Astronomy
- Hayabusa's Rocky Journey Ends With A Spectacular Return
Image of asteroid Itokawa taken by the Hayabusa probe. JAXAA Japanese space capsule, released by the Hayabusa asteroid probe, returned successfully to Earth today, with a spectacular, fiery show. The return marks the end of the seven year Hayabusa mission....
- Nasa Captures Earth Flyby Of 'space Peanut'
NASA scientists have captured a peanut-shaped asteroid that approached close to Earth last weekend. The asteroid named 1999 JD6 appears to be a contact binary [an asteroid with two lobes that are stuck together]. On July 25, the asteroid...
- Planetary Science & Astronomy
The following paragraphs summarize the work of Planetary Science experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Planetary Science. Heed their advice to avoid any Planetary Science surprises. The information about Planetary Science presented...
- Comets - Visitors From Beyond.
The one thing we love the most in the world of astronomy is a good mystery. And if there was ever a mysterious and yet very powerful force of nature that we witness in the night skies, it is the coming of the mighty comet. The arrival of a comet...
- Asteroid Facts
There is a lot of exciting stuff going on in the stars above us that make astronomy so much fun. The truth is the universe is a constantly changing, moving, some would say ?living? thing because you just never know what you are going to see on any...
Astronomy
Gravity wave mission to help study asteroids
LISA, NASA and ESA?s Laser interferometer Space Antenna, which will attempt to detect gravitational waves, will also turn its ?noise? into useful information about near-Earth asteroids.
Gravity waves are associated with the warping of the space-time continuum, believed to be caused by supernovae events or colliding black holes sending ripples through the Universe. These ripples are what LISA is hoping to detect. The mission will comprise three satellites connected by laser beams, and if a gravitational wave passes them by, their separation should change by a distance less than the width of an atom.
Planetary scientists also realised that they too could exploit LISA, since asteroids would also make the spacecraft wobble, leaving a distinct signature in the data being collected. Pasquale Tricarico of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, developed this idea to predict the number of asteroid encounters LISA can expect and how those encounters can be used to determine the mass of passing asteroids.
Gravity waves are associated with the warping of the space-time continuum, believed to be caused by supernovae events or colliding black holes sending ripples through the Universe. These ripples are what LISA is hoping to detect. The mission will comprise three satellites connected by laser beams, and if a gravitational wave passes them by, their separation should change by a distance less than the width of an atom.
Planetary scientists also realised that they too could exploit LISA, since asteroids would also make the spacecraft wobble, leaving a distinct signature in the data being collected. Pasquale Tricarico of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, developed this idea to predict the number of asteroid encounters LISA can expect and how those encounters can be used to determine the mass of passing asteroids.
Mass may seem like an obvious vital statistic to know about a planetary body, but Tricarico reveals that only the mass of asteroids that have been visited by spacecraft or the mass of a few binary asteroids observed from Earth are known.
- Hayabusa's Rocky Journey Ends With A Spectacular Return
Image of asteroid Itokawa taken by the Hayabusa probe. JAXAA Japanese space capsule, released by the Hayabusa asteroid probe, returned successfully to Earth today, with a spectacular, fiery show. The return marks the end of the seven year Hayabusa mission....
- Nasa Captures Earth Flyby Of 'space Peanut'
NASA scientists have captured a peanut-shaped asteroid that approached close to Earth last weekend. The asteroid named 1999 JD6 appears to be a contact binary [an asteroid with two lobes that are stuck together]. On July 25, the asteroid...
- Planetary Science & Astronomy
The following paragraphs summarize the work of Planetary Science experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Planetary Science. Heed their advice to avoid any Planetary Science surprises. The information about Planetary Science presented...
- Comets - Visitors From Beyond.
The one thing we love the most in the world of astronomy is a good mystery. And if there was ever a mysterious and yet very powerful force of nature that we witness in the night skies, it is the coming of the mighty comet. The arrival of a comet...
- Asteroid Facts
There is a lot of exciting stuff going on in the stars above us that make astronomy so much fun. The truth is the universe is a constantly changing, moving, some would say ?living? thing because you just never know what you are going to see on any...