Curiosity Unable To Detect Methane!!!

How can we know that there is a possibility of life on some planet? Well, 90% of the people will say that , the presence of Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Carbon , plants etc..... None of it is wrong but one thing that can give quite an idea of life existence on a planet is the presence of Methane gas.It is so because, Methane is created naturally near the Earth's surface by Micro-organisms by the process Methanogenesis and then carried out into the stratosphere by rising air in the tropics. 95% of Earth's Methane is produced through microbial organisms.So, if there is life then there must be methane (As per current knowledge of life existence).

We all know that space scientists have predicted that there might have been life on Mars through some of the evidences that they have found in some samples of the Martian rocks that were found on the Earth. According to the study of Mars, done from the Earth over the period of time, telescopes and satellites have reported seeing small but significant volumes of the gas, one of them is Methane. But the martian rover, The Curiosity, has been unable to detect any amount of Methane gas. From the tests conducted by the Curiosity, it has not been possible to discern any methane to within the present limits of the TLS's sensitivity.

This means that if the gas is there, it can constitute no more than 1.3ppbv (parts per billion volume) of the atmosphere - equivalent to just over 10,000 tonnes of the gas. This upper limit is about six times lower than the previous estimates of what should be present, based on the satellite and telescope observations, which creates a big question mark on the earlier estimated volume of methane on Mars. 

Methane at Mars could have a number of possible sources, of course - not just microbial activity. It could be delivered by comets or asteroids, or produced internally by geological processes. But it is the link to life that has most intrigued planetary scientists. Curiosity and the scientists are still working hard to unlock the answer to this mystery.

'Liquid-liquid' phase transition !!!

We all know there are 4 types of states of matter which are observed in the everyday life, namely Gas, Solid, Liquid and Plasma. There are many other sates too like Bose Einstein condensate , superfluid... Etc., but they only occur in extreme conditions. We also know that phase transitions between these sates is possible , for example., liquid when freeze'd becomes solid, gases when condensed gives liquid and gases when ionized gives us plasma... Etc., also , we can supercool a liquid (like water); supercooling is a process of lowering the temperature of a liquid below its freezing point without making it transform into a solid.

Okay so..., If I ask you how will you transform a liquid into a liquid... You will probably think how can a liquid transform to its own state???? Or probably you would just say such an idiot, what a stupid question!!!!!! 

But Researchers at the University of Arkansas have identified that water, when chilled to a very low temperature, transforms into a new form of liquid. Strange right!! Let me just brief you about it: 

Through a simulation performed in “supercooled” water, a research team led by chemist Feng “Seymour” Wang, confirmed a “liquid-liquid” phase transition at 207 Kelvins, or 87 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.

The properties of supercooled water are important for understanding basic processes during cryoprotection, which is the preservation of tissue or cells by liquid nitrogen so they can be thawed without damage, said Wang, an associate professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

On a miscrosecond time scale, the water does not actually form ice but it transformes into a new form of liquid.

The study provides strong supporting evidence of the liquid-liquid phase transition and predicted a temperature of minimum density if water can be cooled well below its normal freezing temperature. Study shows water will expand at a very low temperature even without forming ice.

 The University of Arkansas research team investigated the liquid-liquid phase transition using a simulation model called Water potential from Adaptive Force Matching for Ice and Liquid (WAIL). While normal water is a high-density liquid, the low-density liquid emerged at lower temperatures, according to the simulation.

Neptune got a new moon!!

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the giant planet. For now this moon is known as S/2004 N 1.

Estimated to be about 12 miles in diameter, the moon is located about 65,400 miles from Neptune, making it the smallest known moon in the Neptunian system. It is so small and dim that it is roughly 100 million times fainter than the faintest star that can be seen with the naked eye. It even escaped detection by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew past Neptune in 1989 and surveyed the planet's system of moons and rings. Showalter plotted a circular orbit for the moon, which completes one revolution around Neptune every 23 hours.

