Earth-like planets abound in red dwarf systems

Earth-like planets abound in red dwarf systems

The nearest Earth-like planet that could support liquid water may be much closer than first believed, according to new research by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
"We thought we would have to search vast distances to find an Earth-like planet," said Harvard astronomer and lead author Courtney Dressing in a statement. "Now we realize another Earth is probably in our own backyard, waiting to be spotted."

The team analyzed data from NASA's Kepler space telescope to look at red dwarf stars, slow-growing solar furnaces that make up around three-quarters of the stars in our galaxy. These have been considered poor candidates for Earth-like planets, but the team found 6 per cent of red dwarfs could harbor conditions for life as we know it.

With at least 75 billion available red dwarfs, that adds up to a lot of planets suitable for life. And based on this simple survey, Dressing found 95 suitable planets, three of which being a similar size to Earth and warm enough for liquid water, with the nearest just 13 light years away.
Because red dwarfs are long-lived, slow-burning stars, some of the Earth-like planets found could be significantly older than our own. If the pattern of life has taken a similar course, this could lead to civilizations much more advanced than our own. "We might find an Earth that's 10 billion years old," speculated coauthor David Charbonneau.
But there's a world of difference (pun unintended) between finding a planet that's well-positioned to support humanity and analysis of its atmosphere to find out if it really could. It may be unlikely that we'll find planets out there that could support unaided humans, but given a closer examination by instruments such as the Giant Magellan Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope, who knows?

NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity Captures Image Of Strange Shiny Metallic Looking Object

NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity Captures Image Of Strange Shiny Metallic Looking Object

A recent image taken by NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity, shows a shiny, metallic, somewhat strange looking object protruding out of a rock. The image was taken on January 30, 2013, by Curiosity’s Mastcam.

At first glance it appears to be a piece of iron, that hasn’t been oxidized, as a result of the extremely low quantities of oxygen on Mars. It could perhaps be from a iron meteorite? It’s probably impossible to know without further investigation by the rover, and even then it may be entirely clear. It’s probably important to note that the formation is not something of a size significant to humans though, it’s only around 0.5 cm tall.


Very interesting though, it certainly stands out from the typical Martian surface environment. Hopefully NASA will address this, and investigate it further.

In other Curiosity news, the rover just used its drill for the first time on February 3rd, testing out its ‘hammering’ ability. There are still a few more tests that the mission commanders will perform before the first true use of the drill occurs. But once it does, Curiosity will allow us to see what is inside of Martian rocks for the first time.

Curiosity’s stated goals are the “investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.”
Source: Universe Today
Image Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

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Samsung overtakes Nokia to become top phone brand of 2012: IHS

Samsung has overtaken Nokia as the top mobile phone brand for 2012 and has opened up a decisive lead over Apple in the smartphone market.

WASHINGTON: Samsung has overtaken Nokia as the top mobile phone brand for 2012 and has opened up a decisive lead over Apple in the smartphone market, a research firm said on Tuesday.

This will mark the first time in 14 years that Finland-based Nokia will not sit atop the global mobile phone business on an annual basis, according to IHS iSuppli.

Samsung is expected to account for 29 percent of worldwide cellphone shipments, up from 24 percent in 2011, according to the IHS, which said Nokia's share dropped to 24 percent from 30 percent.

This will mark the first time the South Korean electronics giant will occupy the top on a yearly basis, IHS said.

Samsung has also extended its lead over Apple as the top maker of smartphones worldwide, the survey said. Samsung will have 28 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in 2011, while Apple's share will rise in 2012 to to 20 percent from 19 percent.

"The competitive reality of the cellphone market in 2012 was 'live by the smartphone; die by the smartphone,'" said Wayne Lam, senior analyst at IHS.

"Smartphones represent the fastest-growing segment of the cellphone market and will account for nearly half of all wireless handset shipments for all of 2012. Samsung's successes and Nokia's struggles in the cellphone market this year were determined entirely by the two companies' divergent fortunes in the smartphone sector."

IHS said global smartphone shipments are set to rise by 35.5 percent this year, while overall cellphone shipments will increase by just one percent. This will propel 2012 smartphone penetration to 47 percent, up from 35 percent in 2011.

IHS noted that Samsung produces dozens of smartphone models every year that address all segments of the market, from the high-end to the low-end. Nokia is transitioning its smartphone line to the Windows operating system, resulting in declining shipments for the company.

Sales of Nokia's older Symbian-based phones have plunged, while its new Microsoft Windows-based handsets have been modest so far.

IHS said Samsung, which was in a tight battle in 2011 with Apple, has moved ahead decisively ahead of the California giant with a wide range of Android smartphone offerings, while Apple limited its smartphones to the premium iPhone line.

The report said BlackBerry maker Research in Motion will see its market share fall to five percent in 2012, from 11 percent in 2011.

IHS said it expects smartphones gains to accelerate in 2013, and to account for 56 percent of the mobile phone market.

NASA captures images of Asteroid Toutatis passing by Earth

 

 

 

 

This 64-frame movie of asteroid Toutatis was generated from data by Goldstone's Solar System Radar on Dec. 12 and 13, 2012. In the movie clips, the rotation of the asteroid appears faster than it occurs in nature.

