of three days, and a faint infrared flare 11 days later, after which the source returned to quiescence. Our radio observations confirm a Galactic nature and establish a lower distance limit of 3.7 kpc. We suggest that SWIFT J195509+261406 could be an isolated magnetar whose bursting activity has been detected at optical wavelengths, and for which the long-term X-ray emission is short-lived. In this case, a new manifestation of magnetar activity has been recorded and we can consider SWIFT J195509+261406 to be a link between the 'persistent' soft -ray repeaters/anomalous X-ray pulsars and dim isolated neutron stars.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7212/abs/nature07328.html

[sychbird]

Evidence mounts for axion-like particles
Are 'luminosity relations' a key piece in an intergalactic puzzle?
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/37841

[sychbird]

PAMELA paper dampens dark-matter claim
Antiparticle mystery continues
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/37665

[sychbird]

Thin, thick and dark discs in

[sychbird]

Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of a Planetary Mass Candidate Companion to a Young Solar Analog
Authors: David Lafreniere, Ray Jayawardhana, Marten H. van Kerkwijk (University of Toronto)
(Submitted on 8 Sep 2008 (v1), last revised 24 Oct 2008 (this version, v2))
Abstract: We present Gemini near-infrared adaptive optics imaging and spectroscopy of a planetary mass candidate companion to 1RXS J160929.1-210524, a roughly solar-mass member of the 5 Myr-old Upper Scorpius association. The object, separated by 2.22" or 330 AU at ~150 pc, has infrared colors and spectra suggesting a temperature of 1800(-100/+200) K, and spectral type of L4(-2/+1). The H- and K-band spectra provide clear evidence of low surface gravity, and thus youth. Based on the widely used DUSTY models, we infer a mass of 8(-2/+4)Mjupiter. If gravitationally bound, this would be the lowest mass companion imaged around a normal star thus far, and its existence at such a large separation would pose a serious challenge to theories of star and planet formation.

[sychbird]

Marko Polo
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=42296

[sychbird]

Flares from a candidate Galactic magnetar suggest a missing link to dim isolated neutron stars
Magnetars1 are young neutron stars with very strong magnetic fields of the order of 1014–1015 G. They are detected in our Galaxy either as soft -ray repeaters or anomalous X-ray pulsars. Soft -ray repeaters are a rare type of -ray transient sources that are occasionally detected as bursters in the high-energy sky2, 3, 4. No optical counterpart to the -ray flares or the quiescent source has yet been identified. Here we report multi-wavelength observations of a puzzling source, SWIFT J195509+261406. We detected more than 40 flaring episodes in the optical band over a time span of three days, and a faint infrared flare 11 days later, after which the source returned to quiescence. Our radio observations confirm a Galactic nature and establish a lower distance limit of 3.7 kpc. We suggest that SWIFT J195509+261406 could be an isolated magnetar whose bursting activity has been detected at optical wavelengths, and for which the long-term X-ray emission is short-lived. In this case, a new manifestation of magnetar activity has been recorded and we can consider SWIFT J195509+261406 to be a link between the 'persistent' soft -ray repeaters/anomalous X-ray pulsars and dim isolated neutron stars.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7212/abs/nature07328.html

[sychbird]

Inducing a Magnetic Monopole

 Although the existence of a magnetic monopole is consistent with the fundamental laws of physics, no matter how small you divide a magnet, it always comes with a north and south pole. Qi et al. (p. 1184, published online 29 January) show theoretically that a magnetic monopole can be induced by placing a charge at the surface of a strong topological insulator. Manipulating Maxwell equations around these new quantum states of matter revealed how the magnetic monopole could be measured with a magnetic force microscope.

This Week in SCIENCE
February 27 2009, 323 (5918)

[sychbird]

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7208/abs/nature07222.html
A common mass scale for satellite galaxies of the Milky Way[/size]
Louis E. Strigari1, James S. Bullock1, Manoj Kaplinghat1, Joshua D. Simon2, Marla Geha3, Beth Willman4 & Matthew G. Walker5

Top of page The Milky Way has at least twenty-three known satellite galaxies that shine with luminosities ranging from about a thousand to a billion times that of the Sun. Half of these galaxies were discovered1, 2 in the past few years in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and they are among the least luminous galaxies in the known Universe. A determination of the mass of these galaxies provides a test of galaxy formation at the smallest scales3, 4 and probes the nature of the dark matter that dominates the mass density of the Universe5. Here we use new measurements of the velocities of the stars in these galaxies6, 7 to show that they are consistent with them having a common mass of about 107  within their central 300 parsecs. This result demonstrates that the faintest of the Milky Way satellites are the most dark-matter-dominated galaxies known, and could be a hint of a new scale in galaxy formation or a characteristic scale for the clustering of dark matter.

[sychbird]

Living life on 'Mars'
The quest for clear, dark skies has led astronomers to build
telescopes far away from the lights and smog of modern
civilization, but what is it like to live and work in such places? Elena
Mason describes her career at one of the world's most remote
observatories
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/37997

[sychbird]

Muons reveal upper atmosphere's temperature
Freak warming detected from deep underground
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/37457

[sychbird]

Микробы с Венеры могли попасть на Землю
http://www.membrana.ru/lenta/index.html?8530

[sychbird]

A pale orange dot
Agustin Chicarro surveys a new account of Saturn's largest moon
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/37985

[sychbird]

Новая теория: Гора Олимп может содержать воду. Жизнь на Марсе.
http://infuture.ru/article/1780