So officially Neptune has now got 14 moons. 

Black Hole Cluster in Andromeda!!!

NASA scientists have discovered an astonishing large cluster of black holes in our nearest galactic neighbor, Andromeda's central bulge.The 26 candidates to be black holes were spotted with the Chandra X-ray Observatory from more than 150 observations spread over 13 years.

Each of the black holes is of the kind that forms after a star collapses in on itself. As they suck in material from other stars that orbit or pass nearby, they also suck in material that gives out X-rays as it is consumed. It's this that Chandra spotted.

To filter Andromeda's black holes from other X-ray sources, such as neutron stars, or much larger black holes which are much far away from the Andromeda, the astrophysicists had to look for attributes like brightness, variability and color. These black holes are more easily spotted than most because they have got companion stars that provide the material that emits X-rays. 

The Super Moon 2013!

Everyone, today on Sunday 23rd of june 2013, its the super moon. The moon today would be the biggest and the brightest moon of this year. Stargazers and astronomers will get a rare chance to observe the year's largest fullmoon. 

The moon will be at its closest distance(the Perigee) to Earth in its orbit, a distance of 356,991 km(221,823 miles). Astronomers believe that the supermoon can cause natural disasters. This Sunday's full moon will have an effect on high and low ocean tides.    

 In India, people can watch the supermoon all night after 6.40 pm on Sunday. But the best time to view the full moon is between 4.30 am to 5.30 am (7 am EDT) on Monday when it is very close to the horizon.

One can follow their website on Slooh.com or also watch the live stream that will start on 23 June at 6 pm EDT and 9 pm EDT. Viewers can also download Slooh iPad app from the iTunes store to watch the phenomenon live on their PC, MAC and mobile devices.

The Great Attractor!!!

The Great Attractor is far bigger than a galaxy. In the terminology of astronomers, these are clusters of galaxies containing maybe hundreds of galaxies, and superclusters containing many clusters.
The Norma Cluster is the closest massive galaxy cluster to the Milky Way, and lies about 220 million light-years away. The enormous mass concentrated here, and the consequent gravitational attraction, mean that this region of space is known to astronomers as the Great Attractor, and it dominates our region of the Universe.

Our galaxy, along with other galaxies in our local group, is currently rushing at a speed of nearly 1,000km per second towards the Great Attractor which is about 220 million light years away from us.

This Great Attractor has a mass of nearly 100 quadrillion times greater than our sun and span of 500 million light-years, and is made of both the visible matter and dark matter.
So in a way its a massive black hole which is pulling us.
This motion can only be accounted for by gravitational attraction, even though the mass that we can observe is not nearly great enough to exert that kind of pull. The only thing that could explain the movement of Andromeda is the gravitational pull of a lot of unseen mass--perhaps the equivalent of 10 Milky Way-size galaxies--lying between the two galaxies.

Meanwhile, our entire Local Group is hurtling toward the center of the Virgo cluster at one million miles per hour.
If you want to know more about The Great Attractor and the theories behind it click here:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/03/mystery-of-the.html

Mr. Einstein in space!!

On 5 June 2013 a specially adapted Ariane 5 rocket placed the 20.2 tonnes of the ATV-4 ‘Albert Einstein’ into orbit. The ATV-4 is the heaviest payload that Ariane has ever carried into orbit. The cargo resupply ship named Albert Einstein—officially called the Automated Transfer Vehicle-4—is on its way to the International Space Station loaded down with supplies. 

The ATV ‘Albert Einstein’, designed and built by Astrium, is the fourth unmanned European transport spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS). This is the 55th consecutive successful launch of Ariane 5, with a new payload record of 20.2 tonnes.  It is carrying over 2500 kilograms of supplies to the station. It’s a total of 1400 separate items, including food, water, clothing, equipment, even air. Once the port is cleared, ATV-4 can approach and dock. That’s scheduled for June 15, 2013.

A Movie made from ATOMS!!!!