Photograph by: NASA , Vancouver Sun

A large asteroid that flew in nearly the same orbit as Earth made a close pass by the planet last week, but there was little chance of an impact. The asteroid, named 4179 Toutatis, flies by Earth every four years. During its closest approach on December 12 and 13, the celestial rock passed about 7 million kilometres from Earth, which is about 18 times farther away than the moon. The 4.3-kilometre-long asteroid circles the sun in an orbit that is very closely aligned with Earth's, making it a potentially hazardous object for the future.
NASA captured a series of radar data images of Toutatis, which they says "indicate that it is an elongated, irregularly shaped object with ridges and perhaps craters. Along with shape detail, scientists are also seeing some interesting bright glints that could be surface boulders. Toutatis has a very slow, tumbling rotational state. The asteroid rotates about its long axis every 5.4 days and precesses (changes the orientation of its rotational axis) like a wobbling, badly thrown football, every 7.4 days."
NASA used the images of Toutatis to produce a short video. According to NASA, Toutatis won't get this close to earth until 2069.
Those interested in learning more about asteroids should check out the website Asterank, which features an impressive 3D visualization of the more than half-million asteroids in the solar system.

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Saturn's Shadow: Nasa Unveils Dramatic 'Backlit' Photo Of Ringed Planet (PICTURES)

Saturn's Shadow: Nasa Unveils Dramatic 'Backlit' Photo Of Ringed Planet (PICTURES)

Nasa has unveiled a dramatic new view of Saturn and its rings.
The image was taken while the Cassini spacecraft was in Saturn's shadow, producing an eerie, backlit effect.
The glorious mosaic view was captured in 60 separate stages by the craft which has been in orbit around the planet for more than eight years.


Nasa said:

"Looking back towards the sun is a geometry referred to by planetary scientists as "high solar phase;" near the center of your target's shadow is the highest phase possible. This is a very scientifically advantageous and coveted viewing position, as it can reveal details about both the rings and atmosphere that cannot be seen in lower solar phase."

Two of Saturn's moons - Enceladus and Tethys - can be seen in the picture.
The space agency said it was releasing the image "in celebration of the 2012 holiday season", and added the image shows more detail than the famous "In Saturn's Shadow" image from 2006 which also included a glimpse of Earth.
Cassini is a cooperative project by Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Boffins spot planet that could support life... just 12 light years away

Boffins spot planet that could support life... just 12 light years away

An international team of astroboffins have discovered that the nearest single Sun-like star has one planet orbiting in the sweet spot for potential alien life.

Tau Ceti, which is just 12 light years away and can be seen with the naked eye in the night sky, has five planets in orbit around it, with one lying in the habitable zone.
The potentially life-supporting world has a mass around five times the size of Earth, making it the smallest planet found in the habitable zone of any Sun-like star. The other four planets are between twice and six times the mass of Earth.
"This discovery is in keeping with our emerging view that virtually every star has planets, and that the galaxy must have many such potentially habitable Earth-sized planets. They are everywhere, even right next door!" said Steve Vogt of the University of California Santa Cruz.

"We are now beginning to understand that Nature seems to overwhelmingly prefer systems that have a multiple planets with orbits of less than one hundred days. This is quite unlike our own solar system where there is nothing with an orbit inside that of Mercury. So our solar system is, in some sense, a bit of a freak and not the most typical kind of system that Nature cooks up."
Tau Ceti's worlds were spotted by astronomers from the UK, Chile, the US and Australia when they sifted through more than 6,000 observations from three different instruments using improved "noise-modelling" techniques to spot the wobble in the star caused by the gravitational tug of planets.
"Tau Ceti is one of our nearest cosmic neighbours and so bright that we may be able to study the atmospheres of these planets in the not too distant future," said James Jenkins of Universidad de Chile, who is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire.
"Planetary systems found around nearby stars close to our Sun indicate that these systems are common in our Milky Way galaxy."
So far, noise modelling and other techniques have mostly found high mass planets, since smaller worlds are harder to detect.
The full study, to be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, can be found here (PDF).  

Is December 21, 2012 the End of the World? Scholars, NASA Say No

Find out what the experts are saying about the Dec. 21, 2012, Doomsday prophesies, the end of the Mayan calendar and their potential impact on our area.

   

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Don’t make any rash decisions: Experts say 12/21/12 is going to be just another typical winter solstice.
Killer solar flares aren’t expected. Another planet isn’t on a collision course with ours. And the Mayan “long count calendar” ending on this date has no real significance – they had to end it somewhere!
What is All the Fuss About?
There are a number of theories and predictions that call for earth’s demise on Dec. 21, 2012. They include:

• The ending of the Mayan calendar – The Mayans, according to a Sarasota Patch article, kept three separate calendars. The “long calendar” ends on Dec. 21. Some say this constitutes a Doomsday prediction; many do not.
• Nostradamus – That famed French seer from the 1500s has been credited with predicting several end-of-the-world scenarios that some believe will take place in 2012. The web site December212012.com points to the potential sparking of World War III on this date.
• The collision of Earth and the supposed planet Nibiru – This supposed space catastrophe was initially predicted to strike in 2003. The planet in question was supposedly discovered by the Sumerians, according to NASA. When the world didn’t end in 2003, the date was moved to December 2012 for the deadly collision with earth.

What are the Experts Saying?
The intrigue created by multiple end-of-the-world predictions has made many scholars and even NASA stand up to make statements debunking the claims. From professors at Tampa Bay’s own New College to the scientific minds at NASA, they’re all saying the same thing: Go ahead and pay that mortgage bill and wrap those holiday presents.
In regard to the ending of the Mayan calendar, New College’s Gabrielle Vail says this, according to Sarasota Patch:

There are many misconceptions about the Mayans. If you look at their calendar alone, the Mayans kept three calendars. The one that has prompted the end of the world predictions was their "long count calendar" — a 5,125 year calendar. The calendar began August 11, 3114 B.C. and ends Dec. 21, 2012.
She said the Mayans wrote about dates beyond Dec. 21, 2012 "well, well into the future, trillions of years." They also wrote about dates before the 5,125 year calendar began.

Here’s what NASA has to say about all of the collective Doomsday prophesies:

The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.