November 8, 2007

Show 128: Water Vapor Planetary System


Artist's illustration of water dousing a young star system.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)
Artist's illustration of water dousing a young star system. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)

Water vapor is raining down on a young star system, pouring from the cloud of gas and dust around the star onto the dusty disk where planets may form.

In the system known as NGC 1333-IRAS 4B, the icy material found in the cloud is dropping towards the star and vaporizing as it reaches the disk. The process could show how water first shows up on planets like our own.

November 1, 2007

Show 127: Turbulent Titan


Titan's atmosphere posed problems for Huygens
Titan's atmosphere posed problems for Huygens

The Huygens spacecraft, which landed on Titan in 2005, encountered some unexpected turbulence as it fell through the moon’s thick, planet-like atmosphere. Buffeted by winds and possible methane rain, Huygens descent provides scientists with clues about how to plan for future missions to the intriguing world.

October 25, 2007

Show 126: Building Block Galaxies


Tiny galaxies in the early universe.
Tiny galaxies in the early universe.

Tiny galaxies, hundreds to thousands of times smaller than many of the galaxies we see today, existed in the early universe, according to data from the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes. The tiny “building block” galaxies have distorted shapes that could mean they are merging together to form larger galaxies.

October 25, 2007

Show 125: HubbleWatch for October 2007


Astronomers now know that that the expansion of the universe is speeding up, as though it were being pushed by kind of strange anti-gravity. Ten years after the discovery, scientists are still trying to find out what this mysterious force, called “dark energy,” might be.

The more scientists study the tiny galaxy I Zwicky 18, the older it looks. The galaxy has an odd combination of young and old stars, leaving astronomers puzzled about its late star formation.

October 18, 2007

Show 124: Meteorite Mass Hysteria


Meteorites are space rocks that survive the trip to Earth. Most burn up in the atmosphere.
Credit: NASA
Meteorites are space rocks that survive the trip to Earth. Most burn up in the atmosphere. Credit: NASA

News of a meteorite landing in a remote section of Peru included accounts of hundreds of people getting sick from its noxious fumes. A prudent look at the case though suggests something a bit less otherworldly.

October 11, 2007

Show 123: Moon Robots


Robots like this may one day explore the lunar surface.
Robots like this may one day explore the lunar surface.

A duo of robots recently surveyed a desolate part of Devon Island in northern Canada, in preparation for one day doing similar survey work on the surface of the Moon. This NASA program tested the ability of human and robotic teams working together to get best results when surveying rugged, unforgiving sites.

October 4, 2007

Show 122: When Galaxies Collide


The Milky Way and Andromeda will first sweep by one another in 2 billion years.
The Milky Way and Andromeda will first sweep by one another in 2 billion years.

The nearby Andromeda Galaxy may one day capture our Sun and planets. Now more than two million light years distant, Andromeda and our own Milky Way galaxy are approaching each other. In the far distant future, the two galaxies will collide with drastic results.

September 27, 2007

Show 121: Through the Veil


The Veil Nebula
The Veil Nebula

When a star explodes, it leaves behind a glowing cloud of heated gas called a supernova remnant. Hubble recently took pictures of one of these remnants — the Veil Nebula, 1,400 light years away. The nebula’s star would have exploded thousands of years ago, leaving behind an expanding bubble of gas. Scientists are fascinated by supernovae because the explosions create and scatter certain vital elements around the universe.