Feb

Map of the Milky Way galaxy made using data from the Planck satellite, with different colours depicting several different types of gas, plasma and dust. Constructed from observations made at microwave and millimeter wavelengths of light, which are longer than our eyes can detect.
At the end of its mission in October 2013, the Planck Satellite operated by the European Space Agency was put into a heliocentric orbit and passivated to prevent it from endangering any future missions. The final deactivation command was sent to Planck in October 2013.
Results from an analysis of Planck ’s full mission were made public on 1 December 2014 at a conference in Ferrara, Italy and a full set of papers detailing the mission results were released in February 2015.

More details here: http://www.space.com/28570-planck-satellite-brings-early-universe-into-focus.html

Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-CALTECH

9 years ago Short URL Comments

SCIENCE/SPACE

Feb

MYSTERIOUS CLOUDS OVER MARS

Credit: Grupo Ciencias Planetarias (GCP) – UPV/EHU

”On two separate occasions in March and April 2012, amateur astronomers reported definite plume-like features developing on the planet.
The plumes were seen rising to altitudes of over 250 km above the same region of Mars on both occasions. By comparison, similar features seen in the past have not exceeded 100 km.
…The jury is still out on the nature and genesis of these curious high-altitude martian plumes. Further insights should be possible following the arrival of ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter at the Red Planet, scheduled for launch in 2016.”

More on: http://phys.org/news/2015-02-cloud-mars-scientists-baffled.html

9 years ago Short URL Comments

SCIENCE/SPACE