Space Science Update from NASA HQ 18 September 2000
New items lately in the logbook of the Universe:
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Scientists have designed and successfully tested a new type of X-ray
telescope using interferometry. It has the potential of providing
resolution a million times better than what current X-ray telescopes can
muster. Although we are years away from being ready to build such a
telescope, it could directly image a black hole.
ftp://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/00-112.htm
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While observing an 80-kilometer-wide chunk of ice and dust that lies
between Saturn and Uranus, astronomers using the Hubble telescope were
surprised to find that one side of the object looks like it has a fresh
crater less than 10 million years old, exposing underlying ice that is
apparently unlike any yet seen. Don’t be fooled by the picture, it’s just
an artist’s conception, but the story is still interesting.
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2000/31/index.html
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There’s new evidence the universe is home to a type of black hole that’s
not too large and not too small. As black holes go, it’s a middleweight
that may represent the missing link between its flyweight relatives and the
super-heavyweight variety found at the center of most galaxies. If it
wasn’t formed by the death of a single massive star, and it wasn’t formed
at the center of a galaxy, how did it form? This one comes from our
Chandra X-ray Observatory,
http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/00_releases/press_091200.html
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A chemical analysis of a rare, uncontaminated 4.5 billion-year-old
meteorite that fell to Earth earlier this year shows that its composition
sets it apart from other meteorites found on Earth. Further analysis may
provide new clues to the formation of the solar system.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-sol-00d.html
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Hubble has made the first detailed optical observations of an example of a
remarkable class of galaxies by using the additional magnifying power of a
huge galaxy cluster to extend its range. The target galaxy belongs to a
remote population of galaxies that are extremely luminous, but obscured by
enormous quantities of dust. ESA press release at
http://sci.esa.int/hubble/news/newsrelease.cfm?oid=24556
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Our High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2) spacecraft, a small scientific
satellite designed to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts, is still
scheduled for launch on October 6. Follow progress at
http://space.mit.edu/HETE/
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Finally, the Web Site of the Week: many of you have already heard of this
one, but for those who haven’t, I’d like to point out the Astronomy Picture
of the Day. For a daily dose of cosmic eye candy, with explanatory
material for the layperson plus an indexed archive, it’s hard to beat APOD.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
Cheers!
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