If someone tells you or asks you about a movie made from atoms!! The first thing that comes to you would probably be , is that person crazy???? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

But now IBM has made this possible and has already made a very short movie with atoms!!!! YES, you read right it is true now.

IBM researchers have successfully made a movie called "A Boy And His Atom-The World's Smallest Movie". The researchers have made this movie using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope for moving the atoms  for each frame. Now sit back and enjoy the movie: 

The ability to move single atoms, one of the smallest particles of any element in the universe, is crucial to IBM's research in the field of atomic-scale memory. In 2012, IBM scientists announced the creation of the world's smallest magnetic memory bit, made of just 12 atoms. This breakthrough could transform computing by providing the world with devices that have access to unpredictable data storage. This movie has been verified by Guinness World Records™ as The World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Film.

Lets have a look at its making:

DANCE OF THE PLANETS!!!!!

Be sure to catch a trio of planets – Mercury, Venus and Jupiter – in the deepening western twilight during the final week of May, 2013. The sky chart above is for tonight (May 23). And notice that the planets are low in the west: they’ll follow the sun beneath the horizon around nightfall. So go outside early to look for them. Find an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset. All three planets will appear near the sunset point on the horizon at dusk. Is this a triple conjunction or a planet conjunction.

 If your sky is clear, you should be able to see the sky’s brightest and second-brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter, respectively – popping out some 45 minutes (or sooner) after sunset. About one hour after sunset, there’s a good chance that you’ll see Mercury pairing up with Venus. We are now hearing from people around the world that Mercury is visible to the eye. At mid-northern latitudes, Mercury and Venus set around one and one-quarter hours after the sun. So look for them in bright twilight! From May 24 to 29, all these planets will be less than 5o apart from one another. In the parlance of stargazers, this is called a planetary trio. Typical binoculars cover about 5o of sky, so look for these three planets to fit within a single binocular field in late May 2013!

An Expressway to the ISS!!

2 Russian cosmonauts, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, and the US astronaut, Chris Cassidy , took a shortcut to the ISS on friday.

Blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz carrying these three men Reached the ISS in just under 6 hours, as against the usual 50 hour journey from the earth to the space lab.  The advantage of this express route is that now the crew dose not have to sit cramped tightly in the capsule and also they can arrive before ant disabling effects of adapting to microgravity, which can include nausea. 

Asteroid Says Hello to Russia!!

February 15th ,2013 was not a good day for Russia, as an asteroid passes over Russia at about 3:20 UTC with an approx. speed of 40,000 mph (18 km/s). it became a brilliant superbolide meteor over the southern Ural region. The dazzling light of the meteor was bright enough to cast moving shadows during the morning daylight in Chelyabinsk and was observed from Sverdlovsk, Tyumen,Orenburg Oblasts, the Republic of Bashkortostan, and in Kazakhstan. Eyewitnesses also felt intense heat from the fireball.

The asteroid exploded in an air burst over Chelyabinsk Oblast at a height of about 15 to 25 km (9.3 to 16 mi).  It exploded with the generation of a bright flash, small fragmentary meteorites and a powerful shock wave. It released 20-30 times more energy than was released from the atomic bombs detonated at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Trail left by the asteroid

The object did not release all of its energy at once, with the total radiated energy of the fireball, which generated the main explosion, estimated to have emitted an energy equivalent to 90 kilotons of TNT, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

About 1,500 people were injured, two seriously. All of the injuries were due to indirect effects rather than the meteor itself, mainly from broken glass from windows that were blown in when the shock wave arrived, which came minutes after the superbolide's flash. Initially some 4,300 buildings, rising to over 7,200 such structures in six cities across the region were reported to have been damaged by the explosion.

With an estimated initial mass of 11,000 tonnes, and measuring approximately 17 to 20 metres across, the Chelyabinsk meteor is the largest object to have entered Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event and it is the only known meteor confirmed to have resulted in a large number of injuries.The object had not been detected before atmospheric entry.